Missing Pangasinan man reunited with family after years

ITOGON, Benguet — A man from Pangasinan who had been missing for years has been reunited with his family after a resident spotted him along a road in Itogon and brought him to the police for assistance.

Genebert Cornel Carantes, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, reportedly saw the man walking unclothed along the road at around 2:30 p.m. on 4 November 2026. Carantes gave him food and clothing before bringing him to the Poblacion Fixed Visibility Point for assistance.

Police officers provided the man with food, water, clean clothes, a bath, and a haircut. When asked to write his name on a piece of paper, he wrote the word “Wigte.”

Police searched online and found a social media missing-person report dated 18 January 2023 involving a man named Wigte from Barangay Imbo in Anda, Pangasinan. The details matched the individual in their care.

The Itogon Municipal Police Station then coordinated with local officials in Pangasinan to contact the man's family. Police also arranged for a medical examination, while the Itogon Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) provided welfare assistance.

The day after he was found, family members and officials from Barangay Imbo in Anda arrived in Itogon and identified the man as Noel Oduca.

Authorities did not disclose how long Oduca had been missing before the 2023 report or where he had been during that period.

Municipal police officers, social welfare personnel, and barangay officials assisted the family in bringing Oduca back to Pangasinan.