Ottawa: A Canadian man who disappeared 30 years ago is set for an emotional reunion with his family after he suddenly remembered his name, media said.

Edgar Latulip, whose mental age was that of a child, was 21 when he walked out of a special home in Kitchener, Ontario in 1986, CBC News and other Canadian media reported on Wednesday.

Latulip, who had previously attempted suicide and was on medication, was never heard from again and his mother feared he might have been murdered.

That was until a man with a different identity living 120 kilometers (75 miles) away told his social worker last month that he thought his real name could be Edgar Latulip, after he had flashbacks.

A DNA test confirmed that the man was indeed Latulip.

His mother Silvia Wilson, who later moved to Ottawa, described her surprise when she received the news by telephone last week from a police detective.

‘I don’t know what to think. I was just kind of blown away,’ Wilson, 76, told The Record, describing her son as a troubled boy.

‘I want to talk to him and help him out any way I can. I just want to see him.’

The North American Missing Persons Network described Latulip as having the mental capacity of a 12-year-old.

Niagara Regional Police Constable Philip Gavin told the Toronto Star and CBC that Latulip suffered a head injury after a fall around the time he went missing, impairing his memory so badly that he could not remember who he was, so he created a new identity.

‘I’ve been a police officer for 18 years and this is something I’ve seen on TV but never been a part of,’ Gavin told the Star.

‘Absolutely, this is quite a rare one.’

It was not immediately clear when the reunion would take place.