Garda
Kevin McGeever has been found eight months after going missing (Wiki Commons)

A property tycoon who went missing in June last year has been found wandering along a country road emaciated and in a confused state.

Kevin McGeever, 68, said he was abducted by armed men and was eventually thrown from a van by his kidnappers.

There were reports that McGeever had an insult carved into his forehead, but this has not been confirmed. It is thought the word written was "thief" and that McKeever told police the Russian mafia was involved in his abduction.

He was found on Tuesday in the middle of a country road near Ballinamore in County Leitrim by local resident Catherine Vallely and her partner Peter Rehill.

She said: "He had red trousers that made me think it was a cone in the middle of the road.

"When the man got into our car he told us he had no shoes on. He said three men threw him out of a van.

"The man said his name was Kevin and he didn't realise he was in Leitrim. He didn't even know the month."

Skin and bones

The couple took McGeever to the Ballinamore police station where a guard got him a cup of tea. Valley said she thought he may be suffering from Alzheimer's.

"As he was eating tea and biscuits he asked her if she had any more. He said he hadn't eaten for God knows how long," she said.

"He had a pair of enormous eyes in a very thin face and his cheekbones stuck out.

"He was rubbing his beard with fingers that had long nails. He was very well-educated, well-spoken and polite and articulate. He was just skin and bones."

The Gardai said he was thin and feeble, with a long beard and fingernails. He was taken to Mullingar hospital where he was treated for dehydration and malnutrition.

Prior to his disappearance, McKeever lived in a mansion in Galway and had been involved in real estate development in Dubai.