United Nations ( CNN ) -- The body of a United Nations worker , who had been missing for 24 years , has been found in eastern Lebanon , a representative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday . Alec Collett was on assignment for the U.N . Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East , or UNRWA , when he was kidnapped in Lebanon in 1985 . The British national was 63 years old at the time . `` Although he is saddened by Alec Collett 's death , he hopes that the actions taken to find his remains can provide a measure of comfort to his loved ones , '' the statement from Ban 's representative said . Collett 's abductors released two videotapes during his first year in captivity , in which Collett sent messages to his family , according to the U.N . In April 1986 , a Beirut television station received a videotape that purportedly showed Collett being hanged , but the United Nations said it was impossible to formally identify whether or not it was him . Since then , nothing further had been heard about Collett 's fate , despite repeated requests , the U.N. said . Collett had been visiting various UNRWA operations in Lebanon as part of a three-month consultancy mission when he was kidnapped on March 25 , 1985 in the midst of Lebanon 's civil war while riding in a car near the Beirut airport , according to the U.N. His driver , an Austrian national , was also abducted , but later released . Collett was the first U.N. employee to be kidnapped in Lebanon . A group calling itself the `` Revolutionary Organization of Muslim Socialists '' claimed responsibility for the kidnapping . In the months that followed , several other UNRWA staff members were kidnapped , but later released . Collett was married to an American , Elaine Collett , and their son Karim was 11 years old at the time of his kidnapping . During his 35-year career as a journalist , Collett worked in Prague as a newspaper correspondent for several British publications after World War II , as well as an Associated Press reporter in New York and at the United Nations .
Alec Collett had been visiting various UNRWA operations in Lebanon when he was kidnapped in March 1985 . Group called `` Revolutionary Organization of Muslim Socialists '' claimed responsibility for kidnapping . In April 1986 , a Beirut TV station received a videotape purportedly showing Collett being hanged .