A missing Turkish man's body was found after 40 years on the island of Cyprus after a fig seed in his stomach grew into a tree in an unusual spot.

Ahmet Hergüner was killed during the violent conflict between Turkish and Greek Cypriots in 1974, but his remains were not found for more than 40 years.

After a researcher spotted a fig tree growing in an odd spot — through a hole inside a cave — he decided to dig around the tree to figure out how it ended up in the cave.

Upon discovering human remains, the researcher alerted the police and officials uncovered remains belonging to three different people.

Following an official investigation, the detectives found Ahmet Hergüner was killed by a dynamite blast along with two others.

As for the tree, the investigators found that the blast opened up a hole in the cave that let sunlight in and after Hergüner's remains were decomposed, the fig seed in his stomach blossomed into a tree.

Münür Hergüner, the 87-year-old sister of Ahmet, said her brother joined Turkish resistance forces shortly after the clashes began.

"The fig remnants in my brother's stomach grew into a tree as the sun crept into the cave through the hole made by the explosion. They found my brother thanks to that fig tree," she said.

The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks, and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.