TORONTO - A Canadian man missing from home since 2012 is back with his family after being found 16,000km away in Brazil walking barefoot.

Anton Pilipa, 39, was found wandering on a track with no passport or identification documents near Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas.

His brother, Stefan Pilipa, told the media his sibling had been suffering from mental health problems and had begun treatment for schizophrenia before disappearing.

Anton, who has since been put back on his medication, flew to his home city of Toronto on Monday (Feb 6) with Stefan, according to CBC News.

He travelled through at least 10 countries on his epic trip across two continents from Canada, including the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil - all without a passport and with little more than the clothes on his back, said the Daily Mail.

Stefan told the Mail his brother had one bizarre mission: to get to the National Library of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

He walked and hitchhiked to get there and survived by begging and foraging for food, according to reports.

Unfortunately, when he finally made it to the library, he was turned away because he didn't have any identification. So he turned around and began his trek into Brazil where he would eventually be found.

"I feel amazed that he's alive," Stefan Pilipa told CBC.

"I found myself being really frustrated all the time, always having that aching question 'Where is he? What happened to him?'"

A Brazilian police officer first spotted Anton wandering on a highway in November in the state of Rondonia, according to BBC Brasil. He could not speak Portugese and would only say his name was Anton, the federal highway police wrote on Facebook.

He was taken to hospital in Porto Velho, but escaped before authorities could identify him.

Highway police contacted the Canadian Embassy, giving them his first name, physical attributes and photo in the hope that someone would know him. The police eventually managed to contact his family via Twitter.

And Anton was found again in January, walking on a road near the city of Manaus.

Said Stefan: "He looked really rough. His health was starting to deteriorate. We got him just in time."

Anton Pilipa told BBC Brasil: "I know that I am very lucky to be alive. I am very happy to be able to return to my family."

He said he had taken food and clothes from garbage cans to survive and had slept out in the open.

A GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds to bring Anton home. The cost of bringing him back to Canada was high, Stefan said, with flights for both brothers, consular and hospital fees, and money for a few months' rent to get Anton started again back in Toronto.

The campaign exceeded its US$8,000 (S$11,000) goal, raising US$12,000.

In 2011, Anton was charged with assault and weapons offences but he disappeared before he was due in court, said a Daily Telegraph report.

When he arrived back in Toronto, he was arrested and released on bail.