Alex Batty, a British boy who went missing six years ago, was found in France. Alex, from Oldham, was under the guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana when he failed to return from a holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather in September 2017.
Alex was found near Toulouse, France, by a delivery driver who spotted him walking through rain. He used the motorist’s phone to message his grandmother in the UK, saying “I love you, I want to come home”.
The now 17 year old spoke to his grandmother via video call, and she was sure it was him. Formal identification has confirmed that the teenager who turned up alone in France is indeed Alex Batty.
Alex had been living in the remote Pyrenean valleys, travelling about from place to place in a kind of itinerant commune. The area in the foothills of the Pyrenees is known for attracting people in search of alternative lifestyles. He was indeed loving it there but not quiet as home.
His mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David Batty, who do not have parental guardianship of Alex, have not been located but remain wanted in connection with his disappearance. His grandmother believed they had taken him to live with a spiritual community in Morocco. The exact circumstances of his disappearance and his life over the past six years are still being investigate.
