British boy found alive in France six years after going missing in Spain
He went missing in 2017 while on holiday with his mother, grandfather who aren't his parental guardians
December 15, 2023
A British teenager, who had been missing for six years after disappearing during a family holiday in Spain at the age of 11, was recently found in southwestern France on Thursday, according to reports.
The boy, now 17, named Alex Batty, was reportedly spotted by a delivery driver on the side of a road, who then drove him to a nearby police station.
Batty went missing in 2017 while on holiday with his mother and grandfather in Spain, and they have not been located since. The duo does not have parental guardianship over Batty, and they remain wanted in connection with his disappearance, as reported by the BBC.
The delivery driver, Fabien Accidini, said he spotted the teenager walking along a road in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
"He explained that he had been walking for four days, that he set off from a place in the mountains, though he didn't say where," Accidini said. “I typed his name into the internet and saw that he was being looked for.”
According to the BBC, Batty then used the driver's Facebook account to contact his grandmother in the UK.
He wrote: "Hello Grandma, it's me Alex. I'm in France Toulouse. I really hope that you receive this message. I love you, I want to come home."
His grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, told The Sun that Batty is well. "I am so happy. I have spoken to him and he is well," she said. “It is such a shock.”
Six years ago, in 2018, Caruana told the BBC that she believed that Alex's grandfather David Batty, and mother Melanie Batty had taken him to live in a spiritual community in Morocco.
She continued by saying that the two did not want Batty to attend school and were looking for an alternate lifestyle.
Meanwhile, the Greater Manchester Police said officers from Batty's hometown of Oldham are in contact with French authorities to establish the authenticity of the reports.
“This is a complex and long-running investigation, and we need to make further enquiries as well as putting appropriate safeguarding measures in place,” the force said.
