A 17-year-old British boy who had been missing for six years was discovered in France.
Alex Batty is currently at a youth center in Toulouse and could return to the UK shortly, according to the city’s prosecutors’ office.
Using a motorist’s phone, Alex messaged his UK grandmother, expressing his desire to come home. Missing since 2017, he was found by a concerned motorist on a road near Toulouse.
The boy vanished during a holiday with his mother and grandfather in Spain, and the authorities are still searching for the pair, who lack parental guardianship.
Delivery driver Fabien Accidini, who spotted Alex walking in the Pyrenees, contacted French authorities for assistance, diverging from Alex’s plan to find a big city with an embassy. Using Mr. Accidini’s Facebook account, Alex contacted his UK grandmother.
He disclosed he had been in France for two years, residing in the remote Pyrenean valleys, adopting an itinerant lifestyle.
The area is known for attracting those seeking alternative lifestyles. Alex hasn’t revealed the exact location of his mother or his residence in the Pyrenees.
His grandmother, Susan Caruana, has reconnected with Alex. She previously believed that Alex’s mother and grandfather took him to live with a spiritual community in Morocco, avoiding traditional schooling.
Melanie and David Batty left Greater Manchester with Alex for a week-long holiday to Marbella in Spain in September 2017, and Alex was last seen at the Port of Malaga on October 8, the day they were supposed to return to the UK.
British police, contacted through the UK embassy in Paris, are coordinating with French authorities to implement safeguarding measures.
