A British boy who has not been seen by his legal guardian since he went missing on a family holiday to Spain in 2017 has been found in France.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, was 11 and under the guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana when he was allegedly abducted by his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.
After his disappearance, Caruana said she believed her ex-partner and her daughter had run away with the boy because they wanted him to have “an alternative lifestyle”.
On Thursday, the French newspaper La Depeche reported that officials had confirmed Batty, now 17, had turned up in the town of Revel, in southern France.
He used a motorist’s phone to message his grandmother in the UK via social media and wrote: “I love you, I want to come home,” the BBC reported.
Greater Manchester police said officers in Oldham were in contact with the French authorities.
A spokesperson for GMP said: “This is a complex and long-running investigation, and we need to make further inquiries as well as putting appropriate safeguarding measures in place.”
The boy went missing after a pre-arranged holiday in Málaga with his mother and grandfather.
Fabien Accidini, a chiropractic student from Toulouse, told La Depeche he was driving while delivering medicines in Aude when he spotted Alex walking in the rain about 2am on Wednesday while holding a skateboard.
Accidini said: “He was walking while the rain fell in heavy drops. The second time I passed him, I decided to offer to drop him off somewhere.
“He was quite tall and blond, and dressed in black jeans, a white sweater and a backpack. He also carried a skateboard under his arm and a flashlight for lighting. His attitude gave me confidence. He ended up getting into my van …
“During the first few minutes, he seemed a little shy. We tried to speak in French but I noticed that he had not mastered the language. I decided to communicate in English. When I asked him his name, he pretended his name was Zach, and then we continued chatting.
“We talked for over three hours! Very quickly, he gave me his real identity – Alex Batty – before telling me his story.”
Accidini said Alex told him he had been taken in 2017 when he was 11 and had “lived in Spain in a luxury house with around 10 people for three years”.
He added: “He had no animosity towards his mother but he really wanted to find his grandmother. He really missed his loved ones.”
The 26-year-old told Sky News that Alex said he had been hiking in nearby mountains for more than four days in an attempt to return to England.
Accidini said he did not initially believe the story but later agreed to call the police. He said: “After I called the police to explain the situation, when the cops arrived, that’s when I realised the whole story [was real].”
The student said Alex “didn’t have regrets [about leaving the community] … he just wanted to live a normal life, to see his grandmother again and to have a ‘normal’ future – that’s the word that he used.”
In 2018, Caruana made a public appeal for information about Alex on his 12th birthday.
She said her daughter had previously lived in a commune in Morocco with Alex and wanted to provide him with an alternative lifestyle.
“The reason I believe they have done this is because basically my lifestyle, my belief systems, are not what they agree with – just simply living day to day, how normal people do,” Caruana said. “They didn’t want him to go to school, they don’t believe in mainstream school.”
Caruana, who had looked after Alex for three years, had allowed him to go on a holiday with the pair because ill health had prevented her from doing so herself.
Alex had apparently been walking for several days when he was picked up and delivered to the gendarmes in Haute-Garonne.
French social services were looking after the boy before he returned to England. He was also undergoing medical tests. The Toulouse prosecutor said British police were leading the investigation.
After the boy’s disappearance, Greater Manchester police said they did not believe Alex was at risk of serious harm. However, DS Pete Morley said views held by Alex’s mother and grandfather had led police to believe the boy might not be receiving proper healthcare or schooling.
In 2018, Caruana spoke of her anguish, describing Alex as “bright, very cheerful, very affectionate”.
She added: “I love him so much. I’m beginning to think I may never see him again. I just hope this appeal helps to find him. I just die inside a little bit more every day.”
In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said: “We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
