Disappeared in 2017 after a trip to Spain, a young Briton, named Alex Batty, was found in Haute-Garonne this Wednesday, December 13.
A happy ending. Alex Batty, a child from Manchester (United Kingdom), was 11 years old when he disappeared in Spain with his mother and maternal grandfather. According to information from La Dépêche du Midi, he was found on Wednesday December 13, near Toulouse, six years after his disappearance. “The identity was confirmed by the family after a photographic comparison made by the gendarmes,” the Toulouse prosecutor’s office said this Thursday, specifying that “this is an investigation carried out by the British”.
The facts date back to 2017. The young man then traveled with his mother and his grandfather, who were nevertheless prohibited from coming into contact with him. The 11-year-old child vanished in Spain and no longer showed signs of life. Alex Batty’s grandmother reports him missing to authorities and claims he was kidnapped by his fellow travelers in a cult.
Embraced in a “spiritual community”
A police investigation opens in England but it is the press which will take up the matter. According to British media, the teenager was seen in Morocco and Spain several months after his disappearance. For six years, Manchester police had regularly relaunched investigations by publishing calls for witnesses. According to the regional daily, the young boy’s mother and grandfather, present with him at the time of his disappearance, were part of a “traveling spiritual community” and were staying in tents and caravans between Ariège and Aude in recent weeks.
Alex Batty would have recently left the group before venturing on mountain paths. The young man, on whom checks are underway, was picked up on Wednesday by a driver while he was walking alone on the side of a road. The motorist then took the child to the Revel gendarmerie. According to the regional daily, Alex Batty himself gave his identity. He was placed in the hands of social services.