The British boy Alex Batty traveled in September 2017 to Spain together with his mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David Batty. The mother and grandfather were not Alex’s legal guardians and the plan was for them to be back in England on October 8 where Alex’s grandmother and guardian Susan Caruana waited. But they didn’t come back.
“I love you, I want to go home”
Six years later, Alex, now 17 years old, is found walking in the rain near the city of Toulouse in France. This was BBC first to report on. The man who found Alex was a delivery man on a motorcycle. He tells the police that Alex told him he had been walking for four days. The man then searched Alex’s name on his phone and could see that the teenager was missing.
Alex asked the man to contact his grandmother and looked her up on Facebook. There he wrote: “Hi Grandma, it’s me, Alex. I’m in France Toulouse. I really hope you get this message. I love you, I want to go home.”
Wanted to live an “alternative lifestyle”
Alex has stated that he has been in France for the past two years. He has lived around the Pyrenees mountain range that stretches through Spain, France and Andorra. However, Alex has not told the police in England where his mother and grandfather are. The Pyrenees are also a well-known place for those who want to live “alternative lifestyles”, writes the BBC.
His grandmother Susan told in one interview 2018 that she believed the mother had taken the boy to live with a spiritual group in Morocco. She has also told that mother Melanie did not want her son to go to school.
To the British newspaper The Sun Susan Caruana has said that she is now happy to know that her grandson is doing well.
Melanie Batty, Alex Batty and David Batty. Photo: Greater Manchester Police.