British police begin an investigation into the suspected abduction of the boy Alex Batty, who disappeared six years ago as an eleven-year-old during a vacation in Spain.
The now 17-year-old British boy was found a week ago walking in the rain along a road in southern France. He has now returned to the UK.
In 2017, Batty went on holiday to Spain with his grandfather and mother. The mother did not have custody of the son, but his grandmother.
When Batty was found last week, he had, according to his own statement, run away from his mother. According to the boy himself, he and his mother and grandfather have lived a wandering life in recent years near the Pyrenees in southern France. He is said not to have been enrolled in school.
The whereabouts of Alex Batty’s mother are unclear and his grandfather is believed to have died six months ago.
It is Greater Manchester Police who are opening the investigation after interviewing Alex Batty following his return to the UK.