A British boy who disappeared aged 11 while on holiday in Spain six years ago has reappeared in France, prosecutors said. A delivery driver found the boy, now a teenager, walking in the rain early Wednesday, carrying a skateboard and a flashlight.
The boy, Alex Batty, from Oldham, England, disappeared in 2017 while visiting Malaga with his mother and grandfather. None of them returned to Britain. Alex’s mother and grandfather, whose whereabouts are unknown, are wanted by British authorities for their role in his disappearance.
Alex’s legal guardian, his grandmother Susan Caruana, said she believed his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty, had sought an alternative lifestyle with Alex on the mainland. Ms Caruana and Mr Batty have not been involved since Alex disappeared.
“The reason I believe they did this is because deep down, my lifestyle, my belief systems, are not what they agree with: just living day to day, like normal people do it,” Ms. Caruana said. told the Guardian in 2018. “They didn’t want him to go to school, they don’t believe in regular school. »
French prosecutors said Alex, now 17, was found in Revel, southwest France. His family members had confirmed his identity using photographs, they said, and he was expected to return to Britain soon. Greater Manchester Police said they were in contact with French authorities.
The delivery man who found him, Fabien Accidini, spotted Alex walking in the rainy darkness around 2 a.m. in Chalabre and stopped to give him a lift, he told the local newspaper. The Dispatch.
Mr Accidini said he spoke with the teenager for three hours before taking him to the police. Alex told her that he had lived in Spain and later France in a traveling spiritual community, but had decided to leave, partly because he missed his loved ones in Britain.
He told Mr. Accidini that he had been walking for four days. Photos have been circulating in the media for years showing a smiling boy with short, light brown hair. Authorities have not released a current photo of the teen.
“It’s Alex Batty, 100 per cent,” Mr Accidini told the newspaper. “When I saw the photos published by the English media, I had absolutely no doubt about his words. I think he’s a little stressed about all this. I hope he can reconnect with his previous life, and maybe one day we will meet again.
Ms. Caruana told the Times of London Thursday: “I spoke to him this afternoon, and it’s definitely him. I was talking to a boy when he was with us, and now I’m talking to a man.
She added: “It’s quite incredible when you don’t know if someone is dead or alive. »
Aurélien Breeden contributed to the report from Paris.
