A British boy Alex Batty, who had been missing for six years and was found near Toulouse in France, has safely returned to the UK, as reported by local police. Alex, now 17, disappeared during a holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather in 2017. The Greater Manchester Police confirmed his safe return, and Alex is expected to be reunited with his grandmother, Susan Caruana, who is his legal guardian. The boy’s grandfather passed away approximately six months ago, and his mother, who lacks legal parental guardianship, is reported to be in Finland. The family has requested privacy as they welcome Alex back.
The teenager was recovered this week from the side of the road by a French motorist, Fabien Accidini, who claimed the boy had been living in a “spiritual community” in the country for the last two years.
Accidini, a chiropractic student, had been delivering medicines to pharmacies overnight when he first came across Batty. After initially giving him a false name, Batty spoke to Accidini for three hours in English and French.
“He told me he was kidnapped by his mother five years ago in Morocco. After that he was in Spain. And that he had been living France for the past two years in a spiritual community,” Accidini told CNN affiliate BFMTV. A British boy
Accidini said the boy described his mother as “a bit crazy.”
Speaking to the BBC, a local from Quillan – the town where Alex was found – described how the area was home to a community of international nomads who have shunned a “normal life.”
“A lot of people here think they’re wrongdoers, high on drugs, but you find drugs everywhere. They just want an alternative life,” she told the outlet.