Alex Batty Found After 6 Years: Escape from Kidnappers and Reuniting with Family

Alex Batty was reported missing six years ago, when he was an 11-year-old boy. He was on holiday in Spain and was kidnapped by his mother and grandfather. His grandmother, Alex’s legal guardian, thought he might have been taken to Morocco.

‘I knew the way’

Last week he turned up near the French city of Toulouse. He told the French police about his special escape route: he crossed the Pyrenees mountain range and is said to have survived for four days on food he found along the way.

There is no truth in that flight story, Alex now tells the British newspaper The Sun. Yes, he had escaped, but he hadn’t been on the road for four days. He walked ‘only’ two days and asked people in the village of Quillan for directions to mislead the police. He actually knew he was on his way to Toulouse, he says. He wasn’t lost.

Grandpa may still be alive

He had made up the story in the hope that the police could not find his mother and grandfather. He was afraid the two would be arrested for kidnapping him. “I now know that they will probably be caught anyway,” he says.

According to Alex, his grandfather is still alive, although the French police previously said they suspected that the man died a few months ago. According to the British boy, ‘his grandfather was open to his stories’, his mother did not want to listen. That’s why he didn’t tell her he wanted to return to England.

Dream of becoming an IT professional

The boy says that a year ago he started thinking about an escape plan. He wanted to become an IT professional and that felt ‘far away’. “I didn’t think my mother’s lifestyle had room for that dream,” he says.

According to French authorities, Alex “led a nomadic life.” The boy said the trio lived in “spiritual communities” and communes in Spain, France and Morocco. They were said to have been obsessed ‘with energy and solar panels’.

‘A lot to catch up on’

Speaking to The Sun, Alex says reuniting with his grandmother in England was ’emotional’. He trembled with joy when he saw her. He wants to learn French and go back to school. “I have a lot of catching up to do,” he says.

2023-12-22 03:23:47
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