Missing Alex Batty (17) from Oldham in England has been found after 6 years, the French authorities report.
The 17-year-old was found in the town of Revel in the east of Toulouse in the south of France early Wednesday morning.
Batty was according BBC 11 years old when he disappeared during a holiday he was on with his mother and grandfather.
When they did not return home as expected on 8 October 2017, a massive police investigation was launched. It was assumed that the mother and grandfather had abducted the 11-year-old.
“Missing” for eight years: Speaking out
Worried
The BBC is informed that the boy was taken to the police station by a concerned delivery boy.
Batty himself is said to have said that he has been in France for two years.
According to the BBC, he is in good shape and there are no signs that he has been mistreated in any way.
The delivery boy is said to have observed Batty walking along a motorway in the Pyrenees mountain range which borders France and Spain. It was raining heavily and the courier felt sorry for Batty, so he offered the 17-year-old a ride.
Found in good condition
Alternative lifestyle
Batty and the delivery boy spent three hours in the car together. During the drive, Batty allegedly told the driver that he lived in some kind of alternative society.
He did not want the same lifestyle as his mother and decided to escape his way.
Batty’s grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, told the BBC in 2018 that she believed his mother and grandfather had taken him to a spiritual community in Morocco, writes Kanalen.
They reportedly wanted to live an alternative lifestyle and did not want Alex to go to school.
Investigating revenge motives
Contacted the grandmother
Batty allegedly asked to borrow the driver’s phone and sent a message via Facebook to his grandmother, saying he was fine and wanted to meet her.
He wasn’t sure if she got the message, he told police.
British police have been contacted by the embassy in Paris.
2023-12-14 16:07:30
#Boy #missing #years #France
