By Nick Fagge In the French Pyrenees 10:17 December 18, 2023, updated 10:17 December 18, 2023
- Melanie Batty was said to have been living in a caravan at a campsite in the remote French department of Ariège, known for its alternative communities
- Six years after his disappearance, Alex Batty returned to Britain on Saturday evening
The fugitive mother of kidnapped British teenager Alex Batty is a conspiracy theorist who wanted to set up a “spiritual community” in the south of France, Web has learned as Interpol joined the search for her.
Melanie Batty lived in an American-style caravan at a campsite in the remote Ariege department, near where her son was picked up by a truck driver in the middle of the night last week. Since then she is said to have traveled to Finland.
French police said the boy made the decision to flee the “spiritual community” after his mother planned to travel to the Nordic country following the death of his grandfather six months ago.
British expat Susie Harrison has told how she met the refugee – who called herself Rose – at the weekly Esperaza Sunday market, popular with members of alternative communities around the Pyrenees.
“Rose is a conspiracy theorist. She believed that Covid-19 was not real, that is, it was created by the state to control people,” Ms Harrison, 61, told Web.
Melanie Batty (pictured center with her son on the left and her father on the right) – the fugitive mother of kidnapped British teenager Alex Batty – is a conspiracy theorist who wanted to set up a “spiritual community” in the south of France, Web's Susie Harrison, a Friend of Melanie Batty (called Rose by the locals), is pictured in the town of Esperaza. She told how she met the refugee at the weekly Esperaza Sunday market, popular with members of alternative communities in the area. Alex Batty, from Oldham, was 11 years old when he failed to return from a holiday in Spain with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, in 2017. He was married six years ago last week by Alex (pictured left) with his mother Melanie (middle) and his grandfather David (right). His mother is said to be in Finland
“I would talk to her when she was sitting outside the café. The last time I saw her I had a cast on my arm, so I talked about it.
Ms Harrison said she knew Ms Batty lived at a campsite near the village of Chalabre in southern France and gave “therapeutic massages”.
She also suggested that she had seen Alex's grandfather David “two weeks ago” – contrary to French police's statement on Friday that he died six months ago.
'[Melanie] lived on a campsite somewhere [the neighbouring department of] “Ariege,” said Mrs. Harrison.
“I don’t know what she did for a living, but I know she gave therapeutic massages.”
“But she really wanted to create a spiritual community here in the south of France.”
“I don’t know exactly what the community was about, but they wanted to create a special group of like-minded people.”
“Sometimes she was there, her son, who was known as Zach. And her father would be there too. He was called Peter.
“The last time I saw Rose was a few weeks ago. I can't remember exactly when.
“But I saw Peter, her father, two weeks ago.”
“I was hitchhiking to go to the market in Esperaza and he was in the car that stopped. I sat in the back with him. He spoke English so we chatted.
“We drove past a farm with a yurt in the field.
“He told me he helped put up the yurt.”
Ms Harrison is not the first person to say she saw Alex's grandfather alive recently.
While French authorities told a news conference on Friday that Alex's grandfather David died six months ago, neighbors in the hamlet of La Bastide, about an hour's drive south of Carcassonne, said they had seen him less than 10 days ago.
They said David – called Peter by locals, Ms Harrison says – was seen mowing the lawn at Gite de la Bastide. There are no records of his death.
Alex Batty's grandmother Susan Caruana opens the door to reporters at her home in Oldham, Greater Manchester on Friday, before Alex returns to the UK on Saturday
Alex first went missing in 2017 at the age of 11 after his mother, who was not his legal guardian, took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather.
Greater Manchester Police, who had issued a missing persons report for the young woman at the time, are now said to have been working with the European agency Interpol to find her, according to The Sun newspaper.
Like her father, Melanie Batty also had a different name than the locals.
They said the British refugee lived in a huge American-style caravan at the La Pibola campsite until about a year ago.
A woman at La Pibola campsite, who gave her name only as Plume, told Web: “A British woman called Rose lived at this campsite.” She had a large American-style caravan. It cannot be towed by a car. Transport is only possible with a truck.
“She moved about a year ago. She left the caravan here. But the campsite owner ordered her to move it. So she had to arrange a truck to transport it.
“I didn't know her. She was very lonely. She doesn’t speak French, so it was difficult to communicate with her.”
Alex was reunited with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who is his legal guardian, in Oldham on Saturday evening.
He was found on a deserted country road in the middle of the night on Wednesday after fleeing the “nomad” commune.
Since autumn 2021, he lived with his grandfather, who worked as a craftsman, in a remote farmhouse in the hamlet of La Bastide.
He was looked after by the French family that owned the farmhouse and was considered part of the family.
But Alex wanted to return to Britain to get identity papers so he could study computer science at school, the family said.
A statement obtained by Web said: “As far as we know, she (Mrs Batty) was looking for a place to live in a shared house.” La Bastide does not have that ambition. We are not a spiritual community either.'
The statement added: “Over time, we came to see him as part of our family and we believe he appreciated the stability and security we represented for him.”
“We encouraged him to learn and study French.” In particular, we helped him find a school where he could be admitted without any previous education. He showed some aptitude for computers.
The lonely road towards Toulouse where Alex was found walking on Wednesday. Alex was found by 26-year-old Fabien Accidini, a student and delivery driver from Marseille. Alex decided to flee the “spiritual community” and his mother and grandfather in the rural foothills of the French Pyrenees (file image)
“He really wanted to go to school and get back to a normal life – and to do that he needed his ID, which he told us he no longer had.”
“When we found out he didn’t have any ID, we offered to drive him to the British consulate. He told us that he would find a way to return to the UK on his own to buy new things [identity] papers and go back to school. For this purpose, he told us, he set out to visit his mother on December 17th.'
They said they knew Alex as Zach and that he had arrived at the property with his grandfather and mother, although Ms Batty was said to have never lived there.
During his stays, Alex had his own room, unlimited free internet access and the freedom to come and go as he pleased, they said – adding that he also enjoyed cooking, participating in property life and cycling and visit the beach.
They said he also got on well with the couple's children and ate dishes prepared by Ms Beauve and Mr Hambye, including beef stew, chocolate cake and pasta bolognese.
Alex reportedly accompanied the couple to the nearby market to buy tuna sandwiches and meet his mother, with whom Ms Beauve and Mr Hambye said they had little contact.
The couple said the boy had stayed for “some long and short periods of time” and would also visit his mother.
The property is located in Camps-sur-l'Agly, a municipality that had a population of 51 people according to the 2020 French census.
Tourists, hikers, cyclists and horse riders traveling in the area are expected to visit the site.
Alex has returned to his family in Greater Manchester, where he lived as a young boy before disappearing, and police say he is where he wants to be.
His grandmother Susan Caruana previously said she couldn't wait to see him.
Greater Manchester Police are currently considering whether to launch a criminal investigation into his disappearance.
A source said if she had fled to the Nordic country she would have “absolutely needed a passport”, which could make tracing her travel “relatively easy”.
The gite's owners, Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve (pictured), took the British teenager under their wing and treated him like family
“The boy claims that his mother traveled to Finland to see the northern lights, which is why the search for her continues across Europe,” an investigating source in Toulouse said on Sunday.
“That doesn't mean the search has stopped in France – she has been placed here regularly over the years and may still be hiding in the countryside. “There is all sorts of information circulating and a lot of it doesn't add up.”
Focusing on Ms Batty, the source said: “If she had actually traveled to Finland she would definitely have needed a passport.”
“That would make it relatively easy to trace their journey.”