Taken into account disappeared six years ago17yearold British teenager Alex Batty, returned to Britain, this Saturday (16), where the house of the maternal grandmother is located who has legal guardianship of the young man. He was found on a mountain in France last week when a driver picked him up in the southern region of the European country.
The boy ran away from one nomadic spiritual community, then located in the French Pyrenees region. He had been traveling alone for around four days and was found hitchhiking near the city of Toulouse in the early hours of last Wednesday (13). After what he told the driver who picked him up, Alex made up his mind flee after his mother told him they were going to Finland. The information comes from the Portuguese newspaper Público.
This Saturday, the teenager flew from Toulouse, France, to London in the United Kingdom. From the British capital he traveled to Manchester accompanied by a family member and security guards.
“I’m pleased to say that Alex has returned safely to the UK after six years,” Greater Manchester Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle told reporters at police headquarters. At that time he explained that it would be necessary to listen to the young man in order to determine whether a criminal investigation should be initiated.
“Our priority is to support Alex and his family to ensure they are safe and their reintegration into society is as easy as possible,” he added.
Now the teenager returns Care of the maternal grandmotherSusan Caruana, legal guardian him since he was a child.
“I cannot express how relieved and happy I am that Alex has been found safe and well,” she told Sky News. “The most important thing is to be safe after what would be a very difficult experience for anyone, let alone a child.”
The French health and social services explained that Alex is in good health and does not appear to have been illtreated during the years he lived in the community. The young man also assured authorities that he had not been subjected to any physical violence in recent years.
Grandmother feared her grandson had been kidnapped
The boy disappeared in September 2017, when he was 11 years old, while on vacation in Marbella, Spain. He revealed that at the time he was taken by his own mother Melanie Batty, who no longer had custody of him, and his grandfather David Batty to live in a nomadic “alternative community” that regularly changed locations.
He was originally supposed to return to his grandmother in October of that year, but that didn't happen. Susan Caruana told the British newspaper The Sun that on the day of her return she only received a video in which Melanie, David and Alex explained that they would not be returning and that “they were happy”. She was worried and had been waiting for news about her grandson ever since.
The prosecutor of the French city of Toulouse, Antoine Leroy, reported that Alex's grandfather died about six months ago and his mother, who remains wanted on suspicion of kidnapping, may already be in Finnish territory, according to the Portuguese newspaper.