A British teenager who has been found six years after he disappeared in Spain told a French lorry driver: “My mother kidnapped me when I was 12 years old.”
Startling details of Alex Batty’s years as a missing person emerged on Thursday evening after a lorry driver discovered the 17-year-old walking alone on an isolated country road.
Alex, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, was 11 years old when he did not return from a holiday in Spain in October 2017.
He had visited Spain with his mother Melanie Batty, then 37, and grandfather David Batty, then 58, for a week long holiday near Marbella but a police inquiry was launched to find Alex after the trio did not return home as planned.
On Thursday French prosecutors confirmed they believe they found Alex alive and well near Toulouse in France after he fled a “spiritual community”.
Fabien Accidini, a chirpractic student from Toulouse who has a part-time job delivering medicines by lorry, said he spotted the English teenager on Wednesday.
Mr Accidini told French news outlet La Depeche: “He was walking while the rain fell in heavy drops. The second time I passed him, I decided to offer to drop him off somewhere.
“He was quite tall and blond, and dressed in black jeans, a white sweater and a backpack. ‘He also carried a skateboard under his arm and a flashlight for lighting. His attitude gave me confidence. He ended up getting into my van.
“During the first few minutes, he seemed a little shy. We tried to speak in French but I noticed that he had not mastered the language. I decided to communicate in English. ‘When I asked him his name, he pretended his name was Zach, and then we continued chatting.
“We talked for over three hours! Very quickly, he gave me his real identity – Alex Batty – before telling me his story.
“He said his mother kidnapped him when he was 12 years old. Since then, he had lived in Spain in a luxury house with around ten people.”
Mr Accidini recounted: “He arrived in France in around 2021. In the middle of last weekend, he decided to leave his mother to join his family in England. He had been walking in the mountain for more than four days!
“He lived with his mother in a spiritual community, far away from normal life. Alex told me his mother was a little crazy but she never imprisoned him.
“He could leave if he wanted. He had no animosity towards her but really wanted to find his grandmother. He missed his loved ones.’
Alex said he did not know exactly where he had been living in France, except that it was in the mountains between the areas of Ariège and Aude, Mr Accidini recalled.
After speaking to police, the teen then spent the night in care.
“It’s Alex Batty, 100%. When I saw the photos published by the English media, I absolutely did not doubt his words,” said the driver.
“I think he’s a little stressed about all this. I hope he will be able to reconnect with his previous life and maybe one day we will see each other again!”
French police have confirmed the found person is Alex Batty, while Greater Manchester Police said they were “speaking to his family in England”.
His grandmother and official guardian, Susan Caruana, said in 2018 she believed her daughter and ex-husband had taken him abroad to live an “alternative lifestyle”.
She said at the time: “They didn’t want [Alex] to go to school, they don’t believe in mainstream school.”
David and Melanie Batty have not been located but are wanted by police in connection with Alex’s disappearance.
Ms Caruana had earlier pleaded for the youngster to get in contact with her in 2018, saying: “I just want to say to my grandson Alex, I love you so much and please, please just get in contact.”
In a statement, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
