ALEX Batty has reportedly sent his grandmother a text from his rescuer’s phone to tell her he was alive after vanishing six years ago.
The British teen is said to have told the lorry driver who rescued him “my mother kidnapped me” and that she “is a little crazy” – but he won’t reveal her exact location.
Greater Manchester PoliceBrit Alex Batty was found alive in France after trekking through the Pyrenees mountains[/caption]
PA: Press AssociationAlex’s grandmother and legal guardian said she has spoken to him and is thrilled he has been found safe[/caption]
Alex, then 11, was travelling in Spain with his mum and grandad in 2017 when he vanished without a trace.
He was found alive and well in France on Thursday after hiking through the Pyrenees mountains for days to escape the “spiritual” commune where he’d been living.
It’s understood the first words Alex, now 17, said to a lorry driver who picked him up on the side of the road were: “My mother kidnapped me when I was 12 years old”.
But the boy is refusing to reveal where he has been living for the last six years, or where his mum is hiding out, the BBC reports.
A police source also told BBC News that the boy had been living in the remote Pyrenean valleys, travelling about from place to place in a sort of itinerant commune.
Fabien Accidini, a student from Toulouse who has a part-time job delivering medicines by lorry, said he spotted the English teenager on Wednesday.
Mr Accidini told 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.”
Accidini added: “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.
“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.”
The young boy, who disappeared in 2017, was only supposed to be in Marbella for a week on a pre-agreed trip with his mum, Melanie, 37, and grandfather David, 58.
However the family never returned home to Oldham, Greater Manchester, leaving his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana devastated.
Alex has reportedly been living in a rural “spiritual community” in the Pyreneese mountains in caravans and tents with Melanie and David.
Following his escape it’s been claimed he’d had enough living an “alternative lifestyle” and decided to leave.
Alex reportedly said he did not know exactly where he had been living in France, except that it was “in the mountains between Ariège and Aude.”
Concerned driver Accidini contacted police and on the way to the station Alex borrowed his phone to message his grandmother and tell her he was alive.
He said: “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.”
It’s unclear what exact age Alex was when he realised he’d been kidnapped.
His concerned grandmother Susan, then 62, thought her daughter and ex-husband might have adopted “an alternative lifestyle” with the 11-year-old somewhere abroad.
Today she spoke to The Sun from her home and said she was “thrilled” that her grandson has finally been found.
She said: “I am so happy. I have spoken to him and he is well.
“He is currently with the authorities in France. It is such a shock.
“I don’t know where his mum is. It is great news. I am just waiting for him to come home – I am thrilled.”
The aunt of the missing teen also spoke out after French gendarmes confirmed he had been found in the south of France.
Maureen Batty, 73, from Nelson, Lancashire, said she is relieved but worries what Alex “will be like” after the six-year ordeal, The Mirror reports.
She said: “I am glad he has been found because we had no idea about where he has been for the last six or seven years.
“I am relieved that he is safe. He is coming home next week.
“I don’t know where his mother or grandad are and they are not pressing Alex about it yet.
“Alex hasn’t had any education while out there, so we don’t know what he’ll be like when he comes home.
“It has affected me. Alex has had it rough. It is a mess.
She added: “I’ve been told that Alex said that he had escaped and he didn’t want to lead that lifestyle. So he is thinking straight on those lines.
” I just want to know the truth about what’s gone on. He is safe now.”
A French police spokesman said: “We can confirm that the young man who has been found is Alex Batty. He is well and providing information.”
In a statement, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities.”
A Greater Manchester Police statement read: “This is a complex and long-running investigation, and we need to make further enquiries as well as putting appropriate safeguarding measures in place.”
PA:Press AssociationAlex was on holiday with his mum Melanie (pictured) in 2017 but never returned to the UK[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationAlex’s grandad David Batty, 58, was also on the trip in Benehavis, near Marbella[/caption]
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