British boy missing since 2017 Spanish holiday ‘found in France’

A British boy who has not been seen by his legal guardian since he went missing on a family holiday to Spain in 2017 has reportedly been found in France.

Alex Batty, from Oldham, was 11 and under the guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana, when he was allegedly abducted by his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.

After his disappearance, Caruana said she believed her ex-partner and her daughter had run away with the boy because they wanted him to have “an alternative lifestyle”.

On Thursday, the French newspaper La Depeche reported that officials had confirmed Batty, now 17, had turned up in the town of Revel, in southern France.

Greater Manchester police said officers in Oldham were in contact with the French authorities to establish the authenticity of the report.

A spokesperson for GMP said: “This is a complex and long-running investigation, and we need to make further inquiries as well as putting appropriate safeguarding measures in place.”

The boy went missing after a pre-arranged holiday in Málaga with his mother and grandfather.

In 2018, Caruana made a public appeal for information about Alex on his 12th birthday.

She said her daughter had previously lived in a commune in Morocco with Alex and wanted to provide him with an alternative lifestyle.

“The reason I believe they have done this is because basically my lifestyle, my belief systems, are not what they agree with – just simply living day to day, how normal people do,” Caruana said. “They didn’t want him to go to school, they don’t believe in mainstream school.”

Caruana, who had looked after Alex for three years, had allowed him to go on a holiday with the pair because ill health had prevented her from doing so herself.

According to Le Midi Libre, a teenage boy was spotted hitchhiking in the Aude area on Tuesday 12 December. The lorry driver who picked him up did not speak English, but felt something was odd. He realised the boy had apparently been walking for days and decided to take him to the gendarmes in Haute-Garonne.

The newspaper said the boy told officers he was called Alex Batty and had been living in a community that he had decided to leave.

He appeared to have walked along mountain paths for several days. French social services were looking after the boy before he returned to England. He was also undergoing medical tests. The Toulouse prosecutor said British police were leading the investigation.

After the boy’s disappearance, Greater Manchester police said they did not believe Alex was at risk of serious harm.However, DS Pete Morley said views held by Alex’s mother and grandfather had led police to believe the boy may not be receiving proper healthcare or schooling.

In 2018, Caruana spoke of her anguish, describing Alex as “bright, very cheerful, very affectionate”.

She added: “I love him so much. I’m beginning to think I may never see him again. I just hope this appeal helps to find him. I just die inside a little bit more every day.”

In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said: “We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities.”