WORLD

British boy missing for six years found in France, returns home

December 18, 2023 2 min read

An undated still image shows Alex Batty, British boy missing since 2017 found in France

FILE PHOTO: An undated still image shows Alex Batty, from Greater Manchester, Britain, who went missing in 2017, and has been found in France. Greater Manchester Police/Handout via REUTERS

London [UK], December 18 (ANI): Alex Batty, a British boy who was missing for six years after going on a holiday in Spain, was found in France and has returned safely to the UK, CNN reported citing local police.

Alex Batty went on holiday in Spain with his mother, Melanie Batty and his grandfather in 2017. Now aged 17, he was found near the city of Toulouse in the French department of Haute-Garonne on Wednesday morning, CNN reported citing a spokesperson for regional authorities.

A British boy who was found in France after going missing for six years has landed safely back in the UK, according to local police. “It gives me great pleasure to say Alex has now made his safe return back to the UK after six years,” Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle of Greater Manchester Police, told reporters on Saturday, CNN reported citing UK‘s national news agency, Press Association.

Boyle further said that the teenager met with a family member and UK police officers in the Toulouse airport before beginning his much-belated flight home.

Batty is expected to be reunited with his grandmother, Susan Caruana, who lives in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and is the boy’s legal guardian, according to Press Assciation.

In a statement issued through police, Caruana said she “can’t wait” to see her grandson. “I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well,” she said, adding that her family requested privacy as they welcome him back.

The teenager was recovered earlier this week, from the side of the road by a French motorist, Fabien Accidini, who claimed the boy had been living in a “spiritual community” in the country for the last two years, CNN reported.

Accidini, a chiropractic student, had been delivering medicines to pharmacies overnight when he first came across Batty. After initially giving him a false name, Batty spoke to Accidini for three hours in English and French. “He told me he was kidnapped by his mother five years ago in Morocco. After that he was in Spain. And that he had been living France for the past two years in a spiritual community,” Accidini told CNN affiliate BFMTV. Accidini said the boy described his mother as “a bit crazy.” (ANI)