Disappearance of Alex Batty

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Alex Batty
Born (2006-02-13) 13 February 2006 (age 18)
Disappeared8 October 2017 (aged 11)
Port of Málaga, Spain
StatusFound alive on 13 December 2023
NationalityBritish

Alex Batty is a British boy who went missing at the age of 11 in October 2017 and reappeared on 13 December 2023.

Batty disappeared after going on a holiday trip to Spain with his mother and grandfather. During the intervening six years, Batty lived "an off-the-grid life" with them in Morocco, Spain, and then in southwest France. At the age of 14 he decided to return to a more traditional life, and made his escape three years later at the age of 17, when, he said, his mother planned to relocate to Finland. Batty later told Greater Manchester Police that after he left his mother, he headed for Toulouse on foot and was later found by a delivery driver. On 22 December, after interviewing Batty, police confirmed they had launched a criminal investigation into his alleged abduction at the age of 11.

Background[edit]

Batty was born on 13 February 2006.[1][2][3] His father left when he was two years old and he was raised by his mother, Melanie Batty, and maternal grandmother, Susan Caruana.[4] His grandmother later became his legal guardian.[4] He lived in Oldham, Greater Manchester,[5] [6] and attended Hathershaw College.[7]

Batty at times travelled abroad with his mother and grandfather. In 2014, the three stayed in a commune in North Africa.[5][6]

Disappearance[edit]

When Batty was 11 years old, he travelled to Andalusia in Spain with his mother, Melanie Batty, then 37, and grandfather, David Batty, then 58, in September 2017. Neither adult had legal custody of the boy.[5][8] On 30 September, the three flew into Malaga Airport,[5] with plans to stay in Marbella.[9] Caruana had given permission for the two to take her grandson out of the country.[4]

The three did not return to the United Kingdom on 8 October as planned;[5] Batty was last seen that day at the Port of Malaga.[6] Later that day, Batty's grandmother received a message on Facebook with a video of her grandson with his mother and grandfather. In the video, Melanie laid out her reasons for leaving, including that she did not want Batty to attend school.[5][6]

Batty reported in 2023 that he, Melanie, and David had lived a "nomadic life" since 2017, moving from house to house frequently and often living with other families. He said they joined a "religious community" of roughly ten members and said meditation and discussions on reincarnation were common.[10][4] They grew their own food and used solar panels, which they carried from one home to the next,[10] and the adults found odd jobs to make money.[4] He did not attend any official schools.[4]

The trio spent about two years in Morocco, then travelled through Spain into southwestern France.[10] From 2021 to 2023, they lived in and around the Pyrenees mountains.[10]

Batty attempted to enroll at a school in Quillan in November 2023, but was denied admission because he lacked identity papers. School authorities alerted the police about Batty, but the report was not followed up.[11]

Investigation[edit]

After Batty, his mother, and his grandfather failed to return to the United Kingdom, police initially suspected they may have travelled to Melila, Spain in hopes of travelling to Morocco.[5][6] Greater Manchester Police began trying to locate Batty, noting they did not believe he was in immediate danger, but that they were concerned for his welfare.[5][6]

Recovery and return to the United Kingdom[edit]

Batty described the first few years he was away as being like a holiday, where he spent much of his time "reading, drawing, and going to the beach", but said this changed when he was around 14 and was required to work on construction projects for his food and upkeep.[12] It was at this point he began thinking about returning to the UK. "I started weighing up the pros and cons of each 'lifestyle' and after a couple of months I realised... England was definitely the way forward."[13] After deciding he would leave, Batty wrote his mother a goodbye note, telling her "how much I loved her, how much I appreciated what she had done for me. I didn’t want her to worry about me". He said he then took a warm jacket, his skateboard and some money, and left in the "pitch black" night while it was "raining quite a lot".[12]

On 13 December 2023, Fabien Accidini, a 26-year-old Toulousain chiropractic student working as a deliveryman, was driving between Camon and Chalabre[14] when he came across Batty, who was walking alongside the road at 3 a.m., carrying a backpack, a torch, and a skateboard.[10][4] Accidini passed him and made a delivery, then encountered him again as he returned along the same route.[14] He pulled over and offered Batty a ride, which was accepted. Batty initially gave Accidini a false name, but divulged his real identity after a few minutes. They spoke together in French and English over the next three hours as Accidini completed his deliveries of medicines to pharmacies.[10][15] Batty then used Accidini's mobile phone to text his grandmother.[10] He texted: "I love you, I want to come home."[16] Accidini took Batty to Revel, Haute-Garonne, where he handed him over to the police.[11]

Hoping to protect his mother and grandfather from prosecution, Batty initially said he left his mother after she told him she wanted to move to Finland and that his grandfather had died several months earlier.[10] He said he had been walking on his own for four days, sleeping during the day and eating food foraged from gardens, heading for Toulouse in the hope of finding a British consulate that would help him return to the UK.[10][4] He later said he had walked for just two days.[13] After Batty's discovery, French authorities took Batty into custody. They later confirmed he was "in good health" and "[did] not appear to have been abused".[8]

Batty returned to the UK on 16 December, where he was expected to live with his custodial guardian, his maternal grandmother.[8] In an exclusive interview with British tabloid newspaper The Sun, made public on 21 December 2023, he said he had fabricated a story about a four-day journey, in the hope that it would prevent police from tracking his family down.[17][18]

On 22 December Greater Manchester Police confirmed that they had interviewed Batty and had launched a criminal investigation into his alleged abduction at the age of 11.[19][20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hill, Patrick (11 February 2024). "'Kidnapped' Alex Batty has started dating and says 'life's so much better' in UK". The Mirror. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  2. ^ Blakey, Ashlie; Clyde-Smith, Imogen; Scheerhout, John (16 December 2023). "LIVE: Alex Batty set to return home from France in the next few days – updates". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  3. ^ Bolton, Will; Samuel, Henry; Bowen, Flora (15 December 2023). "Alex Batty: What happened after he was abducted by his mother". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Breeden, Aurelien; Castle, Stephen (15 December 2023). "Missing Boy Who Was Found in France Is Expected Back in U.K. Soon". New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Missing boy Alex Batty 'taken to live alternative life', grandmother says". Sky News. 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Alex Batty case: Mum and grandfather wanted over 'abduction'". BBC News. 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  7. ^ Yates, Joe (17 December 2023). "Oldham: More details on Alex Batty's time in France emerge". Oldham Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Townsend, Mark; Willsher, Kim (16 December 2023). "Alex Batty expected back in UK six years after vanishing on holiday in Spain". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Alex Batty case: Grandmother 'broken' by boy's disappearance". 25 February 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lawless, Jill (15 December 2023). "Declared missing as a child, British teenager lives off-grid for 6 years, then pops up in France". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  11. ^ a b Davis, Barney (16 December 2023). "Missing boy Alex Batty to be flown home to UK today". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b Nicholls, Catherine (22 December 2023). "British boy who went missing in France for six years says being back home feels 'surreal'". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  13. ^ a b Gregory, James; Moritz, Judith (22 December 2023). "Alex Batty: Police launch abduction investigation into disappearance of British teen". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  14. ^ a b Rimbert, Julie (14 December 2023). "Jeune Britannique enlevé: 'Il m'a dit qu'il voulait une vie normale', raconte l'homme qui l'a retrouvé au bord de la route". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  15. ^ Szaniecki, Maya; Ataman, Joseph; Danaher, Caitlin; Hardie, Alex (14 December 2023). "British boy missing for six years found in France". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Alex Batty: Teen from Oldham missing for six years found in France". BBC News. 14 December 2023. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  17. ^ Alex Batty tells of his extraordinary escape in first ever interview on YouTube
  18. ^ "Alex Batty interview: Teen tells the Sun he lied about escape to protect mum". 22 December 2023. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  19. ^ Vinter, Robyn (22 December 2023). "Police launch investigation into alleged abduction of Alex Batty". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  20. ^ Brown, Shauna (22 December 2023). "Friday evening news briefing: Police launch investigation into Alex Batty's alleged abduction". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
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