Alex Batty: British boy missing since 2017 found in France after ‘walking in mountains for days’

A 17-year-old British boy who went missing in 2017 has been found in France and will return home soon, according to French authorities.

Alex Batty, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, never returned from a holiday to Spain with his mother and grandfather when he was 11 years old.

He was found, after spending six years missing, in the town of Revel, near the southern French city of Toulouse, early on Wednesday morning.

French prosecutors say his identity has been confirmed by his family.

Meanwhile, a medical student told French media that he had spotted Alex walking at night in heavy rain and had offered him a lift.

After initially giving him a fake name, Alex told him his story and said he had been walking in the mountains for more than four days in an attempt to return to England.

Speaking to Le Depeche, he said: “He [Alex] was quite tall, blond. Dressed in black jeans, a white jumper and a backpack.

“He also carried a skateboard under his arm. His attitude gave me confidence. He ended up getting into my van.

“The first few minutes, he seemed a little shy. We tried to speak in French, but I noticed that he did not master the language.

“I decided to communicate in English. When I asked him his name, he pretended his name was Zac, and then we continued chatting.

“We talked for over three hours. Very quickly, he gave me his real identity, Alex Batty, before explaining his story to me.”

According to Le Depeche, Alex told the student that he had been kidnapped by his mother and had lived in a luxury house in Spain with around 10 people as part of a “spiritual community”, before arriving in France in around 2021.

He said Alex originally asked to go to a big city where he could contact an embassy before he convinced him to go to a nearby police station.

Read more from Sky News:
Three found guilty over murder of schoolgirl 27 years ago
New footage released of missing mum
First female referee to take charge of Premier League game

British police ‘alerted to a possible sighting’

Alex went abroad with his mother Melanie Batty, 38, who does not have legal parental guardianship, and his grandfather David Batty, 59, on a pre-agreed trip when he was 11.

He flew with them to Malaga Airport for a week-long stay in the Benahavis area near Marbella. However, the family did not return to England as expected in October 2017.

Despite international public appeals, Alex’s legal guardian – his grandmother Susan Caruana – has not seen him since he left the UK.

She previously said her daughter and ex-husband lived in a commune in Morocco with Alex in 2014 as part of an “alternative lifestyle”, which she thought lay behind the youngster’s disappearance.

Greater Manchester Police said they had been “alerted regarding a possible sighting” and were in contact with French authorities.

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

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “We are supporting a British national in France and are in contact with local authorities.”