He had disappeared in France six years ago and he was suddenly found yesterday, while he also sent a message to his grandmother, in which he said: “I love you, I want to come home.” The reason for a teenager from Britain, who was spotted on a French road by a driver.
Alex Baty disappeared in 2017 while on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather. Neither has parental custody of the 17-year-old and they remain wanted for his disappearance.
Alex is in a youth center in Toulouse and may later return to the UK with police and consular officials.
A police source said earlier in the BBC News that the boy had been taken to a police station by the concerned driver, who had spotted him on a road in the foothills of the Pyrenees early on Wednesday morning.
“He explained that he had been walking for four days, that he started from a place in the mountains, though he did not say where”, said driver Fabian Assindini. “I put his name online and saw that he was wanted,” she said.
Assindini told local media that the teenager’s plan was to find a big city with an embassy to ask for help. Instead, the driver contacted the French authorities for help.
Alex used Assindini’s Facebook account to contact his grandmother in the UK. He wrote: “Hi Grandma! I’m Alex. I am located in Toulouse, France. I really hope you get this message. I love you and I want to come home”.
According to the BBC, Alex’s grandmother Susan Caruana, who is also his legal guardian, is too frail to travel to Toulouse, but told The Sun newspaper that she had been in touch with him.
“I’m so happy. I spoke to him and he is fine,” he said. “It’s a big shock.”
The French public prosecutor’s office in Toulouse has officially handed over the case to British police and the case is no longer under French jurisdiction. A team of British police and consular officials are expected to pick up Alex and return him to the UK as early as today, Friday.
Alex reportedly lived in the remote valleys of the Pyrenees, traveling from place to place in a sort of wandering community. The area at the foot of the Pyrenees is known for attracting people looking for an alternative lifestyle.
Alex, from Oldham, Manchester, will not say where his mother is or exactly where she lived in the Pyrenees, the prosecutor’s office told the BBC.
His grandmother told the BBC in 2018 that she believed Alex’s mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David Batty had taken him to live with a spiritual community in Morocco. He said at the time that they were looking for an alternative lifestyle and didn’t want Alex to go to school.
The two left Manchester with Alex for a week’s holiday in Marbella, Spain, on September 30, 2017. He was last seen in the port of Malaga on October 8 that year, the day they were expected to return to the UK.
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
