British teen Alex Batty was ‘abducted’ by his mother and grandfather while they were on holiday in Spain in 2017 when he was just 11. After six years, the now 17-year-old was found alive in the French mountainside after he made a desperate attempt to get back to the UK.
Alex Batty disappearance: British teen missing for six years stayed with French family as mum lived in ‘spiritual communities’
Subscribe to listen
Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
Alex Batty was believed to have been abducted by his mother six years ago and has been found in France. Photo / AP
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Following his rescue, it was revealed that Alex’s mother had gone to live in a “spiritual commune”. Now a French family has come forward claiming Alex lived with them for at least two years while his mother pursued her spiritual journey.
Alex Batty’s French life between 2021-2023
Alex, or Zach, as he was known, arrived at the remote Gite de la Bastide with his grandfather and mother in the autumn of 2021, looking for a place to stay, according to the owners of a French farmhouse.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, French farmhouse owners Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve claimed grandfather David Batty was taken on as a handyman in exchange for rent and accommodation for himself and Alex.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
They said they took Alex under their wing and treated him like family.
It is claimed he was taken on regular outings with the family throughout the summer, including trips to the beach and river.
The farmhouse family said Alex would stay with them for weeks or months at a time, and when he wasn’t with them he was with his mum at the commune.
He was keen to help with the cooking and gardening, and was given access to the fridge and unlimited internet access.
Daily Mail reported he would meet up with his mum at the markets in the various villages of the Pryenees.
Alex’s rescue in French mountainside - why he wanted to head home
By luck, French student Fabien Accidini was driving along the road when he discovered Alex in the French mountain range. The British teen had been wandering for four days in an attempt to reach his grandmother in England.
Freezing and exhausted, Alex, holding a skateboard, accepted a ride from Accidini. He revealed to the driver he was making a daring attempt to escape France and get home to England.
“During the first few minutes, he seemed a little shy. We tried to speak in French but I noticed that he had not mastered the language. I decided to communicate in English. When I asked him his name, he pretended his name was Zach, and then we continued chatting,” Accidini told French media.
“We talked for over three hours! Very quickly, he gave me his real identity — Alex Batty — before telling me his story.
“He said his mother kidnapped him when he was 11 years old. Since then he had lived in Spain in a luxury house with around 10 people for three years.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
“He arrived in France around 2021. In the middle of the weekend, he decided to leave his mother to join his family in England. He had been walking for more than four days.”
The student said Alex described his mother as “a little crazy” and “in some bizarre delirium when he was talking about spirituality”.
The French farmhouse owners who claimed to have housed Alex on and off for two years have said Alex told them he was returning to the UK to get identity documents so he could enroll in a local French school to study computer science.
They explained they never knew of Alex’s real identity or abduction until they came across the news report last week.
Daily Mail reported the French family wished Alex good luck in his new life with his grandmother in Manchester.
French prosecutor Antonie Leroy told reporters that when Alex’s mother wanted to move the family to Finland, the 17-year old decided to leave.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
French farmhouse owners’ statement regarding Alex Batty
“Zach [Alex Batty] arrived at our B&B for the first time in the late fall [autumn] of 2021, at the time he was accompanied by his grandfather and mother,” French farmhouse owners Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve wrote.
“He was looking for a place to stay and we offered to stay with us for a few days / weeks in a ‘WorkAway’ type formula in which he contributed to the maintenance of the gite [garden, kitchen help] in exchange for accommodation and food. Zach / Alex had free access to the fridge and our food and loved to cook.
“On Sundays he would accompany us to the market to buy a Bagnat au Tuna [French bread tuna sandwich] and meet his mother. He was also part of our family and had good relations with our kids. We enjoyed time together in the summer, like cycling on rails, visiting the beach, the river, etc.
“He stayed with us for some longer and shorter periods. He left several times to join his mother in her successive places of residence between Aude and Ariege. We didn’t have much contact with his mother and she never lived at the Gite de la Bastide.
“As far as we know, she was looking for a place to live in a community. La Bastide [hamlet] does not have this ambition. Nor are we a spiritual community.
“The last time Zach / Alex came back to us was at the beginning of this summer. As time went on, we saw him as part of our family and we think he appreciated the stability and security we represent for him.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
“He had a room to himself, unlimited internet access and was completely free to come and go as he pleased.
“We were keen to help him [although we didn’t have parental authority since his family were in the area] and we encouraged him to learn French and study. In particular, we helped him find a school where he could be admitted without prior education. He showed a certain aptitude for computers.
“He was eager to go school and get back to a normal life and for that he needed his ID which he told us he no longer had. When we learned that he did not have an ID we offered to drive him to the British Consulate. He told us he would find a way to return to the UK on his own to get new [identity] papers and go back to school. To this end, he told us, he left on Sunday, December 17 to join his mother.
“We reiterated to him that he would always be welcome and that if needed, we were there for him. The rest, as well as his real name and full story, we discovered in the press at the beginning of this week. We wish him the best of luck.”
The whereabouts of Alex’s mother Melanie is not known, although French prosecutors believe she could be in Finland.
It has been reported his grandfather is thought to have died around six months ago.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle of Greater Manchester Police said police “are yet to fully establish the circumstances surrounding his [Alex Batty’s] disappearance” and whether there should be a criminal investigation.
The teenager’s grandmother, Susan Caruana, appealed for the family to be given time and space.
“I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well,” she said in a statement issued through British police.
“The main thing is that he’s safe, after what would be an overwhelming experience for anyone, not least a child. I would ask that our family are given privacy as we welcome Alex back, so we can make this process as comforting as possible.”
Boyle, the British police officer, said detectives would be speaking to Alex “at a pace that feels comfortable to him”.
“No matter what, we understand that this may be an overwhelming process,” he said. “He may now be six years older than when he went missing, but he is still a young person.”
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Heath Moore is an Auckland-based journalist covering trending, breaking, national, and world news. He joined the NZ Herald in 2017.
