A teenager from Britain who vanished six years ago has been discovered in southern France, fleeing from a spiritualist mountain community, according to a driver who saw him and alerted the police.
Local authorities confirmed the teenager’s identity as Alex Batty, originally from Greater Manchester. The Toulouse public prosecution office spokesperson stated that he will be returning to England soon, and that the criminal investigation into his disappearance is being led by British authorities.
Batty, who was 11 years old at the time, went missing during a trip with his mother and grandfather to Malaga, Spain, in 2017.
According to a delivery driver named Fabien Accidini, Batty had been wandering along a highway in the region around Toulouse after marching for four days from the mountains. The driver’s account was reported by La Depeche.
The teenager had apparently been living among a spiritual community in the Pyrenees mountains, known as a destination for Europeans seeking an alternative way of life. The whereabouts of Batty’s mother, who vanished with her son, are unknown.
Accidini reported that Batty told him his mother had a somewhat bizarre spiritual mindset and was staying in the mountains with a group of people. He also stated that Batty appeared to be happy to have left the community, despite not seeming miserable while living there.
Greater Manchester Police had been contacted by French authorities earlier on Thursday regarding a possible sighting of the teenager.
Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro and Tassilo Hummel in Paris, with additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan in London. Edited by William Maclean and Josie Kao.
