​Missing boy found alive six years later ​

Alex Batty, from Lancashire, north-west England, was just 11 years old when he went missing during a family holiday in Spain in 2017.

Alex was travelling with his mum, Melanie, 37, and grandad, David, 58, when he vanished without a trace, The Sun reports.

The trip was pre-agreed with his other family members, including his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana, who stayed at home in the UK.

Alex, Melanie and David were meant to come home after a week, but never returned, the publication stated in a separate report.
 

Police launched an investigation into his disappearance, but he remained missing until the now 17-year-old was found in Revel near Toulouse, southern France.

His grandmother and official guardian Susan Caruana, thought they might have adopted “an alternative lifestyle” somewhere abroad.

She said at the time: “They didn’t want [Alex] to go to school, they don’t believe in mainstream school.”
 

The teen is said to have been picked up by a truck driver who then contacted the police.

While he didn’t show any official ID to police who questioned him, he was able to identify himself.

“His face and his story correspond in every way to that of the Briton kidnapped in 2017,” the story went on.

Investigators reportedly think Alex fled a rural community living in the Pyrenees mountains on foot.

Reports also suggest he was living in France where he stayed in tents and caravans with his mum and grandad.
 

He apparently hiked for days before a truck driver picked him up and contacted police.

The teen reportedly told the story of what had happened to him “serenely and calmly”.

He is now apparently with social services while officials wait for his family to come forward.

It is understood Melanie did not have legal parental guardianship of her son.

The first words Alex reportedly said to the driver who picked him up on the side of the road were: “My mother kidnapped me when I was 12 years old.”

Alex was only supposed to be in Marbella, Spain for a week with Melanie and David on the pre-agreed trip, The Sun reported.

His concerned grandmother Susan is said to be “thrilled” that her grandson has finally been found.

“I am so happy. I have spoken to him and he is well,” she told the publication. “I am just waiting for him to come home – I am thrilled.”

This story first appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission