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, never returned from a holiday to Spain with his mother and grandfather when he was 11 years old.
However, he was found in the town of Revel east of Toulouse early on Wednesday morning, following reports of a sighting.
French prosecutors say his identity has been confirmed by his family.
A student who spotted him walking at night in heavy rain told French media he offered the teenager a lift and after speaking for a while, Alex told him his story.
He said he’d been walking in the mountains for more than four days in an attempt to return to England.
He reportedly said he’d been kidnapped by his mother and lived in a luxury house in Spain with around 10 people, arriving in France around 2021.
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.
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 – had 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.”
A spokesperson for 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.”
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