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Missing British Teen Found in France to Return Home Soon

by VOA News

   British and French officials said Friday that Alex Batty, the British
   teen who was found this week in France after having been missing since
   2017, will likely return home to Britain in the next few days.

   Batty was 11 when he traveled to Malaga, Spain, with his mother,
   Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty, in October 2017 for what
   was expected to be a short family vacation. They never returned to
   Britain.

   The mother and grandfather, who were not Alex's legal guardians, had
   been wanted in connection with the disappearance since that time.

   In the very early hours of Wednesday, a delivery driver spotted a young
   man walking alone along a rural road in southern France, outside the
   city of Toulouse. The young man was later identified as Alex Batty.

   At a news conference Friday in Toulouse, deputy prosecutor Antoine
   Leroy told reporters that Batty -- who did not speak French -- was able
   to convey to the driver through another person who he was, and that he
   had been missing and wanted protection.

   The prosecutor said that over the past six years, Batty had traveled
   and lived with his mother and grandfather in Morocco, then Spain, and
   finally the Pyrenees mountains in the south of France.

   He said Batty had described a nomadic existence, traveling from place
   to place, but each time living in what were described as "spiritual
   communities" and staying in large houses where several families lived.
   He said they traveled with their own solar panels and a vegetable
   garden.

   The prosecutor said Batty never described incidents of physical abuse
   and was never confined or locked up. At the same time, he said the
   young man was forced to live in the conditions he described and was
   never provided access to any formal education.

   He also said Batty had difficulty identifying specific locations where
   the family stayed.

   The prosecutor said the grandfather is believed to have died about six
   months ago. The mother was planning to move to Finland, at which time,
   he said, Batty decided it was time to part company.

   The prosecutor -- in coordination with British officials -- said Batty,
   who is originally from Oldham, just outside the northern British city
   of Manchester, will be returned to Britain as early as Saturday.
   According to a police statement, he has already spoken with his
   maternal grandmother, Susan Caruana, who is his legal guardian.

   Some information for this report came from The Associated Press,
   Reuters and Agence France-Presse.