18 December 2023 , 23:05
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Alex Batty’s mum appears to have abandoned her campervan and may have gone to see the Northern Lights in Finland, it has been reported.
Alex went missing more than six years ago with his mother Melanie and grandfather David Batty in September 2017 while on holiday in Spain. And suddenly last Wednesday, now aged 17, he reappeared near Toulouse after being picked up by a delivery driver.
He is back in the UK for Christmas after reportedly living an “alternative” lifestyle. He left the spiritual community, crossed the Pyrenees and headed back to his home in Oldham after being looked after by French authorities. But the question remains what has happened to Melanie who did not have parental guardianship over her son, with Susan Caruana, his grandmother, legally responsible for looking after him.
Alex Batty is back home in Oldham (PA)Alex told French police that it is possible his 43-year-old mum had gone to Finland to see the Northern Lights but that was considered to be “unlikely” by the authorities due to the fact she is on the run from Interpol, it has been reported.
The most likely possibility is that she is still in the same area over France as where Alex was living and she had her campervan that is reportedly abandoned, sources have said.
Missing British boy who vanished in Spain 6 years ago found alive in France
A French source told The Sun: “Alex said his mother wanted to go to Finland to see the Northern Lights. We must ask how she was able to book a plane ticket while on an Interpol list. It seems unlikely.”
They also added: “There is every possibility that Alex’s grandfather, David Batty, is still alive. There does not seem to be a death certificate, or any other kind of official confirmation of his death.”
Melanie is understood to have lived in a caravan on a campsite in France’s remote Ariege region, using the name Rose. Expat Susie Harrison, 61, who knew her, said Rose gave massages and wanted to set up the commune in the south of France.
She said: “Rose is a conspiracy theorist. She believed that Covid-19 was created by the state to control people.” Alex told French police he left after she planned a move to Finland.
Alex flew home on Saturday to be reunited with his gran Susan Caruana, 68, in Oldham, Greater Manchester. He said: “I’m glad to be home for Christmas.” Police will be speaking to him this week. It is believed he was taken by his mum and her dad David Batty, 64, to live an alternative lifestyle in Morocco. They later lived in Spain and most recently the Pyrenees.
In 2021, Alex began living with his grandad in a village property 35 miles from Perpignan. Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve, who own the home, said Melanie lived nearby in a “spiritual” community. Reports suggested David had died six months ago, but Ms Harrison said she saw the man she knew as Peter two weeks ago.