Yahoo News What happened to Alex Batty? Everything we know after six-year disappearance
As he celebrates his 18th birthday, Alex Batty says he has 'got a lot to make up for'
Alex Batty has said he has "got a lot to make up for" after he celebrated his 18th birthday this week.
The teen, who went missing aged 11 in 2017 after his mother, who was not his legal guardian, took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather. They then went “off-grid”, leading a nomadic lifestyle in southern France until December last year, when Alex made the decision to walk out after leaving a note for them.
He was found near Toulouse and reunited with his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana just before Christmas at his former home in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain after he celebrated his 18th birthday this week, the teen described how he has made friends through studying programming in college. But said they don't talk much about his experiences, saying: "We don't really talk about it. I get made fun of about it a lot - one of my friends makes fun of the fact I just went on a really long vacation."
Asked if 'life is good', Batty replied: "Life is very good". He also admitted he has a girlfriend, prompting the presenter to ask: "You're wasting not time here, Alex?", prompting the teen to reply: "No I'm not, I've got a lot to make up for".
Here is a timeline of events since Alex Batty disappeared in 2017:
2017
30 September: Alex Batty flies to Malaga Airport with grandfather David Batty and mother Melanie Batty, who does not have legal parental guardianship, on a pre-agreed week-long trip to the Benahavis area near Marbella.
8 October: They do not return to England as expected. At the time of his disappearance, his grandmother Susan Caruana says she thinks Alex's mother and grandfather might have adopted "an alternative lifestyle" in another country.
2018
Caruana pleads for her grandson to get in touch. She says that when he disappeared, she received a video message from Melanie and David Batty explaining what they had done, with Alex saying it was "a million times better being with his mum and grandad". Caruana said they didn't want the 11-year-old to go to school and didn't believe in mainstream education.
The trio reportedly live in a house in Spain as part of a "spiritual community". According to Alex's grandmother, Melanie Batty and her ex-husband lived in a commune in Morocco with him in 2014.
2021
The Battys reportedly move to France with Alex.
On Alex's 15th birthday his grandmother posted on Facebook that she would "give anything for just one hug", writing: "Alex, please have some pity. I am broken. Please just give me a sign that you're okay."
From autumn 2021, Alex begins living on-and-off in a remote mountain farmhouse in the French Pyrenees after being taken in by a family in exchange for doing jobs around the house. During this time Alex goes by the alias "Zach" and reportedly loved to cook and help in the garden.
Homeowners Frédéric Hambye and Ingrid Beauve, who have children of their own, told MailOnline how they took him on trips to the beach and treated him as a member of the family with a room of his own. David Batty was also reported to have worked at the Gîte de la Bastide as a handyman in exchange for food and accommodation.
Alex would reportedly join his mother "in her successive places of residence between the Aude and Ariège", but would stay with Hambye and Beauve for months at a time. The couple said their farmhouse was not the spiritual community Melanie Batty was searching for.
At some point, Alex tells his hosts of his desire to return to a "normal life" but said he needed to return to the UK to acquire identity documents. The teenager reportedly turns down the couple's offer to drive him to the British consulate and says he will find his own way there.
2023
After deciding to walk out, he is found found walking in darkness carrying his skateboard by French delivery driver Fabien Accidini in the town of Revel.
Accidini, who offered the teenager a lift in the early hours of 13 December, told Sky News that Alex said he lived in a luxury house in Spain with around 10 people as part of a "spiritual community", before moving to France in around 2021.
Alex reportedly told the driver his mother was "a little crazy" but that she "never imprisoned him". Accidini adds: "He had no animosity towards her but really wanted to find his grandmother. He missed his loved ones."
Addressing the whereabouts of Alex’s mother, assistant public prosecutor Antoine Leroy says: “It is possible that the mother at this time has in fact gone to Finland as she planned." After being examined, doctors say Alex is "tired" but overall in good health.
Following his discovery, Alex's grandmother Caruana says: “The main thing is that he’s safe, after what would be an overwhelming experience for anyone, not least a child."
Alex returns to the UK on 16 December, with police saying they will speak "with him at a pace that feels comfortable to him" and determine if "a criminal investigation to ensue".
In an interview published on 21 December, Alex reveals to The Sun newspaper that he decided to return to the UK for a better future, having realised his mother was "a great person but not a great mum".
He describes her as "anti-government, anti-vax", and says he had become fed up of his nomadic lifestyle with “no friends" and “no social life”.
