TEENAGER Alex Batty has turned his back on the hippy lifestyle after falling out with his mother, saying: “She’s a great person and I love her but she’s just not a good mum.”
The 17-year-old’s longing to be a normal young man led him to hatch “Le Great Escape” from their rented house in the French Pyrenees.
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Alex Batty today, six years after his disappearance Credit: Louis Wood
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A missing teenager ended six years on the run with a hastily scribbled note to his mum – realizing there was ‘no way to live’ Credit: The Sun
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A well-fed Alex told mum Melanie not to worry as he is capable of looking after himselfCredit: The Sun
Alex told how he left mum Melanie, 43, and grandfather David, 64, after six years wandering around Europe, saying: “I had a falling out with my mum and I just thought I’d leave because I couldn’t live with her.”
Alex walked 22 miles in two days last week before a delivery driver spotted him carrying a skateboard at 3am and stopped.
He allowed the boy to use his phone to text grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana, 68, “Hi grandma, ils(sic) me Alex, call me”.
The driver then took Alex to the police station.
Last Saturday the teenager, who went missing aged 11 while on holiday in Spain in 2017, was reunited with Susan at her home in Oldham, Gtr Manchester.
He recently convinced Melanie to move to a rented country house closer to civilization rather than live in the mountains.
But Alex grew tired of constantly moving and working with Grandpa David in exchange for food and rent.
During his six-year absence, he made only one friend of his own age – a Spanish woman he met in a cafe.
Alex did not go to school for a single day. Instead, he studied languages and studied mathematics and computer science whenever he happened to come across a textbook.
The Manchester United fan first suspected the nomadic life his mum wanted him to have when he was 14 years old.
His feelings became stronger about a year ago as he contemplated his dreams of becoming a computer software engineer.
Alex said: “I first started thinking about leaving when I was 14 or 15.
“I realized that this is not a good way to live for my future. The cloud lifted as I began to weigh everything again – the pros and cons of England.
“I wouldn’t know what would have happened in my future if I had stayed with my mom, but from the past few years I could get an idea of what life would be like.
“Moving around. No friends, no social life. Work, work, work and not study. That’s the life I imagined I’d lead if I stayed with my mom.
“It would always be the same whether it was France or Spain.
“In the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. There are no people my age.
“When I was about 16, I talked to my grandfather about going back to England.
“My mom was against the idea. She was very against the government, against the vax. She was worried that I would be taken into custody if I returned to a country and got an ID card. Her catchphrase was becoming a ‘slave of the system’.
“She wasn’t really open to other opinions, while grandfather is more of a listener.
He always said, ‘I want you to do what’s best for you.’
“Every time he said the reason I came with you was to make sure you were happy and healthy with a roof over your head.”
It comes as…
Alex says he last spent time with his grandfather on Saturday, December 9, as they helped move to a rented property near Chalabre in the Aude region of southern France.
On Monday, December 11, around midnight, with his mother in bed, Alex left the farm.
He filled a backpack with four T-shirts, three pairs of pants, socks, trousers, a skateboard, a flashlight, 100 euros and a Swiss army knife.
His goal was to reach the nearest city, Toulouse 70 miles to the north.
But he wanted to make sure the police didn’t find his mother and grandfather because he feared they might be arrested on suspicion of child abduction.
So he made up a story about walking through the mountains for four days to throw the cops off the scent.
Alex, who used the name Zack Edwards in France, admitted: “I lied to protect my mum and grandad but I realize they will probably get caught anyway.
“I pretended I was on such a long journey for that reason.”
Alex first walked south towards the town of Quillan.
He spent the freezing Monday night outside without food or drink from the mountain springs.
The young man slept for several hours in a wooded area by the road before filling a baguette with tuna in Quillan.
Alex waited around 6pm before leaving town because he was worried his mum – a law graduate from Huddersfield University – might pass him in her car on the way back to Chalabre.
Explaining his plan, he said: “To try to be clever, I went to Quillan and then back. I made it so that when I talked about asking for directions in Quillan and getting lost, it was a half truth.
“I didn’t get lost. I knew exactly where I was going. I just wanted to round it out so it would be a true story. I am a very capable walker. I knew my way around the area, so I knew where there were open springs so I could get water.
“I slept outside on the ground. It was icy. If I needed a toilet, I used leaves and grass.
“My plan was to get to Toulouse and go as far as possible.
“But I was so exhausted when the delivery guy picked me up that I just blurted out the story.
“I thought, ‘Oh Zack, what have you done’. Zack was the name I used when someone asked me.
“I wasn’t even hitchhiking when he picked me up. I walked over the little bridge. He said he stopped because he saw I had a skateboard. It was raining and pitch dark because it was 3 in the morning.
“I told him my story and I don’t think he believed me so he just continued with his work.
“He was delivering packages so I helped him because it was the least I could do. He gave me his phone to contact my grandmother.
“After that, he calls the police and a nearby police car takes me to the nearest police station.
“I’m fucking on the floor thinking ‘Damn, I shouldn’t have said anything’. They took my fingerprints about five times and sent photos to my grandmother.
“Two gendarmes took me to another police station where I took a shower. I sat on the couch and relaxed a bit until the English translator came.
“I spent the night in a foster family on Wednesday and stayed there Thursday and Friday.
“On Friday they told me I could fly home without a passport, and on Saturday I arrived at Toulouse airport and my second grandfather was waiting for me with two policemen and my social worker. I was so happy to see him that I gave him a big hug.”
Alex boarded KLM flight 17.04 to Amsterdam and KLM connecting flight 1081 which landed in Manchester at 20.13.
The police then drove him to his grandmother. Alex added: “When I got back to Manchester it was raining as usual.
“They drove me back to my grandmother’s house and I walked in the door and she was in the living room.
“I started shaking and just hugged him tightly.
“The house is different now, but it still feels the same. The biggest difference is that when I left I was a boy but now I’m 6ft so I’m too big for the bed. It feels great to be back. I got a lot of help from social services and the police and I want to go to college.
“I understand a lot of French, so I won’t let it go.” I will continue to learn.
“I want to go into computer science or cyber security or blockchain development so I’ll be busy learning and catching up.”
Yesterday, the judge decided that Alex remains under special legal protection as a ward of the court.
Grandma Susan will take care of him until he turns 18 in two months.
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Alex hugs his grandmother Susan who was yesterday given custody of him until he turns 18 Credit: Louis Wood
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More pictures of Alex show him on the shoulders of grandfather David Zasluga: The Sun
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Alex before he disappeared Credits: PA
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Alex’s message to his grandmother from FranceCredit: The Sun
How the hall turned into an escape
ALEX Batty left England for a week’s holiday with his mum and grandad – and returned 2,269 days later.
Here’s how it happened:
SEPTEMBER 30, 2017: Flew to Malaga and stayed in a luxury villa in Marbella owned by Melania’s friend.
OCTOBER 7: The trio hitchhiked 400 miles north to Benifairo de la Valldign, near Valencia. They live near Gandija.
AUTUMN 2021: they drive a camper to France without an ID card.
Alex and David are staying at Gite de La Bastide, 25 miles east of Quillan. Melanie lives in Camon, about an hour’s drive away.
DECEMBER: Alex and David join Melanie.
JANUARY 2022: they move to a camp in Balesta.
MAY-SEPTEMBER 2023: in Montbel, but Melanie also travels around France, leaving Alex with his grandfather.
October: Move to the Garden of Eden location near Villefort.
DECEMBER 11: Alex leaves the rented house they were staying in near Chalabre, leaving a farewell note.
DECEMBER 13: He was picked up at 3 a.m. while walking on the road near the Ariege La Pibola camp.
DECEMBER 16: Alex returns to his grandmother’s home in Oldham.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education