Kidnapped teenager Alex Batty’s mum told a friend she “had to leave” in a late-night rush from her remote hideout in France – hours after learning he was returning home to the UK.
Melanie ran away from the rented house after Alex reappeared after six years on the run in Europe.
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Alex has returned to the UK after being gone for six years Credit: Louis Wood – Commissioned by The Sun
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Alex Batty’s mum Melanie told a friend she ‘had to go’ on a late night run after finding out her son was heading home to the UKCredit: The Sun
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The pungent smell of incense was still present in Melania’s remote hideaway after she fled the rented property Credit: Ian Whittaker – Commissioned by The Sun
She is believed to be traveling with a close Italian friend called Fabrizio whom she calls her student – but has vowed to her landlord: “I will be back.”
Melanie, 43, wrote in an email: “I’m sorry but we had to leave in the middle of the night. I expect you’ve seen the news by now.”
She grabbed belongings, including her cat Sky, after realizing Alex, 17, was returning to Britain.
But suitcases full of clothes, Alex’s PlayStation game, laptop, books, games, healthy food and milk were all left at the property in the Pyrenees.
Alex left Britain aged 11 with mum and dad David, 64, in 2017 for what he believed was a week’s holiday in Spain.
He finally came out on Monday, December 11th, tired of the family’s hippy lifestyle and determined to get a good education.
Alex is now back in Oldham, once again with his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana, 68.
Melanie and Fabrizio left the £480-a-month four-bed house in the hamlet of Villefort, near Chalabre in the Aude, on Friday 15 December.
Landlord Tony Smith (81) knew her as Rose, while David called himself Peter and Alex was Zack.
He said: “When Alex was doing the runner she must have thought the game was over and it was time to go.
“She started making plans while paying my rent two days before she left and packed and cleaned the whole house, putting all the things she was leaving in the attic.
“She took her tabby. She adored that cat, Sky.”
On December 16, Melanie sent Tony an email saying: “I’m sorry but we had to leave in the middle of the night. I expect you’ve seen the news by now. I left the keys on the bar.”
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Alexa’s PlayStation games console was abandoned at Melania’s residence in the Pyrenees Credit: Ian Whittaker – Commissioned by The Sun
He said: “I didn’t see the news. A friend told me the next day.
“I had no idea what was going on and was shocked that Rose was Melanie and Zack was Alex.
“I can’t find the keys anywhere. She left a lot of personal things and I think that’s why she’s keeping them — so she can come back and get her things.”
The pungent smell of incense was still in the air when Tony arrived at the property after Melanie had left.
Last Wednesday, she sent Tony another email saying, “I’ll be back one day.”
Tony said: “She wants to come back. I am sure. She was much loved.”
Tony — originally from Oldham like the Battys — spoke after The Sun’s exclusive first interview with Alex.
He met Melanie last summer at the Cafe de Sports bar in the small mountain town of Chalabre.
He said: “She would come into town to do some shopping and then have a drink.
“One afternoon she was talking to someone on the phone and I thought ‘I know that accent’.
“I said, ‘I know where you’re coming from,’ and we just accepted each other.”
In early November, she admitted to him that she needed a place to stay after receiving “marching orders” from the commune she was in.
He said: “I was told she was ordered to leave. I had an apartment in a nearby village that I said she could move into, but she would have to pay me and she agreed.”
On December 5, Melanie moved into the renovated barn.
Tony said: “At first it was just Melanie. Then she introduced me to Alex and David — her father.
“I knew them as Rose, Zack and Peter. David only stayed in the house a few times, and Alex moved in later.
“Melanie brought David and Alex to meet me so I could give them a job decorating another house I own.
“I remember Alex asking me how he could get an education and I told him it was too late to start – I suggested he join the army.”
Tony added: “She became quite fanatical about all this spiritual stuff.
“She called Fabrizio her disciple.”
He discovered that Melanie had turned off her phone and was using email to chat with friends.
He said: “I don’t think she wanted to leave. She really tried to fit into the community and create a life for herself here.”
Another friend said Melanie contacted her to say she was “tired of running” but “feels like she has no choice”.
A friend said: “She thinks she’s on some sort of mission from God and says she’s given her life over to a higher spirit.”
The neighbor said Melanie was last seen on Tuesday getting into a white car belonging to Fabrizio.
Tony said: “I think he’s in Spain now. Either that or the commune is helping her.
“I told her to turn herself in so that all of this could be resolved.
“She will have very little money. She gave me the last of her money to pay off my debt, which was nice of her.
“She is a good person and I believe the only crime she committed was that she loved her son.”
Tony’s statement comes after Alex said Melanie is “anti-government and anti-vax” and likes to use the phrase “slave to the system”.
Tony said Melanie seemed to be obsessed with conspiracy theories and once revealed: “You don’t know how far and how deep this goes.”
He added: “She said it involved some people in a high position. I took it with a grain of salt, but now I think she was serious.
“All the French called her the computer lady because she was always on her laptop. I’m convinced she was writing a book.
“She was always working on it and never let me see it. That must have been the whole saga going on. She said it was a group of people.”
Alex told The Sun that he clashed with his mum over her hippie lifestyle.
He said: “She’s a great person and I love her, but she’s just not a great mum.
“I had a fight with my mum and I just thought I’d leave because I can’t live with her.”
Greater Manchester Police are treating his case as a kidnapping.
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A suitcase full of laptops was also left there Credit: Ian Whittaker – commissioned by The Sun
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Exterior of derelict property Credit: Ian Whittaker – commissioned by The Sun
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education