Facebook message sent by missing Brit Alex Batty, 17, to grandmother who has waited six years to be reunited with him: ‘Hello grandma, it is me Alex. I love you I want to come home’
- READ MORE: Missing Alex Batty was found by student who offered him a lift
A missing British boy made contact with his grandmother for the first time in six years in an emotional Facebook message, which he sent from the phone of the French student who found him wandering in the mountains.
‘Hello grandma is me Alex i am in France Toulouse i really hope that you recieve this message,’ 17-year-old Alex Batty told his legal guardian in the desperate text, with the heartbreaking sign off ‘i love you i want to come home’.
The teenager, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, in 2017.
Alex’s grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, said in 2018 she believed her daughter and ex-husband David had taken him abroad to live an ‘alternative lifestyle’, and has longed for her grandson’s return for six years.
It has now emerged that Alex spent four days walking across the mountains trying to reach his grandmother in England, with Susan saying she is ‘thrilled’ and in ‘shock’ that her beloved grandson has been found alive and well.
Alex said he had been trekking across the French Pyrenees for four days before Fabien spotted him – and one of the first things Alex did was message his grandmother from the student’s phone to say that he loves her and wants to come home
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, in 2017
Alex’s grandmother Susan (pictured), who was 62 at the time of disappearance, said in 2018 that Melanie and David had previously lived on a commune in Morocco with Alex in 2014 as part of an ‘alternative lifestyle’
Fabien Accidini (pictured), a chiropractic student from Toulouse, was driving along a road in the mountainous region of Aude when he spotted Alex walking along in pouring rain
His grandmother, who was 62 at the time of his disappearance, and said in 2018 that her daughter Melanie and ex-husband David had previously lived on a commune in Morocco with Alex in 2014 as part of an ‘alternative lifestyle’
Speaking from her home news of Alex’s discovery broke, she told The Sun: ‘I am so happy. I have spoken to him and he is well. He is currently with the authorities in France. It is such a shock.
‘I don’t know where his mum is. It is great news. I am just waiting for him to come home. I am thrilled.’
By some stroke of luck, Fabien Accidini, a chiropractic student from Toulouse, had been driving along a road while delivering medicines in the mountainous region of Aude when he spotted Alex walking along in pouring rain at around 2am on Wednesday.
Despite his exhaustion, one of the first things Alex did was use Accidini’s phone to contact his heartbroken grandmother, expressing his wish to return home to her.
‘When he explained his situation to me, I lent him my phone because he never had a means of communication,’ Accidini told La Depeche.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie (left), then 37, and grandfather David (right), then 58, in 2017
‘He sent a message to his grandmother from my Facebook. Unfortunately she didn’t respond. Initially, Alex wanted to go to a big city to find help and join an embassy. But finally, I explained to him that the gendarmerie could collect him.’
Fabien said that a dishevelled Alex had revealed that his mother and grandfather had kidnapped him six years ago and he decided to flee the ‘spiritual community’ they were part of.
Alex said he had been trekking across the French Pyrenees for four days before Fabien spotted him trudging in the heavy rain.
Fabien continued: ‘He was thirsty since he had been walking for several days, so I gave him some water.
And last week, Alex decided flee the ‘spiritual community’ and his mother and grandfather in the rural foothills of the French Pyrenees (file image)
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, in 2017
‘When he explained his situation to me, I gave him my phone because he never had a means of communication.
‘He sent a message to his grandmother from my Facebook. Unfortunately she didn’t respond. Initially, Alex wanted to go to a big city to find help and go to an embassy. But finally, I explained to him that the gendarmes could pick him up.’
Fabien drove Alex to the commune of Revel, near Toulouse in southern France before the youngster told police who he was. Prosecutors say they have now confirmed his identity.
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