Alex Batty was a part of our family, French couple say

Alex Batty, the British teenager found in France after vanishing six years ago, spent time living with a family in a remote farmhouse in the Pyrenees, a couple have claimed.

Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve, the owners of Gîte de la Bastide, said that Alex – who they knew as Zach – arrived with his grandfather and mother Melanie Batty. They said she did not live there.

They said Alex, from Oldham, wanted to return to the UK to get documents so that he could study computer science at school.

The 17-year-old was discovered walking alone near Toulouse in south-west France in the early hours of Wednesday having left a “spiritual commune” where he had been living with his mother and grandfather David.

He went missing aged 11 in 2017 after his mother, who was not his legal guardian, took him on a prearranged trip to Spain with his grandfather.

In a statement, the gîte owners said: “As far as we know, she [Ms Batty] was looking for a place to live in a community. La Bastide does not have this ambition. Nor are we a spiritual community.”

Posting on their website, they said Alex did odd jobs in return for food and accommodation, first arriving in 2021.

Ms Batty stayed in “successive places of residence between Aude and Ariège” around 30 miles north and 75 miles west of the farmhouse, according to the couple.

“As time went on, we saw him as part of our family and we think he appreciated the stability and security we represent for him,” they said.

“We encouraged him to learn French and study. In particular, we helped him find a school where he could be admitted without prior education. He showed a certain aptitude for computers.

“He was eager to go to school and get back to a normal life – and for that he needed his ID which he told us he no longer had.

“When we learned that he did not have an ID, we offered to drive him to the British Consulate. He told us he would find a way to return to the UK on his own to get new [identity] papers and go back to school. To this end, he told us, he left on December 17 to join his mother.”

At the weekend, Alex travelled back to Oldham for an emotional reunion with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who is his legal guardian and has never given up hope he would return.

During his stays at the gîte, Alex had his own room, unlimited free internet access, and freedom to come and go as he pleased, the owners said – adding that he also liked to cook and participate in life at the gîte, and he enjoyed cycling and visiting the beach.

They said he got on well with their children and ate dishes prepared by Ms Beauve and Mr Hambye, including beef stew, chocolate cake and pasta bolognese.

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He would reportedly accompany the couple to the nearby market to buy tuna sandwiches and meet his mother, with whom Ms Beauve and Mr Hambye said they had little contact.

The last time Alex came to stay with them was the start of the summer, the owners said.

The property is in Camps-sur-l’Agly, a commune that had a population of 51 in 2020, according to the French census.

Greater Manchester Police detectives were deployed to France and met Alex. With the assistance of the Foreign Office they helped him get back to England.

The force said it needed to fully establish the circumstances surrounding his disappearance before deciding whether to mount a criminal investigation.

“Speaking with him, at a pace that feels comfortable to him, will ultimately determine how this case is progressed and whether there is a criminal investigation to ensue,” said Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle.