He was lost for years, but was found safe and sound.

Alex Battyan English boy who disappeared in Spain in 2017 when he was 11 years old has been found in France, authorities said.

The minor, originally from the town of Oldham and currently 17 years old, was found on Wednesday in the town of Revel, east of Toulouse.

Alex disappeared six years ago with his grandfather and mother while on holiday in Spain.

Melanie and David Batty left Manchester with Alex for a week’s holiday in Marbella on September 30, 2017.

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The boy was last seen in the port of Malaga on October 8 that year, the day they were due to return to Britain.

It is believed that the adults moved to a spiritual community and took Alex with them.

The mother and grandfather, who are not his legal guardians, have not been located by authorities.

On Thursday, the young man remained in a center for minors in Toulouse, waiting for British police and consular staff to take him back to England.

Susan Caruana, the Alex’s grandmother and legal guardiancould talk to him.

“I’m so happy. I’ve spoken to him and he’s doing well,” Caruana told The Sun newspaper. “It’s very surprising,” he added.

A police source told the BBC am a driver who took the young man to a police station in France after finding him walking in part of the Pyrenees.

The source added that Alex had been in the European country for two years, according to the minor’s own testimony.

The teen is in good health and showed no signs of abuse.

Meanwhile, the Toulouse public prosecutor’s office confirmed Alex’s identity told the BBC: “It’s about the missing child. The family has confirmed it.”

The minor’s grandmother said his mother and grandfather were looking for an “alternative life” when they disappeared in Spain. Photo: GMP

Grandma’s suspicions

In 2018, Alex’s grandmother told the BBC that she believed the boy’s mother, Melanie Batty, and his grandfather, David Batty, had taken him to a hospital. spiritual community in Morocco.

They were supposedly looking for an ‘alternative’ lifestyle and didn’t want Alex to go to school.

A local journalist told the BBC A delivery man had seen the boy walking along a road in the foothills of the Pyrenees., with a backpack and a skateboard in hand. The man felt sorry for him and picked him up.

“They sat together in the car for three hours and the boy told his story,” explains Remi Buhagiar of the newspaper La Depeche.

‘He said he had lived in some kind of traveling commune. “He didn’t do it out of obligation, but he said he thought his mother was a bit strange and decided he didn’t want this kind of life and wanted to forge his own path. So he decided to leave.” he added.

Alex walked for days, Buhagiar explained.

“He asked the driver if he could borrow his phone and sent a Facebook message to his grandmother, telling her he was fine and wanted to see her. “I wasn’t sure if she got the message,” he said.

Some remote areas of the Pyrenees They are known to attract people who watch alternative lifestyles.

Regarding this case, Manchester Police said they are in direct contact with French authorities.

“This is a complex and lengthy investigation, and we must conduct further investigations and implement appropriate safeguards,” a spokesperson said.