Is Alex Batty going to return to the U.K. and his grandmother?

Any true crime aficionado would be absolutely giddy to explain just how wild it is that Alex Batty reappeared after six eerily silent years.

The story goes like this: In 2017, eleven-year-old Alex Batty was living in Greater Manchester with his grandmother, Susan Caruana, who was the boy’s legal guardian. He was taken on a trip to Spain by his mother and grandfather, Melanie and David Batty. Rather than return to the U.K., the duo went off the grid, taking the child with them. 

What followed, according to Alex’s account, was six years of a “nomadic lifestyle,” living off the grid using portable solar panels. The family traveled across Spain, Morocco, and France, focusing on new-age religious principles and growing their own food. At some point around the summer of 2023, authorities believe David Batty passed away, though no other details were immediately available.

Is Alex Batty coming home?

Then, in December 2023, Alex says that his mother announced her plans to migrate from France to Finland. Alex was apparently less than thrilled about this idea, and split off from his mother, walking across the south of France for four nights, eating what he could find, before being spotted by a concerned delivery driver outside Toulouse. After a brief attempt at concealing his identity, a quick internet search of his name by the man who discovered him prompted a hasty visit to the police, as well as a presumably shocking text message to Batty’s grandmother after six long years: 

“Hello grandma it is me Alex i am in France Toulouse i really hope that you receive this message i love you i want to come home.”

Alex Batty’s text message to his grandmother

The Independent later reported that Alex and Susan had spoken via a brief video call and that Caruana was “satisfied” that the teenager was, in fact, her grandson. Now, the assistant public prosecutor in Toulouse, Antoine Lero, has assured that Alex will be returned to his grandmother in the U.K. He will be accompanied by “several British police officers” as he takes a flight to London and is expected to arrive on Dec. 16, 2023.

Though Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Chris Sykes, has communicated his elation at finding Batty safe, French law enforcement has expressed skepticism at Alex’s stated uncertainty regarding his exact whereabouts over the last few years, with the Associated Press reporting that he and his “spiritual community” had been wandering “roaming in the region of the Pyrenees mountains,” which isn’t spectacularly specific.

Alex’s mother, Melanie Batty, remains unaccounted for, with authorities stating that she probably did exactly what she said she’d do and traveled to Finland. Meanwhile, British law enforcement is expected t o continue looking into the events surrounding Alex’s disappearance.