Police allegedly missed the chance to spot missing boy Alex Batty, but nobody was said to have recognised him.
Alex, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was just 11-years-old when he was reported missing in October 2017.
The boy went to Spain was his mother Melanie Batty, then 37 - who was not his legal guardian - and grandfather David Batty, who was 58.
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Authorities think that he may have been abducted.
However, newspaper La Depeche provided a big update on Thursday.
They said: "Although he did not show any official document to the gendarmes who took him in, this young 17-year-old boy provided his identity on his own.
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"His face and his story correspond in every way to that of the Briton kidnapped in 2017.
"This Thursday the Toulouse public prosecutor confirmed that it is indeed Alex Batty.
"His story has been verified and appears to correspond to reality.
"Following this hearing, the teenager was entrusted to the department's social services, while waiting for his relatives to come forward."
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In a statement issued on Friday, Alex’s grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana said: “I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well.
“I spoke with him last night and it was so good to hear his voice and see his face again. I can’t wait to see him when we’re reunited.
“The main thing is that he’s safe, after what would be an overwhelming experience for anyone, not least a child.
“I would ask that our family are given privacy as we welcome Alex back, so we can make this process as comforting as possible.”
At a press conference on Friday, Toulouse assistant public prosecutor Antoine Leroy told reporters that the 17-year-old’s mother may be in Finland and his grandfather died six months ago.
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Now, an investigating source has since told La Depeche that Alex's mother tried to enrol him at a school in Quillan, south-east France, last month.
Since the 17-year-old could barely speak French and was without identification papers, the school allegedly contacted UK police, according to La Depeche.
"The gendarmes tried to contact the English authorities," the source said.
They claimed 'there was a hiccup which did not allow the report to be followed up'.
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"Collaboration [between the French and the British] did not make it possible to establish a link between the presence of Alex Batty in Quillan and his disappearance notice issued seven years earlier in England," the source added.
Well, Greater Manchester Police say he is now being 'well cared for' by French authorities and Alex is expected to return to the UK over the weekend.
LADbible has contacted GMP for comment.
Featured Image Credit: PA/GMPTopics: Crime, Parenting, UK News, World News, Travel