Featured Image Credit: GMP Facebook / Gîte de la Bastide
Topics: UK News, Travel, Parenting, World News
Ella Scott
Topics: UK News, Travel, Parenting, World News
The tiny property where Alex Batty was living with his mum and grandad has allegedly been revealed.
Earlier this week, Batty, a 17-year-old from Oldham, was found after going missing six years ago.
The Greater Manchester resident vanished in 2017 when he was just 11 years old and was found on Wednesday by a motorist who saw him walking through the rain near Toulouse.
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A police source allegedly told BBC News that the boy had been taken to a police station by delivery driver, Fabien Accidini, in the early hours of the morning.
As per The Mirror, Batty had been staying alongside his mother and his grandad in the foothills of the Pyrenees when he went missing.
The publication alleges that the isolated property is in the southern French hamlet of La Bastide.
MailOnline claims to have contacted the property owner. However, he would apparently only gave his name as Fred, and declined to comment further.
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Rolande Alibert, a neighbour of Batty and mayor of the hamlet. reportedly said that she saw the teenager leaving the property last weekend.
"I saw him leave carrying a bag at the weekend. He looked OK,” the 76-year-old explained.
“But I didn’t know why he left. It was only after I read about them in the newspaper that I learnt the truth.”
They added: “He was there and always seemed like a very nice and polite young boy.
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“He didn’t speak French, but would always smile and say 'Bonjour' and 'Au Revoir.'”
Elsewhere, Veronique - a part-time waitress at the farmhouse - allegedly told MailOnline that she was familiar with Batty, but knew him by a different name.
“Of course I know him but to us he was not Alex he was Zach,” she reportedly said.
“He lived at a Gite in the other side of the mountain with his grandfather.
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“He said his name was Peter. Now I recognised him from the pictures on the news. They were living at the gite for about two years.”
The mayor also claimed that they regularly saw Batty completing chores in the garden of the property.
Toulouse assistant public prosecutor Antoine Leroy said that Alex was walking for four days after leaving the property.
Police reportedly believe that he slept through the day and hiked at night to remain undetected.
The publication also claims that the northern teen travelled through the town of Quillan, and apparently stopped to buy a takeaway pizza earlier this week.
Cyril Paycheng, who works in the town’s Platanes restaurant, claimed: "Based on the description I think he came in here and ordered a pizza to takeaway.
“He had a skateboard and was wearing walking gear and a beanie hat.”
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The 34-year-old hospitality worker added that he thought Batty ‘seemed okay’ and claimed that there was ‘nothing out of the ordinary’.
As per BBC, the former missing person went on a ‘pre-planned’ holiday with his mother, Melanie, and grandfather, David, who do not have parental guardianship of Alex.
It’s said that the pair have not been located but are wanted in connection with his disappearance.
Batty’s grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruna, has broken her silence on the situation and told The Sun that she had been in contact with her grandson.
She told the newspaper: “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.
"It is such a shock.
“The main thing is that he’s safe, after what would be an overwhelming experience for anyone, not least a child.”
Back in 2018, Caruna told the broadcaster that she thought the child had been taken to a spiritual commune in Morocco.
She also claimed that the pair ‘didn’t want’ Batty to be enrolled in education.
The grandmother said: "They didn't want him to go to school, they don't believe in mainstream school.”
LADbible Group has contacted the property manager for further comment.