The man who picked up missing English teenager Alex Batty while driving in a remote area of south-west France has described the chilling six words the youngster used to describe his mother. When the driver Fabien Accidini picked Alex up on the roadside near Toulouse, the now 17-year-old admitted: “My mum is a little crazy.”
Alex is due to return to Britain later today, having made contact with his grandmother, Susan Caruana, in an emotional text. Ms Caruana, who lives in Oldham, Greater Manchester, has said she “can’t wait” to see him.
Mr Accidini, a chiropody student, told BFMTV he had become concerned after spotting the young man walking alone in the driving rain, with a skateboard tucked under his arm.
He said: “I said to myself, ‘That’s strange. It’s 3 am in the morning, it’s raining, he’s all by himself on the road between two villages.”
Mr Accidini stopped and asked the boy if was okay, whether he needed help and if he wanted to be dropped in a village.
Initially the teen was suspicious, giving the name Zac – but also said he was “very, very tired”.
Mr Accidini continued: “Once he felt reassured, he gave me his real name and told me that he had been kidnapped by his mother five years ago.”
Mr Accidini said the teenager told him he had been hiking in nearby mountains for more than four days in an attempt to return to England.
He also admitted to living in France for the last two years “in a spiritual community that was a bit strange”, adding: “My mum is a little crazy.”
In a candid admission, Alex told Mr Accidini he had “had enough”, was aged 17 and “needed a future”.
He then used Mr Accidini’s phone to seen a text message to his grandmother, saying: “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 was aged just 11 when he disappeared with mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David Batty on a family trip to Spain in September 2017.
It is believed Alex had been living an “alternative” lifestyle with his mother and grandfather while missing.
Alex told French investigators that he, his mother and her father had moved from house to house, carrying their own solar panels, growing their own food, living with other families, meditating and contemplating reincarnation and other esoteric subjects.
Police officer Lea Chambonniere said: “It was a nomadic life. The only constants, the only things they carried with them, were the solar panels and their vegetable plants.”
The teenager decided to put an end to his roaming, parting ways with his mother after she told him she wanted them to move again – to Finland, said French prosecutor Antoine Leroy.
He and Chambonniere, a commander in the gendarmerie, spoke at a news conference in the southwestern French city of Toulouse.
Mr Leroy said: “When his mother indicated that she intended to leave for Finland with him, this young man understood that this journey had to stop.”
He said he could not employ the term ‘sect’ to describe how the mother, grandfather and Batty lived.
Mr Leroy explained: “The term he uses himself is ‘spiritual community.
“He was never locked up. But he was always obliged to live in these conditions.”
French prosecutor Antoine Leroy said the teenager is expected to fly from Toulouse to London later on Saturday.
In a statement issued via Greater Manchester Police yesterday, Ms 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.”
