This is the first photo of the mother and grandfather who allegedly kidnapped the schoolboy Alex Batty and live together as a family in the south of France.
Melanie Batty and her father David looked relaxed outside a pub in a town square in the Pyrenees in June this year, with Alex and a group of friends.
The off-the-grid trio, wanted by British authorities after Alex disappeared six years ago, took a trip to a weekly market in Esperaza, popular with members of alternative communities they hung out with.
In a white summer dress with her hair up, sunglasses and sandals, Ms Batty looks like any tourist in the south of France.
Her son Alex sits next to her in a black T-shirt, combat pants and sneakers. He looks like any teenager, slightly bored but listening while the adults talk.
On the other side stands Ms Batty’s father, David (64), with a white goatee, denim shirt and sunglasses on his head.
Refugee mother Melanie Batty sits next to her father David Batty (in a denim shirt) and her son Alex Batty (in a black T-shirt) at the Esperaza market in June 2023
The two apparently kidnapped the student Alex and lived together ever since
Alex, from Oldham, was 11 when he failed to return from a holiday in Spain with the couple
Behind the British family, a street performer plays guitar and sings to the many tourists who flock to the popular Sunday market.
But behind the relaxed holiday facade, Ms Batty (43) hid the secret of her own son’s kidnapping and her six-year escape.
She took the name Rose, led an itinerant life, named her son Zac and dragged him around Spain and Morocco before settling in the south of France two years ago.
Ms Batty, supported by her father, sought a “spiritual life” and spoke of how she wanted to create an alternative community of like-minded people.
However, she also revealed something about the reasons for her and her son’s escape from Great Britain.
French police reportedly concluded that his grandfather had recently died and his mother had moved to Finland after ALEX was rescued by a delivery man on a road south of Toulouse last week.
However, recent sightings suggest that reports of David’s death and Melanie’s disappearance may be false – as an alternative theory emerges that both mother and grandfather crossed the border into Spain “to escape the attention” that came with the reappearance of Alex accompanied, was connected.
A friend explained: “Rose, as we knew Melanie, fled.” She is long gone. She went to Spain.
‘I find [her father] Peter went with her. She wanted to get away from all the attention for a while.
“Rose, her father and Zac are a nice family, but always a bit cautious.”
“I don’t know the full extent of their story, but there was a reason they fled Britain.”
“Rose said she got her son out of a bad situation and protected him as long as possible.
“She said strange things about her past.” She said the life they had before in England was hell.
Behind the British family, a street performer plays guitar and sings to the tourists
Alex (left) with his mother Melanie (centre) and grandfather David (right) six years ago
The Conscience Verte (Green Conscious) association organizes festivals in the country in the summer
A tent in the forest of the “spiritual community” Garden of Eden near Chalabre, Aude
He added: “Zac is a lovely young man. He is always willing to help and learn.
“It was the perfect time for him to leave his mother and spread his wings.”
“She protected him well. But it’s good that he’s back.’
Alex disappeared in 2017 when he failed to return to the UK after a pre-arranged trip to Spain with mother Melanie and grandfather David.
Greater Manchester Police issued a missing persons alert for the then 11-year-old teenager.
Alex, now 17, was reunited with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who is his legal guardian, in Oldham on Saturday night.
Since autumn 2021, he lives on a remote farm in the hamlet of La Bastide with his grandfather, who worked as a craftsman.
He was looked after by the French family who owned the farm and was considered part of the family.
French police said last week that Alex told them he decided to flee the community after his grandfather died six months ago and his mother said she wanted to move to Finland with him.
After six years of a nomadic lifestyle, traveling from Morocco to Spain and then France, never going to school and looking for food, Alex decided “it had to stop,” Assistant Attorney General Antoine Leroy testified in Toulouse.
For the next four days, Alex wandered through the mountains of the French Pyrenees, foraging in the fields and gardens for what little food he could find, until he was found by student Fabien Accidini at 3am on December 13.
On Saturday, he was reunited with his grandmother after six years in an emotional reunion.
Alex wanted to return to the UK to get identity documents so he could study computer science at school.
Greater Manchester Police are currently considering whether to launch a criminal investigation into his disappearance.
Pictures have revealed life in the “spiritual community” in the Garden of Eden in southern France where Alex’s fugitive mother lived – just a few kilometers from where the “kidnapped” British teenager was found after six years.
Ms Batty is said to have joined the community in late summer after it was founded in February this year at an abandoned campsite just a short drive from Chalabre, Aude.
The building was bought by about 50 members of the “Conscience Verte”. [Green Conscious] Club that cleared the farmland to hold festivals throughout the summer and moved into tents and dilapidated cabins on the 43-acre site.
About five miles away, a cafe owner in Chalabre claims he, along with Alex and his grandfather, served Mrs Batty, who he knew as “Rose”, last Saturday.
It is alleged that 17-year-old Alex told French police officers that his mother had gone to Finland because she “wanted to see the northern lights”, which locals denied.
“L’Eden”, where Ms Batty is said to have lived under the name Rose, covers 43 hectares of farmland and is interspersed with flower fields, forests and a river.
Tents, tipis and huts line the rolling hills and horses, dogs and cats roam whenever they please.
A British expat who has lived in Chalabre for more than 20 years said: “I know Rose and her family.” She is not in Finland as claimed in the press.
“Roos lived in the community of the Garden of Eden. There are many festivals throughout the summer and she often went there.
“She came to stay there at the end of the summer, beginning of October, I think.” She stayed there until about a month ago. She left when the weather turned bad. She rented a room in a friend’s house.
“Rose actually just arrived here a few days ago. She finally left the area on Saturday morning. She did not feel safe with the media attention.
“I don’t know where she went.”
Two members of the “Conscience Verte” association refused to talk about the whereabouts of “Rose” – Melanie Batty – when approached at the “Garden of Eden” community.
One man said: “I don’t know any English woman named Rose.” And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.
Source link
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
