ALEX PROBE
Alex Batty disappearance being investigated by UK cops as he reappeared six years after going missing on hols with mum
It comes as Alex Batty gave his first exclusive interview to The Sun about his ordeal
POLICE have launched an investigation into the alleged abduction of Alex Batty after he returned to the UK.
Greater Manchester cops have interviewed the British teen following his six-year ordeal and are now pursuing a kidnap probe.
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Alex, now 17, fled France last week to return to the UK after his mum and grandad allegedly kidnapped him in 2017.
He told the lorry driver who picked him up after his midnight escape: "My mother kidnapped me when I was 12 years old".
He finally returned home to Oldham, Greater Manchester, last weekend and was reunited with his overjoyed gran Susan Caruana.
She was distraught when he vanished on a holiday with Melanie in David in Spain, age 11, not to be seen again.
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Mum Melanie, who was "anti-government" and "anti-vax", wanted him to live a nomadic life with her.
Alex said she was "worried" that if he sought out official ID he'd be put into a care system and didn't want him to be a "slave to the system".
The three of them spent the next six years moving between homes in Europe including a commune in the French Pyrenees mountains.
British cops previously said they would not be able to confirm an investigation into his alleged abduction until they had spoken with him directly.
Most read in The Sun
It comes as...
- Alex told The Sun of his extraordinary escape in a world exclusive interview
- His mum Melanie didn't want him to be a 'slave to the system'
- He revealed the heartbreaking note he left his mum in the middle of the night before he made his escape
- The Brit teen revealed where his mum really is and that his grandad is alive
- And he delivered an emotional message to his mum and grandad following his return to the UK
Alex also lived under the alias "Zach" with a French family who took him in in 2021.
Eventually the pair had an argument and Alex decided to flee, returning home to England to be reunited with his grandmother and legal guardian.
He said: “I had an argument with my mum and I just thought I’m gonna leave because I can’t live with her.”
Alex told The Sun of his mum: “She’s a great person and I love her but she’s just not a great mum".
Greater Manchester Police said: "Greater Manchester Police has launched a criminal investigation into child abduction to understand the circumstances surrounding Alex Batty going missing from 30 September 2017 to Wednesday 13 December 2023."
The youngster has not attended school in six years, and even tried desperately to enrol in one in France this year.
French cops missed an opportunity to save the youngster five months ago when teachers at the school flagged his lack of ID to the authorities.
Alex first thought about leaving his life there at 14, but didn't.
He remained in France and managed to convince mum Melanie to rent out a farmhouse closer to civilisation, rather than living in the mountains.
But he said he had grown tired of constantly moving homes and working alongside grandad David in exchange for food and rent.
He had only made one friend his age, and his education came from trying to study maths, languages and computing when he could get his hands on a textbook.
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Yesterday a judge ruled that Alex would remain under special legal protection as a ward of the court with Susan as his guardian.
The teen, who turns 18 in just two months, plans to keep studying French and computer science while pursuing his dreams of software engineering.
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