UK teen Alex Batty arrives home after going missing on holiday in 2017
Al Jazeera
Teen told investigators he spent six years living a nomadic lifestyle in Spain, Morocco and France.
A British teenager who went missing for six years before turning up in France has arrived back in the United Kingdom, police have said.
Alex Batty never returned home after travelling to Spain in 2017 with his mother and grandfather for what was supposed to be a two-week family holiday.
The then 11-year-old boy’s disappearance sparked unsuccessful appeals for information about his whereabouts – until he turned up last week walking along a road late at night in southern France.
“It gives me great pleasure to say Alex has now made his safe return back to the UK after six years,” Matt Boyle of Greater Manchester Police told reporters on Saturday.
Boyle said police are yet to fully establish the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and whether a criminal investigation is warranted.
