An eleven year old British boy boarded a flight to Spain for a simple family holiday back in 2017. Alex Batty expected to return home to Greater Manchester within a week, but he vanished.
His legal guardian, grandmother Susan Caruana, waited anxiously for his safe return. Days turned into painful years as police investigators searched for clues across Europe with no answers.
She suspected her daughter Melanie Batty and ex-husband David Batty had taken the young boy to live an alternative lifestyle overseas, having previously taken him to a Moroccan commune.
A lone headlight beam pierced through the freezing mountain rain.
In December 2023, a delivery driver named Fabien Accidini was driving through the Pyrenees mountains when he spotted a tired teenager hiking in pouring rain with a skateboard.
The driver stopped to offer help, and during their three hour ride, seventeen year old Alex finally confessed his identity and uttered a harrowing phrase, “My mother kidnapped me.”
The teen had spent four grueling days walking through cold mountain terrain to escape a spiritual commune. He had been moving across Spain and France with his mother and grandfather.
Six years of hidden isolation ended on a winding stretch of wet road.
The rescuer described the scene, “He was quite tall and blond, and dressed in black jeans, a white sweater and a backpack. He also carried a skateboard under his arm and a flashlight.”
Fabien offered his mobile phone so the tired boy could contact his grandmother. The teenager initially used a fake name before trusting the driver enough to share his real story.
The driver explained, “During the first few minutes, he seemed a little shy. We tried to speak in French but I noticed that he had not mastered the language. I decided to communicate in English.”
A stolen childhood left deep wounds that time could not easily heal.
It later transpired that following their initial vacation to Marbella, Alex was taken to a luxury Spanish house with ten people before eventually relocating to France in 2021.
Now twenty, Alex recently opened up about his lost childhood years and his complex emotional relationship with his mother in a documentary called Kidnapped by My Mum.
He shared his frustration, “My relationship with my mum, it is such a complicated thing. I am annoyed at what she did, the experiences I missed out on and my lack of education.”
Protecting his captors meant carrying a painful burden of silence.
To protect his family from police arrest, Alex intentionally lied to British investigators about their locations, claiming his mother moved to Finland and his grandfather had passed away.
He explained, “I was scared they were going to find my mum and my grandad. I lied through my teeth. I don’t like lying, but back then, I did whatever I needed to, to protect my mom and grandad.”
He added, “As the victim, I feel like I should have a say in what happens.” Greater Manchester Police eventually closed the kidnapping investigation in January 2025 without making any arrests.
A quiet text message signaled a bridge built over years of betrayal.
Despite everything, Alex recently reached out to his mother via text, writing, “I know how much you care about me and how all you wanted to do was protect me. I love both of you.”
Years earlier, his grandmother received a Facebook video where Melanie explained her alternative beliefs, stating she did not want Alex attending regular school or living normally.
Susan recalled, “The reason I believe they have done this is because basically my lifestyle, my belief systems, are not what they agree with, just simply living day to day, how normal people do.”
