The owners of a remote French gite where teenager Alex Batty stayed on and off for two years have said he was eager to go to school and “get back to a normal life”.
Ingrid Beauve and Fred Hambye said they treated Alex as part of their family and had no idea of his true identity until last week.
The couple’s testimony, released on Sunday, fills in more gaps in a complex and remarkable human story.
At its centre is Alex from Oldham who was aged 11 when he went missing in 2017 while on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather.
His legal guardian was, and remains, his grandmother, Susan Caruana, who expressed concerns that her ex-partner and daughter had run away with the boy because they wanted him to have “an alternative lifestyle”.
Last week, Alex, now 17, turned up.
Alex was spotted by Fabien Accidini, a student working as a delivery driver, while walking on a remote, rain-lashed mountain road in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.
Accidini learned that the boy had been walking for four days and nights, mainly sleeping during the day and walking at night to avoid being seen. He had a skateboard, a rucksack and was heading to Toulouse, perhaps to the British consulate.
Alex was taken to the gendarmerie in the town of Revel before police in Britain took over, bringing the boy back to the UK on Saturday.
At a press conference on Saturday night, Greater Manchester police (GMP) confirmed that Alex had arrived back in the UK and was now where he wanted to be.
“This moment was undoubtedly huge for him and his loved ones, and we are glad that they have been able to see each other again after all this time,” said Matt Boyle, an assistant chief constable.
It has emerged that Alex was living on and off at the remote Gite de la Bastide where his grandfather worked as a handyman in exchange for food and accommodation.
The owners of the gite, Beauve and Hambye, said they wanted to share their story after “myths” in the press.
They said Alex, whom they knew as Zach, arrived in the autumn of 2021 and stayed there for both short and longer periods.
“Zach/Alex had free access to the fridge and our food and loved to cook,” they said. He enjoyed beef stew, spaghetti bolognese, chocolate cake and vegetarian food. He was careful and keen to participate in the life of the gite when he was there.”
The couple said Alex was “part of our family and had good relations with our kids”. He would join them on trips to the beach and river as well as cycling. On Sundays, he accompanied them to the market where he would buy a tuna sandwich and meet his mother.
Sometimes Alex would go off and join his mother, who never lived at the gite. She was looking for a place to live as part of a spiritual community that was something, they said, their large home was not.
“As time went on we saw him as part of our family and we think he appreciated the stability and security we represented for him. He had a room to himself, unlimited internet access and was completely free to come and go as he pleased.”
The couple said they encouraged Alex to learn French and study.
Alex, they said, wanted to “get back to a normal life and school”. He told them he needed to get new papers and he set off once more, saying he was joining his mother.
“We reiterated to him that he would always be welcome … We wish him the best of luck.”
Days after he left, Alex was found, triggering the fast-moving series of events that has brought him back to Manchester.
On Friday, French prosecutors said the teenager’s mother may be in Finland, while his grandfather had died.
Alex’s family in the UK have asked for privacy so they can make the process of welcoming him back as comforting as possible.
