Disappearance of Alex Batty

Alex Batty is a British boy who went missing at the age of 11 in October 2017 and reappeared on 13 December 2023.

Batty disappeared after going on a holiday trip to Spain with his mother and grandfather. During the intervening six years, Batty lived "an off-the-grid life" with them in Morocco, Spain, and then in southwest France. At the age of 14 he decided to return to a more traditional life, and made his escape three years later at the age of 17, when, he said, his mother planned to relocate to Finland. Batty later told Greater Manchester Police that after he left his mother, he headed for Toulouse on foot and was later found by a delivery driver. On 22 December, after interviewing Batty, police confirmed they had launched a criminal investigation into his alleged abduction at the age of 11.