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11 months ago
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Heartbroken messages from the loving grandmother who never gave up hope of seeing Alex Batty again reveal how the missing British boy's legal guardian always dreamed of hearing from him once more.
Alex, then 11, from Oldham, Lancashire, was allegedly abducted by his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, who took him to Spain in 2017.
Six years later, he has now been found alive and well near Toulouse in France, prosecutors said today.
His grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, never gave up home to see her beloved grandson again, as heartbreaking posts from her Facebook page reveal.
On his 15th birthday in February 2021, Susan pleaded with Alex to let her know he was safe and well, saying she would 'give anything for just one hug'.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, in 2017
Alex's grandmother Susan (pictured), who was 62 at the time of disappearance, never gave up hope she would see her grandson again
Alex flew to Malaga in September 2017 before being taken to a 'spiritual community' in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Investigators believe Alex escaped the rural community in southern France and spent days trekking across the French Pyrenees before being picked up by a trucker who took him to a police station in Revel, near Toulouse
She wrote: 'Happy birthday to my gorgeous 15 year old grandson. Alex please have some pity, I am broken. Please just give me a sign that you're ok.
'I think every day that you are in some far off place living the life that your mum wanted for you. All I want to know is that you're still alive and well.
'It's been years of torture, my heart is broken. I love you so much I just need to know you're ok. I hope I will see you again some day, I would give anything just for one hug. Grandma x'
She said in 2018 she believed her daughter and ex-husband had taken Alex abroad to live an 'alternative lifestyle'.
On December 15 that year, Susan wrote on Facebook: 'I have to carry on he may come home! Gorgeous amazing beautiful boy, our Alex, our Grandson.
'I hope so much that you see this. Happy Christmas darling. We miss you so much to the point the pain is unbearable.
'However we hope and pray that [you're] happy and being looked after. We pray we will see you again one day... Please! We aren't getting any younger. We love you so much x.'
Now prosecutors say that Alex has been found alive and well after fleeing a 'spiritual community' located in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.
Investigators believe Alex escaped the rural community and spent days trekking across the mountains before being picked up by a trucker who took him to a police station in Revel near Toulouse in the south of the country.
Alex flew into Malaga airport in Spain on a pre-agreed trip with Melanie - who does not have legal parental guardianship - and David for a week-long stay in the Benahavis area, near Marbella, on 30 September 2017.
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie (left), then 37, and grandfather David (right), then 58, in 2017
Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he went missing while travelling with family members in Spain in October 2017
But Alex, his mother and grandfather did not come back home as expected on October 8, 2017, sparking a massive police enquiry into the boy's apparent abduction.
Recalling the day the trio were supposed to return home, Alex's heartbroken grandmother Susan revealed the trio had sent her a video of themselves saying why they had left the UK to live an 'alternative lifestyle'.
Susan said in 2018: 'I got this message on Facebook and it was a YouTube video of the three of them. They all spoke on it and Melanie said the reasons why they had done what they had done.
'Alex said it was a million times better being with his mum and granddad. Obviously it hurt a bit but then my other concerns kicked in.
'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.
'They didn't want him to go to school, they don't believe in mainstream school.'
On David Batty's Facebook, he posted pictures about the Matrix and how the Government is 'destroying our lives'.
He also wrote that 'secret courts' in the UK are 'being used to steal children for profit'.
Susan, who has said she is broken by Alex's apparent abduction, has never given up hope that she would be reunited with her grandson.
Alex's heartbroken grandmother Susan, who was 62 at the time of his disappearance, said in 2018 that Melanie and David had previously lived on a commune in Morocco with Alex in 2014.
Now prosecutors in the south-west of France are certain Alex, who is now 17, has turned up alone at a police station in the commune of Revel after a mammoth journey.
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