French media reported on Thursday that a British teenager who went missing six years ago on a family holiday in Spain has been found in southwestern France. Broadcasters BFMTV and TF1 cited the prosecutors’ office in Toulouse as saying that 17-year-old Alex Batty has been found. A delivery driver spotted the adolescent looking lost and haggard by the side of a road and drove him to a police station, according to BFMTV, while TF1 reported that he was found on Wednesday.
The Toulouse prosecutors’ office did not immediately respond to after-hours questions sent by email and text message by The Associated Press. In the United Kingdom, the Greater Manchester Police said officers from Alex’s hometown of Oldham are in contact with French authorities to establish the authenticity of the reports. The force said his mother, Melanie Batty, and his grandfather, David Batty, are wanted in connection with the teenager’s disappearance and that their whereabouts are unknown. He traveled with them on the trip to Spain in 2017, when he was 11.
The Greater Manchester Police described the case as a “complex and long-running investigation” and stated that “appropriate safeguarding measures” will be put in place as further inquiries are made.