Escaped from a cult – missing boy reappeared after six years

After a family trip to Spain with his mother and grandfather, the boy disappeared. His grandmother, who had custody, reported the young Brit missing. The authorities had effectively banned his mother and grandfather from entering – probably for good reason, as the boy had not returned to his native Britain for six years.

Mother and grandfather wanted an ‘alternative lifestyle’
The grandmother already suspected that the two wanted to lead an ‘alternative lifestyle’ together with the boy. “They didn’t want Alex to go to school, they didn’t believe in regular education,” she told the British newspaper Mirror.

Now the now 17-year-old has disappeared from obscurity again – he must have lived with his mother and grandfather in a ‘spiritual community’ all those years. They mainly slept in tents and caravans, sometimes even in the wilderness.

Emaciated on a skateboard in the rain
After all these years, Batty had apparently worked up the courage to flee the cult. He is said to have wandered on foot for days before a delivery man noticed the emaciated boy and alerted police. Batty had been walking alone in the rain with a flashlight and a skateboard. “His face and his story correspond in every respect to that of the Briton who was kidnapped in 2017,” the responsible authorities said, according to the Mirror.

The delivery person reported that the youth was in good condition. “He was doing well, he was just very tired and immediately fell asleep at the police station.” The 17-year-old now wants to return to his grandmother.