- Melanie Batty left the rented home in a ‘late-night dash’ after son left for the UK
- The 17-year-old’s belongings have been left in the French hideaway
- Alex’s mother said to be travelling to UK with a close Italian male friend
The mother of abducted teen Alex Batty fled her remote hideaway in France, hours after finding out the teenager was heading back to the UK.
Melanie Batty reportedly left the rented home in a ‘late-night dash’ with her belongings after her son reappeared following six years on the run in Europe.
But suitcases full of the 17-year-old’s clothes, PlayStation games, a laptop computer, books, games, health food and milk were all abandoned in the £480-a-month four-bed home in the hamlet Villefort, near Chalabre in the Aude.
According to the Sun, Alex’s mother is said to be travelling with a close Italian male friend, Fabrizio, and is only communicating with people via email.
Before leaving, the 43-year-old wrote in an email to her landlord: ‘I’m so sorry but we had to leave in the middle of the night. I expect you’ve seen the news by now. I’ve left the keys on the bar.’
Melanie Batty left the rented home in a late-night dash with her belongings after her son reappeared following six years on the run in Europe
Alex returned to this country on Saturday, December 16, having walked out on the family’s hippy lifestyle and determined to get himself a proper education
Alex was 11 when he left the UK for what he believed was a week’s holiday in Spain with his mum and grandad David, 64, in 2017.
Last Wednesday, she sent another email saying: ‘One day I will return.’
Alex was 11 when he left the UK for what he believed was a week’s holiday in Spain with his mum and grandad David, 64, in 2017.
He returned to this country on Saturday, December 16, having walked out on the family’s hippy lifestyle and determined to get himself a proper education.
Alex is now back in Oldham, reunited with his grandma and legal guardian Susan Caruana, 68.
He was represented by lawyers at a hearing at a Family Court hearing at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice today.
She is said to have taken him to live in an itinerant ‘spiritual community’ and a police investigation into the circumstances of his disappearance is ongoing, the court heard.
A neighbour in France said Melanie was last seen on Tuesday getting into a white car belonging to Fabrizio.
One of her friends said Melanie contacted her to say she was ‘tired of running’ but ‘felt like she had no choice’.
The pal said: ‘She thinks she’s on some kind of mission from God and she says she has given her life to a higher spirit.’
Gite de la Bastide in the part of the Pyrenees where teenager Alex Batty was living
The Garden of Eden Spiritual community, where Melanie Batty was living in France
Landlord Tony Smith, 81, knew her as Rose, while David called himself Peter and Alex was Zack.
He said: ‘When Alex did a runner she must have just thought the game was up and it’s time to go.
‘She started making plans as she paid me the rent two days before she went and she packed up and cleaned the whole house, putting all the belongings she was leaving behind in the attic.
‘She took her tabby. She adored that cat, Sky.’
The Oldham-man first met Melanie last summer at a bar called Cafe de Sports in the small mountain town of Chalabre, before she moved into the converted cowshed on December 5.
Tony believes she will come back, as she is very well-liked in the area.
Melanie told Tony needed a place to stay after being given ‘marching orders’ from the commune she was with in early November.
She brought Alex and David to meet Tony soon after, in the hope he would give them a job doing up another one of his homes.
He recollects that Alex asked him how he could get an education at such a late age, to which the landlord suggested joining the army.
He also revealed Melanie has switched off her phone and is using email to talk to pals. He believes she is currently in Spain.
Greater Manchester Police are treating his case as abduction.