Police UK A British teenager who went missing six years ago has been found in the south, it was announced this Friday the 15th France and to return to his home in the north England, in the following days. Until then, the boy spent the last few years in a spiritual community in the Pyrenees mountains.
Alex Patty disappeared in 2017 aged 11 while on holiday with his mother and grandfather in Malaga. Spain. Both are still suspects and wanted by the police in connection with the case. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they were working with French authorities to bring Alex home to his legal guardian, his grandmother, according to French prosecutors.
“He is currently being looked after by the French authorities and our priority is to get him back to the UK to his family in Oldham as soon as possible, which is expected to happen within the next few days,” said GMP’s Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes.
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How Alex was rediscovered
According to British police, a delivery man spotted a teenage girl wandering a road around the southern French city of Toulouse earlier this week. Alex later told him that he had fled a remote community in the Pyrenees.
The driver told French media that he found the boy wandering in the middle of the night in a remote forest in the area. With him, he took some of his belongings, including a skateboard and a lamp.
The police clarified that Alex had already spoken to his grandmother through a video call on the night of the 14th.
The case is not closed
Alex’s mother, who went missing with her son in 2017, may still be in the mountains. French TV BFM reported that he belonged to a spiritual group with no fixed abode that travels through the area known as a haven for traders and people seeking an alternative lifestyle in tents.
“There is still some work to be done to establish the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance and where he has been over the years,” said Chris Sykes of GMP. “The priority at this time is to speak with Alex, but obviously his mother is part of this conversation and investigation.”
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