Missing teenager Alex Batty, who was found after six years on the run, reveals the heartbreaking note he left his mum before escaping.
Aged 11 at the time, the boy from Oldham disappeared on a Spain vacation with his mother Melanie Batty - who was not his legal guardian - and grandfather David Batty.
He flew with them on a pre-agreed trip to Malaga Airport for a week-long stay in the Benahavis area near Marbella, however, the family did not return to England on their expected return date on 8 October 2017.
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Authorities suspected that he may have been abducted.
Six years on, after arguments with his mother and becoming fed up of his lifestyle, Alex made the decision to get out of there.
“I realised it wasn’t a great way to live for my future,” he said in an interview with The Sun.
“Moving around. No friends, no social life. Working, working, work and not studying. That’s the life I imagined I would be leading if I were to stay with my mum.”
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While he was missing, it is thought that Alex - who used the name Zack Edwards - had been living with his mother and grandfather, across Spain, Morocco and France.
Before his escape plan began in the French town of Quillan, the now-17-year-old wrote a heartbreaking note to his mother, which read: "Hey mum I want you to know I love you very much.
"I am very thankful for the life that you provided for me over the past few years.
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"Don't worry about yourself I am sure you won't get found, don't worry about me either.
"You know I can take care of myself.
"I love you very much, don't be too mad at me. Love Alex."
On his escape method, Alex explained: “To try and be clever I walked to Quillan then back. I did that so when I talked about asking for directions in Quillan and getting lost, it was half true.
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“I didn’t get lost. I knew exactly where I was going. I just wanted to circle back for that to be a true story. I’m a very competent walker. I knew my way around the area so I knew where there were open springs so I could get water.
“I slept outside on the ground. It was freezing. If I needed the toilet I used leaves and grass.
“My plan was to get to Toulouse and get as far away as possible.
“But I was so knackered when the delivery driver picked me up I just blurted out a story.
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“I thought, ‘Oh Zack, what have you done’. Zack was the name I used when someone asked me.
“I wasn’t even hitchhiking when he picked me up. I was walking across a little bridge. He said he stopped because he saw I had a skateboard. It was pouring with rain and pitch black as it was 3am.
“I told him my story and I don’t think he actually believed me so he just carried on with his work.
“He was delivering parcels so I helped him because it’s the least I could do. He let me use his phone to contact my grandma.
“After that he calls the police and a squad car nearby takes me to the nearest police station.
“I’m in f***ing bits on the floor because I’m thinking ‘S**t I shouldn’t have said anything’. They fingerprinted me about five different times and were sending photos to my grandma.
“Two gendarmes took me to another police station where I had a shower. I sat on the couch and relaxed a little bit until an English translator came.
“On Wednesday I spent the night at a foster home and I stayed there Thursday and Friday.
“On Friday they told me I could fly home without a passport and on Saturday I got to Toulouse airport and my other grandad was waiting for me with two police officers and my social worker. I was so happy to see him I gave him a big hug.”
After being looked after by the French authorities, Alex met his step-grandfather at Toulouse airport on Saturday, before boarding a flight back to the UK, Greater Manchester Police said.
Last week, French prosecutors said the teenager’s mother may be in Finland.
Alex – who is now under the legal guardianship of his grandmother, Susan Caruana, in Oldham – said his mother was 'anti-government, anti-vax' whose catchphrase was 'becoming a slave to the system'.
Featured Image Credit: PA/MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty ImagesTopics: UK News, World News, News, Parenting, Travel