Police end criminal probe into teen’s disappearance
BBC News, Manchester
Police have dropped a criminal investigation into the disappearance of British teenager Alex Batty, who returned to the UK in 2024 after being missing for six years.
The boy, from Oldham, went missing after a holiday with his mother and grandfather in 2017, aged just 11, before being found in France in 2023.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said the investigation into child abduction had been dropped due to lack of support from his family and “no realistic chance of prosecution”.
Sheriff Matt Walker said: “The right thing to do is to close this chapter in the lives of Alex and his family, especially since this was the outcome they had hoped for.”
Alex was discovered on December 13, 2023, near the city of Toulouse in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains in southwestern France, six years after he was last seen in the port of Malaga.
The teenager said he, his mother and grandfather, Melanie and David Batty (who are not his legal guardians) lived a “nomadic lifestyle” after living in communes and caravans in the area.
Alex returned to Oldham to live with his grandmother shortly after he was found.
“Safe and reintegrated into society”
But police have now abandoned their investigation and, after consulting with lawyers for the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Crime Agency, found there was no realistic chance of prosecution.
Sergeant Walker said police believed it was important to investigate the disappearance “properly and thoroughly” and had “explored all possible avenues of investigation”.
He said Alex’s safety had been the “top priority” of the investigation.
“Alex is now an adult, safe and reintegrated into life in Greater Manchester, surrounded by people who love him, which is ultimately the priority.”