Alex Batty said he is unlikely ever to see his mother or grandfather again as he revealed the final moments before he fled the Pyrenees in search of a “normal life”.
The 17-year-old said he had prepared a final meal for his mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David, before striking out on foot to return to the UK
They had spent six years living in communes across Morocco, Spain and France. Greater Manchester Police has launched a criminal investigation into the alleged abduction of the teenager.
Alex’s mother and grandfather have not been since his escape and are believed still to be in France or to have crossed the border. Last week, it was reported that Ms Batty had sent an email to her former landlord in Villefort, a hamlet in the French Pyrenees, saying: “I’ve got to keep running.”
Asked in an interview with Good Morning Britain on Wednesday whether he would ever see his mother, 43, or grandfather, 64 again, Alex replied: “Probably not. I don’t mind.”
Describing the day he decided to leave, Alex said: “It was a normal day. It was a very, very quick decision for it to be that day. I realised it was time, just like that. So I made food for everyone, played it chilled of course, and around half 10 I wrote the note, and by 12 o’clock I was gone.”