The owners of a French guest house where Alex Batty sometimes stayed during his years as a missing person have revealed they had no idea who he really was.
Batty, now 17, went missing in 2017 when he was 11 after his mother and his grandfather took him on a trip to Spain.
Alex's mother did not have parental guardianship of him. The teen's grandmother and legal guardian told BBC in 2018 that she thought Melanie Batty and David Batty had taken Alex to live in a spiritual community in pursuit of an "alternative lifestyle".
Alex was found wandering in the French countryside last week, reportedly eager to reunite with his grandmother.
Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve, who own the remote Gite de la Bastide guest house, said they knew Alex as "Zach".
In a statement overnight, the couple said he first arrived at their guest house in 2021, accompanied by his mother and grandfather.
"He was looking for a place to stay," the couple said, adding he would work in exchange for food and board.
Zach/Alex had free access to the fridge and their food and loved to cook.
"He was careful and keen to participate in the life of the Gite when he was there.
"On Sundays, he would accompany us to the market to buy a Bagnat au Tuna and meet his mother."
The couple eventually came to see Alex as part of the family. He regularly stayed with them.
"He left several times to join his mother in her successive places of residence," the statement said. "We didn't have much contact with his mother and she never lived at the Gite de la Bastide. As far as we know, she was looking for a place to live in a community.
"La Bastide does not have this ambition, nor are we a spiritual community."
Alex last stayed at the guest house earlier this year, they said. He had a room of his own, internet access, and freedom to come and go.
"We think he appreciated the stability and security we represent for him," the couple said.
He learned French and showed an aptitude for computers — but there was an obstacle to his education, they added.
"He was eager to go to school and get back to a normal life and for that, he needed his ID, which he told us he no longer had.
"He told us that he would find a way to return to the UK on his own to get new papers and go back to school.
"We reiterated to him that he would always be welcome and that, if needed, we were there to help him.
"The rest, as well as his real name and full story, we discovered in the press... We wish him the best of luck."
Batty's now back in the UK and an investigation into the case is ongoing.
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