// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Boy abducted by mum has renewed 'sense of purpose'
Alex Batty has been working at a waste management site for three months
Alex Batty, who disappeared for six years after being abducted by his mother as a child, has described feeling a renewed "sense of purpose" after finding work.
Batty, from Oldham, was declared missing by his grandmother in 2017, aged 11, after his mother and grandfather failed to return him from a holiday in Spain and instead moved to France
He spent the following years in isolation before he was spotted by a delivery driver in December 2023 in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the south-west of the country.
Batty, who is now 20, said his job at a waste management company had given his young family financial security.
It has been a whirlwind couple of years for Batty, whose teenage years were spent living as a nomad in France.
His mother, Melanie, who was not his legal guardian and was heavily influenced by conspiracy theories, told him to throw away his passport.
Alex Batty was just 11 years old when he went missing
When he was discovered, he was heading for Toulouse with just a skateboard and €100 in cash.
Alex returned to live with his grandmother Susan Caruana, his legal guardian, in Oldham shortly afterwards, but found himself out of work for a long time.