Inside abandoned holiday park caravan where Alex Batty’s mother called herself ‘Rose’ and ‘spent all day tapping away on her computer’ before ‘vanishing to Finland to see the Northern Lights’

• The 17-year-old was missing for six years before he was found in France last week
• Melanie Batty left isolated campsite Camping Le Fort at the end of September
• READ MORE: Alex Batty says ‘I’m glad to be here for Christmas’ in first statement 

Alex Batty’s mother lived in a caravan in a remote holiday park in France for five months before ‘vanishing to Finland to see the Northern Lights’, it is claimed.

Melanie Batty, 43, had been living in an isolated campsite in the banks of the Lac de Montbel lake since May where she called herself ‘Rose’ and would ‘spend all day tapping away on her computer’.

But the owner of the site said she vanished at the end of September leaving her didgeridoo and red guitar behind. 

Alex, 17, had been missing for six years before he was found in France last week after escaping a ‘nomadic’ life in a commune in the French Pyrenees. 

The teen vanished aged 11 when he failed to return from a family holiday in Spain with it alleged he was kidnapped by his Ms Batty and his grandfather David Batty, 64. 

It is claimed Alex told French police officers his mother had gone to Finland as she ‘wanted to see the Northern Lights’.    

Alex Batty (pictured left) with his mother Melanie (centre) and grandfather David (right) six years ago

The caravan where Melanie Batty was living where she called herself ‘Rose’ and would ‘spend all day tapping away on her computer’. But the owner of the site said she vanished at the end of September leaving her didgeridoo and red guitar behind

Ms Batty had been living in a caravan in the isolated campsite Camping Le Fort in the banks of the Lac de Montbel lake since May

But a French source told The Sun the police do not think it would be plausible for Melanie to have travelled to the Scandinavian country.

READ MORE: Hunt for Alex Batty’s mother may shift to Finland after ‘abducted’ son reveals she ‘went to see the Northern Lights’

They said: ‘We must ask how she was able to book a plane ticket while on an Interpol list. It seems unlikely.’

Alex returned to the UK on Saturday and landed in Manchester where he walked off the plane with his skateboard under his arm before being whisked away to meet his grandmother Susan Caruana, 68, who it is understood he will live with. 

On Monday, the teenager spoke for the first time since being reunited with his family in the UK saying he was ‘glad to be home in time for Christmas’. 

Alex is expected to speak to Greater Manchester Police at a later date as they look to piece together the events surrounding his disappearance and the years spent living in a ‘spiritual commune’.

The owner of the Camping Le Fort campsite claimed his mother would ‘spend all day tapping away on her computer’ and had a French friend who would take her to do the shopping.

Alex, from Oldham, was 11 when he did not return from a holiday to Spain with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, in 2017

Gite de la Bastide in the remote part of the Pyrenees where teenager Alex Batty was living

Alex Batty’s grandmother Susan Caruana answers her door to reporters at her home in Oldham, Greater Manchester on Friday

Alex flew to Malaga in September 2017 before being taken to a ‘spiritual community’ in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Investigators believe Alex escaped the rural community in southern France and spent days trekking across the French Pyrenees before being picked up by a trucker who took him to a police station in Revel, near Toulouse

They said Alex’s mother left without notifying anyone and nobody had seen her for at least two months.

Ms Batty had paid seven euros a day to live at the Camping Le Fort whose amenities include hot showers, toilets and washing up facilities.

READ MORE:  What happened to Alex Batty, the British boy found in France after vanishing in 2017 aged 11?

The owner of the campsite, who asked not to be identified, said: ‘Yes, the woman who is the mother of the missing English boy lived in that caravan.

‘She arrived in May and left without warning at the end of September.

‘She called herself Rose and I have only recently discovered that she was the mother of the missing boy.

‘I saw the woman from time to time and she said ‘Bonjour’. But she does not speak French and I do not speak English so we did not communicate other than that.

‘I don’t even have her phone number.

‘She would spend all day tapping away on her computer. I don’t know what she was doing but that was what she did all day.

‘I told her that I was going to cut the hot water to the toilet block and the end of September and she left about that time.’

In a press conference on Saturday night, Greater Manchester Police explained that they had not yet spoken to Alex about his disappearance or ‘what [he] may have been doing, and where he has been, over his years missing’.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle speaking to the media about British teenager Alex Batty at Greater Manchester Police Force Headquarters in Manchester, Saturday December 16, 2023

They said they would support Alex as they look to understand what happened.

‘Speaking with him at a pace that feels comfortable to him we will ultimately determine how this case is progressed and whether there is a criminal investigation to ensure,’ assistant chief constable Matt Boyle said.

The caravan bolt hole in the south of France where fugitive mother Melanie Batty hid from the authorities

Melanie Batty, who called herself ‘Rose’, lived at the Camping Le Fort campsite for six months from May until the end of September, this year.

The owner of the isolated campsite in the banks of the Lac de Montbel lake told how she vanished without warning.

Today her belongings including a guitar, a digeridoo, a leather chair and an extension lead, were clearly visible through the window of the American-style caravan.

Batty had paid seven euros a day to live at the Camping Le Fort whose amenities include hot showers, toilets and washing up facilities.

The owner of the campsite, who asked not to be identified, said: ‘Yes, the woman who is the mother of the missing English boy lived in that caravan.

‘She arrived in May and left without warning at the end of September.

‘She called herself Rose and I have only recently discovered that she was the mother of the missing boy.

‘I saw the woman from time to time and she said ‘Bonjour’. But she does not speak French and I do not speak English so we did not communicate other than that.

‘I don’t even have her phone number.

‘She would spend all day tapping away on her computer. I don’t know what she was doing but that was what she did all day.

‘I told her that I was going to cut the hot water to the toilet block and the end of September and she left about that time.

‘She did not tell me she was leaving. She has just left her caravan there. No one has seen her for at least two months.’

The owner added: ‘She had a French friend who helped her to bring her caravan and take her to do her shopping.

‘But I knew very little about her.

‘The police have not been to interview me yet. But she did not do anything wrong while she was here, so I don’t know how I could help them.’

The lake-side campsite is about five miles from where Alex Batty was rescued by a lorry driver while he was walking by the side of the road near the village of Chalabre at the dead of night last week.

Batty told how she wanted to create a spiritual community in the south of France.

British ex-pat Susie Harrison said: ‘She [Rose] wanted to set up a spiritual community here in the south of France.

‘I don’t know exactly what the community was about but she wanted to create a special group of like-minded people.’

‘Our continued focus is supporting Alex and his family in partnership with other local agencies to ensure they are safe, their wellbeing is looked after, and his reintegration with society is as easy as possible.

‘We are yet to establish the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance, but no matter what, understand that this may be an overwhelming process.

‘He may now be six years older than when he went missing, but he is still a young person.’

French authorities confirmed that Alex had been ‘accompanied by British police officers’ on a KLM flight via Amsterdam on Saturday.

Mr Boyle said Alex met a family member alongside Greater Manchester Police at Toulouse Airport before heading back to the UK.

‘This moment was undoubtedly huge for him and his loved ones and we are glad that they have been able to see each other again after all this time.’

Alex’s grandmother shared her ‘relief and happiness’ at the news he had been found after years of trying desperately to get in touch.

‘I spoke with him last night and it was so good to hear his voice and see his face again,’ Ms Caruana said in a statement released by Greater Manchester Police on Friday.

‘I can’t wait to see him when we’re reunited. The main thing is that he’s safe, after what would be an overwhelming experience for anyone, not least a child.’

Since September 2017 Alex is thought to have been living in a ‘spiritual community’ in the French Pyrenees.

French police said on Friday that Alex claimed his mother had decided to flee the mountain community to Finland following the death of his grandfather six months ago.

Although a source told The Sun Mr Batty could still be alive as no confirmation of his death has been found. 

Assistant prosecutor Antoine Leroy said: ‘When his mother indicated that she was going to leave with him to Finland, this young man understood that this had to stop.

‘So then he decided to leave the place where he was with his mother and walked for four days and four nights.’

Neighbours living near to the isolated farmhouse where Alex was said to have been living have given contradictory reports, however, claiming that his grandfather – known to locals as Peter – was alive.

They claimed they saw Peter mowing the lawn of the Gite de la Bastide in the hamlet La Bastide, about an hour’s drive south of Carcassonne.

A neighbour, who gave his name only as Sebastian, said: ‘Peter is not dead. I saw him a week ago, maybe ten days. He was mowing the grass in front of the Gite.

‘I know this because my mum’s dog loves him. She is a white border collie and he throws a stick for her.’

Alex was found on a deserted countryside road heading towards Toulose on Wednesday at 3am by 26-year-old Fabien Accidini, a student and delivery driver from Marseilles. 

The exhausted teen was seen carrying a skateboard, a flashlight and a rucksack on his back when he was picked up by Mr Accidini.

Mr Accidini told La Depeche newspaper of the moment he discovered the teenager: ‘He was walking while the rain fell in heavy drops. The second time I passed him, I decided to offer to drop him off somewhere.

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