It is said that in 2017, there was a kidnapping case in Europe that shocked the world.
An 11-year-old British boy named Alex Batty went on vacation to Spain with his mother and grandfather, but at the end of a week's trip, the adults and children were gone.
The child's grandmother became worried, and she made frantic phone calls but could not get in touch. She had a vague guess in her heart:
Two adults kidnapped the child.
（Alex与其母亲、祖父）
Because in 2014, when Alex was just 8 years old, his mother took him to live in an "off-grid community" in Morocco for a while.
The so-called "off grid" can probably be understood as isolation, disbelief in mainstream education, and rejection of technology, especially the Internet.
Relying on solar energy + farming, living a self-sufficient life, most of them still believe in "spirituality", "inner energy" or something.......
Alex's mother and grandfather are both "off-grid" believers, and even Alex wants to control and is unwilling to let him go to school;
But his grandmother didn't believe it, and still wanted the child to live a normal life, so the two sides quarreled a lot.
So this "trip to Spain" is probably a kidnapping planned by two adults a long time ago, fooling Alex out of his grandmother's sight.
After an investigation by the British police, the truth is likely to be consistent with my grandmother's speculation.
So they posted Alex's missing person notice, and they also wanted two adults.
(Alex in missing person notice)
By 2018, on Alex's 12th birthday, his grandmother was still calling for clues in The Guardian.
Unfortunately, these efforts have yielded little results.
(The Guardian reported at the time)
Several years have passed, and it is as if these three people have evaporated from the world.
It wasn't until last week that Alex, who had been missing for six years, finally showed up, and it turned out to be in France......
At about 2 o'clock in the morning on the 13th, it was still pouring rain in the sky, and the driver, Fabien Accidini, was on the way to make deliveries, when he suddenly found a young man walking in the rain on the side of the road.
He was carrying a bag, a skateboard under his arm, and a flashlight in his hand, looking very embarrassed.
Accidini decided to give him a ride and called him in. Then he found out that the young man was a foreigner who could hardly speak French.
(司机Fabien Accidini)
After stumbling through the conversation, Accidini gradually learned that the young man had been hiking for four days in the mountains on this side of southern France.
I climbed the Pyrenees by myself, and I survived by the little food I found in the fields........
Accidini thought it was a bit fanciful, and when he asked more, he heard even more outrageous stories.
The young man said that he was kidnapped by his mother and grandfather six years ago and for years he had been moving between Spain and France, living a life away from the crowds.......
Now, he just wants to go home, so he runs out on his own and wants to find a big city for help.
He borrowed his phone from Accidini and sent a private message to his grandmother on Facebook:
"Hello Grandma (and possibly Grandma), I'm Alex. I'm in Toulouse, France, and I really hope you can receive this message. I love you and I want to go home. ”
It sounds outrageous, but the details are too complete to look like they were made up.
The driver searched for the young man's name on his mobile phone and found that there was really a news report, so he immediately called the police.
Later, the French police verified that the young man was Alex, who had been missing for six years.
So what happened in the last six years?
Alex has not given any media interviews at the moment, and can only piece together from his exchanges with Accidini and the French police.
After being brought to Spain that year, two adults took him to live in a luxurious villa, where a total of 10 people formed a "spiritual commune".
(Schematic diagram)
These people don't know where to get the food, but the food is rationed, and they don't work every day, they meditate, they do "self-work" or something, and they don't have any contact with the outside world.
As for energy, his mother was obsessed with solar panels, and there was no shortage of electricity wherever she went.......
When it comes to getting around, they use "car-sharing" and walk if they can't do it.
For the first few years, they were a bit like gypsies, constantly wandering around in different places between Spain and Morocco,
The people in the "spiritual commune" came in and out, but always maintained a scale of about ten people.
By 2021, the three were transferred to the south of France near the Pyrenees.
It is a "holy place" for those who have left the grid, and many people believe that the Pyrenees can "cleanse the soul" and choose to live here.
(Pyrenees)
A reporter has visited here before, and he has really met some people who have left the grid. In the middle of winter, six people were naked and soaking in the stream.
The reporter asked them what they were doing, and they replied in a chattering manner:
"St. Magdalene used to bathe here. Go into the water and you'll find the answers to all your questions. ”
The reporter continued to walk and saw an old brother who looked like a homeless man. He also has a pet, which is a crow.......
(Off-Grid Brother and his crow)
You can probably get a glimpse of Alex's life from the mental state of these people......
In fact, Alex also seems to have some signs of being "brainwashed".
Because Accidini said that he had talked to Alex about "spirituality" and that the latter "fell into some kind of strange insanity........
Fortunately, the brainwashing should not be complete, after two years of wandering around the Pyrenees, Alex's mother wanted to change places again, this time to Finland,
Alex immediately decided not to go crazy with her, and then there was the fact that he was on foot and was discovered by Accidini in the rain as he hiked through the Pyrenees.
(Where Alex has flown over the years)
"He doesn't regret it, he just wants to live a normal life, see his grandmother again, have a normal future, that's what he said", says Accidini.
It's worth mentioning that Alex doesn't seem to have "escaped".
At least in front of Accidini and the police, he never showed resentment towards his mother,
On the contrary, he said that he "has not been imprisoned in any way" and has always "left when he wants".
Later, the police found no traces of abuse on him, which should be more credible.
At present, the arrest warrants of his mother and grandfather, who may have been in Finland, have not been revoked by the British police;
As for the grandfather, Alex never talked about him,
French police believe he may have died six months ago.
In any case, six years off the grid is also outrageous life has come to an end,
With the help of the French police, Alex is on a flight back to the UK and ready to be reunited with his grandmother.
"I can't wait to see my grandson, who is safe and sound, and no words can express my relief and excitement," my grandmother said. ”
(Alex's grandmother)
Alex is really unlucky to have such a mother.......
But at least he's still young and still has a chance to return to his normal life.......