British police have stated that they expect a boy from Britain, who was found in southern France, to return to his family in northern England in the coming days. The boy, Alex Paty, disappeared six years ago at the age of eleven during a holiday with his mother and grandfather in Málaga, Spain, and his grandfather and mother are still wanted in connection with his disappearance.
Greater Manchester Police mentioned in a press conference on Friday that they are working with French authorities to return Paty to Britain and to his grandmother, who British media reported is his legal guardian. Chris Sykes, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, said during the press conference, "He is currently receiving good care from the French authorities. Our priority is to return him to Britain to reunite with his family in Oldham as soon as possible, and this is expected to happen in the next few days."
A French newspaper reported that a delivery driver saw the boy wandering on a highway near the city of Toulouse in southern France after he apparently escaped from a spiritual community in the Pyrenees mountains. Sykes noted that Paty spoke with his grandmother via video call last Thursday evening. He added, "We still have some work to do to understand the full circumstances of his disappearance and where he has been all those years." He continued, "For now, the priority is to speak with Alex... but of course, his mother is part of those discussions and the investigation."
