MYSTERY HOLS
Mystery over luxury Spanish villa where Alex Batty went on ‘holiday’ before being taken to commune during kidnap ordeal
Alex Batty told friends he was going on holiday before he vanished for six years
A BRITISH boy who was allegedly kidnapped by his mum and grandad shared photos of the luxury Spanish villa he was going to before he vanished.
Alex Batty, then 11, was taken on a pre-agreed holiday to the Benahavis area near Marbella in 2017 but failed to return home.
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The youngster, now 17, was travelling with his mum, Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58, and a huge kidnapping investigation was launched.
After six years, Alex was finally found on Thursday after fleeing a “spiritual community” - and is due to return to the UK within days.
Photos have now emerged of the stunning villa Alex said he was heading to for a holiday with his mum six years ago.
He posted a picture of the huge mansion on social media on September 29, 2017, days before he vanished, and wrote: “I'm going there 5 days.”
The property is set in landscaped gardens overlooking the Mediterranean with a large pool near the Costa del Sol mountain town of Benahavis.
It appears to belong to a family friend Terry McCabe - and the image shared by Alex was labelled "Terry's villa".
The dad-of-three posted a selfie with Noel Gallagher on social media recently and claimed: "Spent the night with him, Sienna Miller and Paulo Nutini at Glasto."
He also uploaded pictures of the villa himself during a family holiday earlier this year, writing: "A few from the villa."
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One friend invited to stay at the property, the director of a Gabon-based NGO dedicated to preserving and studying the African country’s natural and cultural heritage, thanked Terry at the time.
He said: “A vacation, a family, a community, a place... EXTRAORDINARY! Thank you so much, brother, for your invitation, your kindness and generosity. May God bless your whole family.”
Mr McCabe treated friends in August last year to another photo of the magnificent villa Alex said shortly before his disappearance he was heading to.
It showed lush green mountains in the background behind the property which backs onto a golf course.
There is no suggestion well-travelled Mr McCabe, who has spoken about the "life-changing experience" of time he spent in the past living with the indigenous Ashaninka Tribe in Brazil, had any involvement in Alex’s disappearance.
It was not clear whether Alex had ended up staying at the villa near Benahavis with his mum and grandfather after flying to Malaga and how long he had spent there if he did holiday there.
A Sun reporter managed to find the luxury villa at the end of a deserted cul-de-sac this afternoon, which has a Spanish name which in English would translate as ‘The Gaze’ or ‘The Look.’
It lies a short drive from security barriers at the entrance to the upmarket private residential estate by a golf course overlooking the Mediterranean it is on.
No-one answered the intercom buzzer by the car entrance gates to the driveway leading up to the property.
Locals revealed there had been lots of comings-and-goings in the summer and they had seen two British-looking women with a little girl staying there but said it had been empty for a few weeks.
One added: “I know a neighbour had to complain about parties with loud music that went on until about 7am a couple of times but apart from that there’s not usually problems when people are there.
“I think it gets rented occasionally. The owner lives in Ireland as far as I know and has grown-up sons who use it.”
Another, shown the photo of Alex Batty and his mum, said: “I’ve read the story but I haven’t seen either of them round here and if this had been the house where that boy had stayed for the three years or so he said he was in a big place in Spain with lots of people, I think we would have known.
“There’s definitely enough space there for loads of visitors. It’s worth at least POUNDS eight or nine million.
“But you don’t see anyone living there continuously.”
Prosecutors yesterday revealed that the lad has been found alive and well in Revel, near Toulouse, France, after fleeing a “spiritual community”.
Investigators believe Alex had been living in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
After days of hiking, he was reportedly picked up by a lorry driver who became suspicious and called police.
Alex was walking along a road with a backpack, skateboard and headlamp.
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On the way to the police station he reportedly asked to borrow the man’s phone and sent his grandmother a message via Facebook Messenger letting her know he was alive.
It’s claimed he’d had enough living the “alternative lifestyle” and decided to leave.
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