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<\/p>\nALEX Batty's mum has been labelled a Covid-19 conspiracy theorist who didn't believe the deadly virus was a real thing and "created by the state," according to her pals.<\/p>\n
Melanie, also introduced herself as Rose – a therapeutic massage therapist – to those around her as the woman remains on the run from police after her son was safely found in France.<\/p>\n
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The 43-year-old lived at the La Forte campsite in an\u00a0American-style\u00a0campervan where she stayed for months and was seen spending hours at her computer everyday.<\/p>\n
The owner of the campsite, who asked not to be identified, said: \u201cShe arrived in May and left without warning at the end of September.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe called herself Rose and I have only recently discovered she was the mother of the missing<\/span> boy.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the woman from time to time and she said \u2018Bonjour\u2019. But she does not speak French and I do not speak English so we did not communicate other than that.<\/p>\n \u201cShe would spend all day tapping away on her computer. I don\u2019t know what she was doing but that was what she did all day.<\/p>\n \u201cI told her I was going to cut the hot water to the toilet block at the end of September. She left about that time.<\/p>\n According to the man, Melanie hasn't returned in over two months and no one has seen her around since she vanished.<\/p>\n After arriving in France back in 2021, Melanie went off to live in a\u00a0\u201cspiritual community\u201d, while Alex lived in Fred<\/span> Hambye and Ingrid Beauve's gite (cottage) – where his grandad worked as a handyman.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Alex went by the name Zach as he worked with the French couple in return for food and accomodation with his grandad.<\/p>\n Her pal, Susie Harrison, last saw Melanie a few weeks ago and has recently dubbed her a\u00a0\u201cconspiracy theorist\u201d.<\/p>\n Susie said: \u201cShe believed\u00a0Covid-19\u00a0was not real, that it was created by the state to control the people.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what she did for money, but I know she gave therapeutic massages.<\/p>\n \u201cShe really wanted to set up a spiritual community here in the south of France.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I see Rose, I\u2019ll ask her, but maybe they\u2019re on the run now for having been illegally in\u00a0France\u00a0all this time.\u201d<\/p>\n Relative Stephen Devine, a cousin of Melanie, also had strong opinions on the woman.<\/p>\n He told The Sun: \u201cAlex\u2019s mum was involved in a cult.<\/p>\n \u201cHis grandma became his guardian but then his mum … and grandfather offered to take him on holiday for a week and they were never seen again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is going to be a big adjustment for him. He\u2019s probably grown up without a formal education.\u201d<\/p>\n Family friends have claimed his mum and grandad had become obsessed with cult-like ideas and\u00a0abandoned their normal lives in Greater Manchester to fight 'the establishment',\u00a0the banks and bailiffs.<\/p>\n Alex was picked up in pouring rain by a lorry driver at 3am on Wednesday 30 miles from the gite.<\/p>\n He was carrying a rucksack and skateboard and\u00a0claimed he hiked for four days\u00a0across the foothills of the Pyrenees.<\/p>\n But according to Google Maps, the trek should have taken 11 hours or quicker with his skateboard.<\/p>\n The boy\u00a0finally\u00a0returned to the home of his grandmother\u00a0and legal guardian Susan Caruana, 68, in Oldham, Greater Manchester on Saturday evening after escaping the French commune.<\/p>\n He told reporters: \u201cI\u2019m just happy to be home for\u00a0Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n He had been\u00a0missing for more than six years\u00a0when he was found.<\/p>\n Toulouse assistant public prosecutor Antoine Leroy said: \u201cIt is possible that the mother has gone to Finland as she planned. The grandfather, who has always been with his daughter and grandson, is said to have died around six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Describing Alex\u2019s lifestyle over the past six years, Mr Leroy said: \u201cThey would work on the ego, there was meditation work \u2014 there was no connection with the real world. They believed in reincarnation.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Leroy said Alex was tired but in good health after being reunited with his guardians, adding: \u201cHe\u2019s said to be intelligent even though he\u2019s never been to school in this period.<\/p>\n "He doesn\u2019t describe any kind of physical violence, without talking about emotional violence. We can\u2019t use the term \u2018sect\u2019 as such but he talks of a spiritual community.\u201d<\/p>\nread more in alex batty<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ch-op-alex.jpg\")
<\/picture>FOUND IN FRANCE <\/span><\/p>\nEverything we know about Alex Batty and where he was found <\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/TOB-Alex-Batty_COMP-1.jpg\")
<\/picture>HOMECOMING <\/span><\/p>\nAlex Batty speaks for first time as he returns home after 6 YEARS in commune<\/h3>\n
Most read in The Sun<\/h2>\n
<\/picture>HOMECOMING <\/span><\/p>\nAlex Batty speaks for first time as he returns home after 6 YEARS in commune<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/TM-Gaynor_COMP.jpg\")
<\/picture>GAYNOR AGONY <\/span><\/p>\nMissing mum-of-three is confirmed dead by cops who reveal possible cause<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/VP-ELLIE-VITO_COMP.jpg\")
<\/picture>STRICTLY LOVE <\/span><\/p>\nStrictly’s Ellie Leach finally breaks silence on ‘romance’ with Vito Coppola<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/TM-Splash-Nigel-v2_COMP.jpg\")
<\/picture>FARAGE SHOCK<\/span><\/p>\nFarage stunned after parents of daughter’s boyfriend arrested in drugs raid<\/h3>\n
Read more on The Sun<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture>![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/2017-found-chiropody-student-fabien-866699720-2.jpg\")
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