Alex Batty and five other missing people who miraculously turned up years later

A British boy who went missing when he was 11 in 2017 has miraculously turned up. Alex Batty went missing while on a family holiday in Spain while with his mother and grandfather.

The pair do not have parental guardianship over the now 17-year-old who was found by a motorist in the foothills of the Pyrenees before being taken to a young person's centre in Toulouse. He is now set to return to the UK.

Upon being located, Alex used a Facebook account to contact his grandmother to say he was in France and added "I love you, I want to come home." It is believed that Alex had been living in the remote Pyrenean valleys, travelling around in some sort of itinerant commune.

The 'abducted' teenager's story represents one of a number of instances where an individual who was missing for several years has been found alive. NationalWorld explores some others from the past.

Elizabeth Smart

This remains one of the most high-profile child abduction cases in modern times. Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping in 2002 stands out as one of the most widely recognized incidents.

Elizabeth, only 14 years old, was taken from her home for 9 months by Brian David Mitchell, a former handyman hired by her parents. Mitchell, who went by the name "Emmanuel" to the Smart family, broke into their home while Elizabeth slept beside her younger sister, Mary Katherine.

Remarkably, Mary Katherine pretended to sleep to ensure their safety. The family's perseverance and media attention eventually led to Elizabeth's reunion with her family.

Michele Whitaker

In 2002, another tale unfolded as Michele Whitaker, a Waffle House employee, left her family home after an argument with her mother. Concerns deepened when Heather Sellers, a co-worker, also went missing.

The police suspected Sellers' boyfriend, a prior murder suspect, could be involved. Six years later, Sellers' boyfriend appeared on a true crime TV show, prompting a woman to recognize Whitaker as her neighbour. It turned out that Whitaker had chosen a fresh start elsewhere but eventually reconnected with her family, highlighting the complexity of personal decisions and the unpredictability of life.

Lucy Johnson

Rewind to 1965, when Marvin Johnson reported his wife Lucy missing after a four-year absence. Initially suspected, Johnson was later cleared and remarried.

Decades later, Lucy's daughter, Linda, placed an ad near Alaska seeking information about her missing mother. A response from Yukon revealed that Lucy had started a new life, moving west and establishing an entirely new family. The unexpected twists in Lucy's story showcased the mysteries that can span generations.

Ishinosuke Uwano

The post-World War II era saw the Soviet Union detaining almost a million Japanese soldiers, releasing most by the late 1940s. In 2000, Ishinosuke Uwano was legally declared dead by his family, assuming he had succumbed to the passage of time.

Surprisingly, in 2005, he emerged in Ukraine with a new family. A visit from a Japanese crew confirmed his identity, reuniting Uwano with his sisters after a separation lasting since 1943.

Lula Cora Hood

Lula Cora Hood's disappearance in 1970, following a heated family argument, left her family anxious and perplexed. The discovery of a skeleton near her home in 1996 led to the assumption that it was Lula. However, in 2011, the unexpected happened when an 84-year-old Lula was located in Jacksonville, Florida, challenging those assumptions.