The 17-year-old was set to fly from Toulouse in southern France to the UK for an emotional meeting with Susan Caruana, 68, the boy's legal guardian.
Alex was 11 when he disappeared with mother Melanie and grandfather David while on a holiday in September 2017.
An international search was triggered when he failed to return. Ms Caruana believed her ex-partner and daughter had run away because they wanted the boy to have an "alternative lifestyle".
Alex was finally found when a delivery driver offered him a lift. He was walking in the rain carrying a bag, torch, skateboard and 100 Euros near Toulouse in the early hours of Wednesday.
For the past two years he had been living with his grandfather in a remote farmhouse near Quillan, a town nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
Yesterday, it emerged Alex had tried to enrol in a local school last month, but French authorities missed the chance to return him sooner.
This story is from the December 17, 2023 edition of Sunday Express.
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This story is from the December 17, 2023 edition of Sunday Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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