Urgent search for baby as Constance Marten and Mark Gordon arrested
Police are currently focusing their search efforts on a missing baby after a couple, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, were arrested in Brighton, according to authorities.
The newborn was believed to be only a few days old when the couple disappeared in January. Marten and Gordon remain in custody and are being interrogated, as per the Metropolitan Police, who have requested that local residents search for any indication of the infant, including in sheds and outbuildings.
Det Supt Lewis Basford made a direct plea to the public, stating that the search is now “solely about that baby.” He stated, “Currently, we are investigating the area surrounding the location where the couple was apprehended last night.”
On Monday evening, the pair were seen in Stanmer Villas, Brighton, by a member of the public. The child was not in their company, and police informed BBC Breakfast that they were concerned about the infant being exposed to the weather. “The arrest location was close to open land, and the couple were heading in that direction. We know they travel long distances,” according to Det Supt Basford.
He went on to say, “My appeal to Brighton and Newhaven residents is to remain vigilant.”
A helicopter was up all night scouring a 10-mile search area, with drones and police dogs also assisting.
Missing since September
After Ms Marten began to show signs of pregnancy, the couple left their home in Eltham, south-east London, in September and had been living a nomadic lifestyle since then. They had been travelling around the UK by taxi after their car was found burning on the M61 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January.
The couple appeared to be attempting to evade the police in the days following the car breakdown, travelling in quick succession to Liverpool, Essex, and London while trying to conceal their faces from CCTV cameras.
According to the police, they were thought to be carrying a large amount of cash and were using camping equipment to live off-grid. Investigators expressed concern that the baby was being “exposed to sub-zero temperatures” and that neither Ms Marten nor the baby had received medical attention since the child’s birth.
When they first went missing, police expressed concern about the couple’s constant movement and lack of rest, especially considering that Ms Marten had recently given birth without medical attention.
In late January, detectives offered a £10,000 reward for information that could lead to the couple’s location.
Who are Constance Marten and Mark Gordon?
According to the police, Constance Marten, who is now 35 years old, grew up in a wealthy family and had a privileged upbringing. She attended private school and lived in a stately home in Dorset. However, after meeting Mark Gordon while studying drama in 2016, she became estranged from her family.
Gordon, who is a registered sex offender, was deported from the United States to Britain in 2010, having spent 20 years in prison for committing rape when he was 14 years old. Ms Marten’s father, Napier Marten, previously appealed to his daughter to surrender to the police. “Even though we remain estranged at the moment, I stand by as I have always done, and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us,” he told the Independent. If anyone has any information that could assist with the search, they should contact 999.
