Police offer £10k reward for information on missing couple with baby

Police detectives are offering a £10,000 reward in the search for Constance Marten, her partner and their newborn baby.

Police believe that Constance and her partner, Mark Gordon, are rough sleeping along with their newborn baby. The 35-year-old new mother was last seen with convicted sex-offender Gordon, 48, in Newhaven, Sussex, where they were dropped off in a taxi at 4.56am on Sunday January 8th.

They are thought to be using recently purchased camping equipment to live off-grid and police fear that their baby has been ‘exposed to sub-zero temperatures’.

The Metropolitan Police also stressed concern for the couple, who are thought to have been ‘constantly moving and awake for at least a few days – which must be especially draining on someone who had recently given birth with no medical attention’.

The pair were seen carrying a blue two-man tent, sleeping bags and pillows that they had bought from Argos the previous evening.

Officers believe they are still in the UK but warned ‘they could be anywhere’, encouraging people to ‘keep your eyes peeled’ around waste ground, beauty spots, or while walking the dog, as they confirmed: “the baby was alive and with them when they got the taxi to Newhaven”.

Detective Superintendent Basford appealed for information, asking anyone who might be helping the couple to come forward, saying: “It does not matter why you did not speak to us earlier. Maybe you saw them wandering the streets? Perhaps they asked you for directions?

“Maybe they got into your taxi, or they came into your establishment to buy food and drink?

“Please contact us with any information you have, because every single bit of information we get will assist us with finding them.”

He continued: “I’d like to stress that if you have taken cash to provide a service to the family, whether that’s giving them a lift, accommodation or something else, that you are not in any sort of trouble, we just need to hear from you.”

The search began for the couple after their car broke down, caught fire and was left abandoned on the side of the M61, near Bolton on January 5th.

Firefighters discovered placenta on the backseat and it was soon discovered that Ms Marten had given birth without receiving any medical treatment or assistance, just a few days before.

Ms Marten has been estranged from her aristocratic family since the couple began their romantic relationship in 2016.

Police say the couple left their home in Eltham, south-east London, in September 2022 when Ms Marten began showing signs of pregnancy, and have since led a nomadic lifestyle.

Gordon has been registered as a sex offender in the UK since 2010 for a rape he committed aged 14 in the US – he served a 20-year sentence in the United States before being deported to Britain.

Anyone who has information on the family’s whereabouts should call police on 020 7175 0785.

Alternatively, information can be reported 100 per cent anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 — they never ask for personal details and they do not trace your device.