Urgent search for missing baby as Constance Marten and Mark Gordon arrested

Police have launched an urgent search operation for the baby of Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon, who were arrested in Brighton after 54 days on the run.

It was confirmed early this morning that the couple were arrested by Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas on Monday evening but their baby, born in early January, was not with them. A member of the public reported seeing the pair at around 9.30pm but their baby has not yet been found.

Officers are conducting an urgent search for the infant as they believe it has not received any medical attention since its birth, and that the couple had been camping in sub-zero temperatures. Marten and Gordon went missing after their car was found abandoned along the M61 near Bolton on January 5th.

Fire crews discovered placenta on the backseat of their car suggesting Constance had recently given birth. It is thought Constance, 35, and Gordon, 48, have been travelling around the UK by taxi in an effort to evade the authorities.

Police previously believed they had been sleeping rough in a blue tent purchased from Argos, and had avoided being traced by moving around frequently and keeping their faces hidden in CCTV images. Miss Marten comes from a wealthy aristocratic family but became estranged from them after beginning a romantic relationship with Mr Gordon in 2016.

Since then the couple led an isolated life, and in September, they began moving around from rental flats while Miss Marten was pregnant. Gordon, a registered sex offender, was deported to Britain in 2010 for the US after he served 20 years in prison for a rape he committed when he was aged 14.

Both Miss Marten’s mother and father have issued emotional pleas for their daughter to come home and for the safety of the baby. Virginie Sellars pledged to stand by her daughter and grandchild telling her in an open letter: “You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.

“You are focused, intelligent, passionate and complex with so much to offer the world. So many of your friends have come forward to say such positive things about you, assuring us of their warmest love and support for you and your family.

“You have made choices in your personal adult life which have proven to be challenging, however I respect them, I know that you want to keep your precious new-born child at all costs. With all that you have gone through this baby cannot be removed from you but instead needs looking after in a kind and warm environment.

“I want to help you and my grandchild. You deserve the opportunity to build a new life, establish a stable family and enjoy the same freedoms that most of us have. Constance, I will do what I can to stand alongside you and my grandchild. You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.

“I am ready to do what it takes for you to recover from this awful experience so you can thrive and enjoy motherhood.

“I love you and miss you, Mum xx.”

It is not known if the baby was born full-term or has any health issues as police conduct an urgent search. Marten and Gordon remain in custody.