Large-scale police search for newborn baby after missing couple Constance Marten and Mark Gordon arrested | UK news

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A major police search is underway for a newborn baby after a missing mother and father were found and arrested.

Sussex Police said Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were spotted in Brighton by a member of the public just before 9.30pm on Monday.

It was was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and are in police custody, but their baby is still missing.

Officers working to trace Constance Marten and Mark Gordon and their newborn baby found that they went to Argos in Whitechapel Road, E1, at 6.19pm on Saturday 7 January to buy camping equipment.
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Mark Gordon and Constance Marten

Officers are urgently searching Roedale Valley Allotments in Brighton and the surrounding woodland near Golf Drive, a road above the allotment.

Sky correspondent Sabah Choudhry reported that two police forces were searching the area. Special officers are also looking for the baby, who is believed to be around two months old.

Officers appealed to the public to remain “vigilant” in areas of open land or to check any outbuildings they may have on their property.

Police are looking for a missing newborn
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Police are investigating Roedale Valley Allotments, in Brighton
A police officer looks through a bin at Roedale Valley Allotments, Brighton, where an urgent search operation is underway to find the missing baby of Constance Marten, who has not received medical attention since she was born in early January
Police search teams at Roedale Valley Allotments, Brighton, where an urgent search operation is underway to find Constance Marten's missing baby, who has not received medical attention since she was born in early January

Detective Constable Lewis Basford told Sky News: “We are currently looking at all available areas where the baby could be in the open.

“This will include searching for outbuildings and anywhere the baby could have been left by the couple to find shelter away from the climate and extreme temperatures.

“The search will involve all facilities at that location, going out into the open land to try and locate the baby.”

DSI Basford said no further information about the baby’s whereabouts had emerged since questioning the couple while they remain in custody.

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“I have always remained hopeful that the child is alive and the investigation we have been doing is about the safe recovery and location of the baby,” he added.

Speaking to The Independent, Marten’s father, Napier Marten, said it was “a huge relief” to know the pair had been found, but it would have been “much better if they had been handed in sooner”.

She added that it was “very worrying news that her baby still hasn’t been found”.

Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, were reported missing after their car broke down near junction four of the M61, near Bolton, on Thursday January 5.

Police search teams in Golf Drive, Brighton, where an urgent search operation is underway to find Constance Marten's missing baby, who has not received medical attention since she was born in early January. Ms Marten and her partner Mark Gordon are in custody after being arrested in Brighton. The couple had been traveling across the UK by taxi since their car was found burning on the M61 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5. Date taken: Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
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Police search teams in Golf Drive, Brighton
Police search teams are scouring a wooded area off Golf Drive in Brighton, where an urgent search operation is underway to find Constance Marten's missing baby, who has not received medical attention since she was born in early January
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Police in a wooded area off Golf Drive

In the following days, there were sightings of them in various places including Liverpool, Essex, south London and East Sussex.

Authorities previously believed the pair were sleeping rough in a blue tent and had evaded police detection by moving frequently and keeping their faces covered in CCTV images.

In the days following their disappearance, DSI Basford said the baby was “the focus of the investigation” and concerns were growing “by the day” for the child’s welfare.

Shereen Nimmo, director of obstetrics for Barts Health NHS Trust, also issued an appeal urging the couple to bring the baby in for checks.

Marten, who is from a wealthy family, has been living a secluded life with Gordon since they met in 2016.

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