Police holding aristocrat Constance Marten find the body of a baby
Police have found a body in the search for the missing baby of aristocrat Constance Marten and her lover Mark Gordon.
The body of a newborn baby was found Monday night in a forest near where the couple was arrested.
Speaking at a press conference outside Sussex Police Headquarters in Lewes this evening, Detective Lewis Basford Chief Inspector James Collis told reporters: “It is my very sad duty to update this afternoon, police officers are searching a wooded area close to where Constance and Mark Gordon were arrested, discovered the remains of a baby.
“There will be an autopsy in due course. There is a crime scene present and work on the site is expected to take some time.
The size of the area being cleaned suggests that neither Marten, 35, nor Gordon, 48, revealed the newborn’s location during the interview following their arrests on Monday
Mark Gordon, 48, and Constance Marten, 35, had been missing for the past 54 days and were sleeping rough. They refuse to tell the police where their baby is
“This is a result that I and many officers who participated in this search had hoped would not happen.
“I recognize the impact this news will have on many people who have followed this story closely and can assure them that we will do everything we can to establish what happened.”
Marten, 35, or Gordon, 48, were arrested in Brighton around 9.30pm on Monday after a 54-day search for the pair.
It’s because hundreds of police officers and volunteers from London Search and Rescue have meticulously combed ‘a vast area of some 90 square miles’.
Supt Basford described the search earlier today as “extremely difficult and painstaking,” adding that officers “must take into account that the baby has been seriously injured.”
It comes as an abandoned sleeping bag, tents and several rough camps and shelters were discovered in forests close to the area searched by police.
The find was made in a forest edge bordering the southeast corner of Wild Park – an area that police have reportedly not yet reached.
Set in the 240-acre nature reserve, the woodland is on the direct off-road footpath between Newhaven and Fiveways, the Brighton area where the pair were arrested on Monday night.
Marten and Gordon were initially arrested on suspicion of child neglect, before being re-arrested the following day on suspicion of grossly negligent homicide.
Det Supt Basford previously said it was possible the baby had been ‘harmed’ because the couple had refused to disclose its location despite being questioned for a ‘considerable time’.
He added: ‘This is an extremely difficult and painstaking search, covering a vast area of some 90 square miles. We’re using all the resources at our disposal to find the baby.”
The officer also urged the public to remain vigilant and to continue to provide information to police.
It’s because the police have requested an extra 36 hours to question them.
Today, a search dog van was seen making its way onto Golf Drive, which leads to the allotments that were the focus of the police search.
A number of marked police vehicles lined the street, and a uniformed officer stood guard at the bottom of the road.
Marten (pictured with her baby) and Gordon were initially arrested on suspicion of child neglect before being re-arrested the next day on suspicion of grossly negligent manslaughter
An abandoned sleeping bag, tents and several rugged camps and shelters were discovered today
The discovery was made in an area of woodland that today borders the southeast corner of Wild Park
A police search team searches a forest area as they continue to search for a missing baby today
More than 200 officers have searched for the baby, from where the couple were last seen to where they were arrested, including allotments and woods.
A helicopter, sniffer dogs, thermal imaging cameras and drones were used in the search.
The couple’s arrest came after a member of the public, who had seen media reports about the couple, called 999 after seeing them pick up money from a convenience store in the town’s Hollingbury Place shortly before 9.30pm on Monday.
Police then arrested them within six minutes of the tip.
The pair were heard arguing as they walked past Stanmer Villas just before their arrest, exclusive footage obtained by MailOnline revealed.
Marten was apparently in tears when officers turned up the adjacent Gulf Drive and yelled at officers to get off her lover when he was detained, saying she was concerned about his mental health.
A witness claimed he struggled and took 40 minutes to be subdued. Another said he was very angry and shouted.
The search for Marten and Gordon began on January 5 when their car was on fire next to the M61 in Bolton.
Inquiries revealed that Marten had recently given birth, possibly one or two days before the incident, and had not been assessed by medical professionals.
Greater Manchester Police determined they had safely left the car and the motorway.
They used taxis to travel first to Liverpool, then to Harwich in Essex and then to East London, before arriving in Sussex on 8 January.
The pair avoided detection by paying cash only, hiding their faces from CCTV and often moving around at night or in the early hours of the morning.
Police search teams investigate a pile of burnt objects in their search for Constance Marten’s baby
At the start of each section of their search, an officer yelled, “Are we done?” Look behind you, and let’s go’ before they lined up and scanned the area
Members of the Search and Rescue London charity have joined the hunt for the missing baby in Brighton today
Mr Basford said officers are reviewing footage shared online of Gordon seen with a cane before he was arrested, adding there was enough information to suggest the pair had spent most of their time in open spaces outside while evading the police.
He admitted that the cold weather forced detectives to be open to the investigation and did not “end the way we would like.”
The couple has been sleeping rough in freezing temperatures for much of the time.
Coming from a wealthy aristocratic family, Marten was a promising drama student when she met Gordon in 2016.
Since then, the couple has lived in isolation and in September, as Marten’s pregnancy progressed, they began moving into rented flats.
Anyone who may be able to assist in the search for the baby is urged to contact 999.