Constance Marten and Mark Gordon: baby whose remains found ...

2 Mar 2023

Police believe the baby whose remains were found in the Constance Marten and Mark Gordon investigation “may have been dead for some time” and they have been unable to confirm its gender, a detective has said.

Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, sparked a nationwide search after going missing almost eight weeks ago with their newborn, who had not received any medical attention since its birth.

They were detained without their child near Stanmer Villas, in Brighton, on Monday night after a tipoff from a member of the public.

The couple refused to reveal the location of the child and were arrested on suspicion of child neglect, and rearrested the following day on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

The arrests brought the search for the couple to an end and triggered a “painstaking” search for their baby, with hundreds of officers scouring open land within a 90 sq mile area in Sussex.

DS Lewis Basford, with the Metropolitan police, said officers were “devastated” after remains were found on Wednesday near where the child’s parents had been arrested. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the senior investigating officer said the case had been referred to the police watchdog.

He said: “While there are still many unanswered questions it is important that we give the investigation team the time and space they need to establish more details about the circumstances of this tragic death.

“At this stage, we have not yet been able to confirm the baby’s gender and a postmortem examination has not yet taken place.

“Despite this, based on our inquiries we’ve carried out so far, we believe sadly the baby may have been dead for some time before they were found. It is too early for us to provide a more specific date.

“Because we believe the death occurred during the course of a missing person investigation we have made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). This is standard protocol for such circumstances.”

Ch Supt James Collis, from Sussex police, said the large police numbers for the search would now be reduced.

He added: “We have seen an outpouring of public sorrow following yesterday’s heartbreaking discovery and have been overwhelmed by kind messages and support to those involved in this challenging search and investigation.”

Marten is from a wealthy aristocratic family with connections to the royal family and was a drama student before meeting Gordon in 2016. The couple had been missing since 5 January when their car was found abandoned and on fire next to the M61 in Bolton.

Evidence was found to suggest Marten had given birth in the car, possibly one or two days before. Taxi drivers used by the couple in the first days after they went missing said they had heard noises coming from a baby. It is not known whether the baby was born full-term or had any health problems.

The couple travelled from Bolton to Liverpool, then to Harwich in Essex, east London and Newhaven in Sussex, where they were reportedly seen near the ferry port on 8 January.

The pair remain in custody after police were granted a 36-hour custody extension on Wednesday to question the couple. A postmortem examination will determine how and when the infant died.

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