- By Jasmine Andersson & Lucy Pasha-Robinson & Nick Johnson
- BBC news
WATCH: Police search Lowdale Valley allotment in Sussex Downs
A massive search is underway for the missing baby after the couple Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were spotted and arrested in Brighton.
When the couple went missing in January, their baby was thought to be only a few days old.
The pair were arrested by Sussex police on suspicion of child neglect, but the baby has never been found.
Police are scouring the Sussex Downs farmland and golf course in an ’emergency search’ involving helicopters, drones and police dogs.
Ms Marten and convicted sex offender Gordon were spotted Monday night after being spotted by the public in the Five Way neighborhood north of Brighton.
Detective Superintendent Louis Basford of the London Metropolitan Police said the two were dressed for outdoor activities and had returned to open ground when they were arrested.
Police appealed directly to the public, but said the search was “all about that baby now.”
Det Supt Basford told journalists:
However, he expressed concern that the child was being exposed to the elements and said the search had now run out of time.
Temperatures are expected to drop to 1°C overnight in the Brighton area.
Police said it was unlikely, but did not rule out the possibility that someone was hiding the baby.
The couple had been traveling by taxi across England for weeks after their car broke down near Bolton in Greater Manchester on 5 January.
Constance Marten and Marc Gordon disappeared with their newborn baby over seven weeks ago
“The place of arrest was close to open land and the couple were moving towards that land. “We are doing it,” said Det Supt Basford.
“Citizens here in Brighton heading to New Haven, please be careful.”
Marten’s father, Napier Marten, expressed “huge relief” that her daughter was found and was “heartbroken by the very disturbing news that the baby has not yet been found,” said IndyPen. told the Dent newspaper.
Police cars can be seen lined up at the north end of Stammer Villas, sandwiched between the Hollingbury Golf Course and the Lowdale Valley Alotment, where officers are busy searching.
A quiet residential area on the north end of Brighton.
Residents of the homes facing the allotment continue to search from their balconies, diligently keeping abreast of important developments.
More than 200 officers have been deployed to Sussex as part of the investigation, according to police, “providing significant resources, professional competence, local knowledge and peer support”.
Aerial view of Crichell House, where Ms. Marten probably spent her childhood
Marten and her partner moved out of their home in Eltham, south-east London, in September after she first showed signs of pregnancy.
Their car broke down on the M61 near Bolton and was found on fire on 5 January. The couple then traveled in quick succession to Liverpool, Essex and London.
CCTV footage showed them appearing to hide their faces from the cameras.
According to police, they were believed to be carrying large amounts of cash and using camping equipment to live without electricity.
When they first went missing, police were concerned that the couple “appeared to be constantly moving and awake for at least several days.
Det Supt Lewis Basford says officers are searching the vast area for the missing infant.
They also said there was no evidence that neither Marten nor the baby had been evaluated by a medical professional since the baby’s birth.
At the end of January, detectives offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the couple’s whereabouts.
Marten, 35, was born into a wealthy family, attended private school and had the privilege of living in a stately home in Dorset.
Police said she was estranged from her family after meeting Gordon in 2016 when she was a drama student.