Following several weeks of eluding law enforcement, the police officers, who were investigating the disappearance of a baby, have found the body of a newborn in close proximity to the location where the parents of the child were apprehended.
From the time it was born in early January, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were apprehended on suspicion of neglecting their child and subsequently charged with gross negligence manslaughter for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of their missing child, who had not been provided with any medical care.
Marten, aged 35, and Gordon, aged 48, were apprehended on Monday evening near Stanmer Villas in Brighton, after receiving information from a concerned citizen, without their offspring.
The couple’s search for their baby, which triggered a painstaking search across the open land of Sussex spanning 90 square miles, came to an end with the arrest of hundreds of trawling officers, bringing an end to a nationwide search that lasted 53 days.
On Wednesday evening, police officers said that the remains of the child had been found near where the parents had been arrested, and the search had reached a “heartbreaking” conclusion.
Det Supt Lewis Basford, the senior investigating officer with the Met, speaking at Sussex police headquarters, stated that police officers, while conducting a search in a wooded area near the location where Constance and Mark Gordon were apprehended, made a significant discovery by finding the remains of an infant.
“The work at the site is anticipated to persist for a while. Eventually, there will be a postmortem examination. A crime scene has been established.”
Many people who have been following this story closely and recognize the impact this news can have on them will appreciate that we can assure them that we will do everything we can to establish what happened. This is an outcome that many officers, as well as myself, had hoped would not happen.
Ch Supt James Collis of Sussex police expressed empathy, acknowledging that the outcome of this search will be devastating for the local community and the broader public, who have been affected by and provided immense support for this search and investigation since the beginning.
Marten and Gordon continue to be held in custody after police officers requested an extension of their detention from Brighton magistrates court.
Marten is from a wealthy aristocratic family with connections to the royal family, and in 2016, he had a promising meeting with Gordon, a student involved in drama, before being led into a life of isolation and cutting off friends and family.
Last September, they started living in Airbnbs around the UK, enabling them to avoid the attention of authorities and accumulate a substantial amount of cash while living off the grid.
On 5 January, their vehicle was discovered ablaze on the M61 near Bolton, Greater Manchester, as they had been journeying across the United Kingdom via taxi. Inside the vehicle, indications were uncovered indicating that Marten had delivered a baby.
The couple, who were taxi drivers, said they heard noises coming from the baby after a few days of them going missing, whether it was known or not if the baby had any health problems or was full-term born.
Authorities believed that the couple had previously been sleeping rough in a blue tent, and they had managed to avoid the police by frequently moving around and keeping their faces covered on CCTV.
On 8 January, they were allegedly spotted close to the ferry terminal in Sussex, in Newhaven, in the eastern part of London, in Essex, in Harwich, towards Liverpool, and from Bolton, they journeyed.
Just over a week ago, Shereen Nimmo, the director of midwifery at Barts Health NHS Trust, urged the couple to bring in their baby for a check-up.
She expressed that it is crucial for you to seek professional healthcare as soon as possible, either by consulting another doctor or a midwife, as the risk of putting your baby in danger increases when you do not have access to proper medical care.
New mothers are given information about how to prevent sudden infant death syndrome and the need for a warm and safe environment for their babies.
Marten’s estranged father, the film and music producer Napier Marten, informed the Independent after the apprehensions that discovering his cherished daughter Constance has been located brings him great solace, although this is balanced by the highly distressing information that her infant has not yet been located.