Constance Marten and Mark Gordon Arrest: Baby’s Body Found

Warning this article may contain distressing information

By Tara E

The Arrest:

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon – a convicted rapist and registered sex offender –were arrested on Monday in Brighton after a member of the public recognised them and called the police. Initially they were held on suspicion of child neglect but were later arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. They could face up to 18 years in prison for these criminal offences.

They remained in custody but gave no information about the baby. They would not even provide the gender of the baby.

They had been missing for 53 days. The search began when their car was found on fire near Bolton. They fled the scene and travelled to Liverpool, Essex, London, and East Sussex. They travelled in public at night and by covering their faces to avoid being spotted.

The Baby:

Police say Marten had given birth recently and the baby was said to have been born in the back of the car without any medical attention. On Tuesday as statement was released by the police urging the public to help with the search for the baby and report any potential sightings in Brighton or Newhaven.

There was a possibility that the child was being looked after by someone but the police knew that this was highly unlikely. It was predicted that the child would be about two months old now and due to cold weather, it was unlikely the child survived. The baby was alive at the time of the sighting of the couple in Newhaven, but it is unknown what happened in between that time until now.

Update – Baby Found:

On the afternoon on March 1st, the remains of a baby’s body were found in a wooded area by police officers. The search covered 90-square miles of the woods involving sniffer dogs, drones, and thermal cameras. The body was found near to where Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were arrested on the evening of Monday 27th February. Police have not confirmed whether the baby was theirs, but this will be confirmed in the post-mortem.

Hundreds of police officers and volunteers searched for the missing child in a huge 48-hour search. The babies age and gender have not yet been determined but the police were granted an extra 36 hours to question the couple.