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Police searching for an aristocrat missing with her rapist boyfriend and their newborn are offering a £10,000 reward to find them – after disclosing they dumped the child’s pushchair three weeks ago.
Detectives have now traced Constance Marten, 35, Mark Gordon, 48, and their baby to Newhaven in East Sussex, which has a ferry port.
The Met Police – which is leading the investigation – is continuing to urge the public to report any sightings of the family to the police.
Police say they were dropped off in a taxi at 4.56am on January 8 just outside the entrance to Newhaven port but officers insist there is ‘no evidence’ they caught a boat.
Mark Gordon, 48, and Constance Marten, 35, have been at the centre of a nationwide police hunt for four weeks
The most recent CCTV of couple show them after buying camping gear from a London Argos
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘We continue to be extremely concerned about the health and wellbeing of the newborn baby, which has had no medical care and has been on the move, and possibly exposed to sub-zero temperatures, for almost a month now.
‘We’re also concerned for the welfare of Constance and Mark, because our enquiries suggest that they were constantly moving and awake for at least a few days – which must be especially draining on someone who had recently given birth with no medical attention.
‘Finding the baby is our top priority and we are now offering a £10,000 reward to anyone who provides information which leads to them being found. Maybe you have been reluctant to come forward before, for whatever reason, with key information to help us find the family. It does not matter why you did not speak to us earlier, what matters is doing the right thing now for the good of a vulnerable newborn baby.
‘Maybe you saw them wandering the streets? Perhaps they asked you for directions? Maybe they got into your taxi, or they came into your establishment to buy food and drink? Please contact us with any information you have, because every single bit of information we get will assist us with finding them. I’d like to stress that if you have taken cash to provide a service to the family, whether that’s giving them a lift, accommodation or something else, that you are not in any sort of trouble, we just need to hear from you.’
Detectives working to trace the family have now tracked them to Newhaven, in East Sussex.
Police say they were dropped off in a taxi at 4.56am on January 8 just outside the entrance to the port.
They were seen carrying the bags containing the blue two-man tent, sleeping bags and pillows that they had purchased from Argos the evening before – meaning they could still be camping somewhere in the UK.
However, they were no longer in possession of the pushchair that they were previously seen with after they dumped it in Flower and Dean Walk, E1, at 11.46pm on January 7.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford added: ‘We have no evidence to suggest that they boarded a ferry in Newhaven, and we still strongly believe that they remain here in the UK – although they could be anywhere. Our enquiries also establish that the baby was alive and with them when they got the taxi to Newhaven.
Police say Gordon is often seen striding ahead while Constance is walking behind him
Constance Marten is missing with her rapist boyfriend and their newborn baby in the UK
Napier Marten (pictured), is Constance’s father and was a pageboy to Queen Elizabeth II before giving up his £115million fortune after an ‘epiphany’ that told him to flee his ‘materialistic’ life
‘We know they were still in possession of camping equipment on January 8 and so I’d encourage people to remain vigilant and keep a look out for a blue tent. Please keep your eyes peeled, especially while you are out and about in waste ground or beauty spots, or while you’re walking the dog, and report any information to us.’
Gordon’s mother claimed her son is a ‘good boy’ and that he has secretly married the British aristocrat, saying she ‘does not know what all this is about’.
He was born in Birmingham but he, his mother and his half-siblings moved to the US when he was still a child in 1989.
In April of that year, aged just 14, Gordon armed himself with garden shears and a kitchen knife, then attacked his neighbour in a four-and-a-half-hour ordeal which saw him take her hostage and sexually assault her.
Two young children were sleeping in the room next door at the time of the attack, documents show.
US court records describe how Gordon is said to have broken in through the woman’s bathroom window, before finding a pair of her stockings which he used as a makeshift mask to cover his face.
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Constance Marten and Mark Gordon outside East Ham station at around 11.45am on Saturday January 7
The car the pair were driving broke down and caught fire, as seen in this picture from police released as part of the search
After her car broke down on the M61 near Bolton on Thursday evening, Ms Marten is believed to have been spotted wrapped in red blanket in Harwich Port, Essex on Saturday at 9am
Once he had encountered his victim, the documents state: ‘The suspect ordered the victim back into the bedroom and while still armed, demanded that the victim undress.’
He then sexually assaulted and raped the victim.
There were a total of six charges against Gordon relating to the April 29 attack: one count of armed kidnapping, four separate counts of armed sexual battery and one count of burglary with a deadly weapon. He was convicted on all charges.
The file described Gordon’s actions once he had entered the house: ‘The suspect placed a nylon stocking over his face to conceal his identity since he lived next door and was known by her.
‘The suspect was armed with a kitchen knife as well as a pair of hedge clippers and after the victim came out of her bedroom to investigate the dogs barking, came across the suspect lurking just outside her bedroom door.
‘The victim was held for a period of approximately four-and-a-half hours against her will by the armed intruder.
‘After miranda [being given the right to remain silent], the suspect admitted to the crime and gave a sworn, taped statement outlining the sequence of events as they occurred.
‘It should be noted that during the commission of the crime, the victim’s two small children were sleeping in their bedroom.’
Gordon was tried as an adult and sentenced to 20 years in jail after finally being arrested following six weeks spent on the run.
While a fugitive from the first attack, Gordon committed another violent armed raid just weeks later.
On May 21, he broke into a man’s house while he was sleeping, grabbed a kitchen knife and then battered the householder around the head with a heavy shovel when he awoke.
Court documents state that Gordon encountered the man, one of multiple occupants of the house, lying in bed when he suddenly awakened, ‘at which time the defendant beat the victim about his head and body’ with the shovel.
He then fled empty-handed leaving the victim seriously injured.
Police finally caught up with Gordon a month later on June 13 when he confessed to both raids.
It comes after film producer Napier Marten issued a plea to his estranged daughter Constance to get herself and the child to safety.
Mr Marten, son of Mary Anna Marten, whose godmother was the late Queen mother, told the Independent: ‘Darling Constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, I stand by, as I have always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us.
‘I beseech you to find a way to turn yourself and your wee one in to the police as soon as possible, so you and he or she can be protected.
‘Only then can a process of healing and recovery begin, however long it may take, however difficult it may be.
‘We are deeply concerned for your and your baby’s welfare.
‘I would like you to understand that the family will do all that is needed for your wellbeing.
‘And I also wish you to understand you are much, much loved whatever the circumstances.’
Anyone who has information on the family’s whereabouts should call the incident room on 020 7175 0785.
Alternatively, information can be reported 100 per cent anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They never ask for personal details and they do not trace your device.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
