Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Thomas Kingsley

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon: Timeline of the missing couple’s disappearance

Met Police

An aristocrat’s daughter and her sex offender partner are in police custody after being arrested in Brighton.

Constance Marten, 35, and her boyfriend Mark Gordon, 48, were located by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas, Brighton on Monday night after a member of the public reported seeing them shortly before 9.30pm.

However, their newborn baby is still missing and an urgent search operation is underway to find the infant who has not had any medical attention since the birth in early January.

Ms Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, have been travelling around the UK by taxi since their car was found burning on the M61 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January.

Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and their newborn went missing in early January.

Ms Marten had very recently given birth, possibly one or two days before, and had not been assessed by medical professionals.

Mark Gordon and Constance Marten have been missing for weeks (AP)

If you have any information about Constance or Mark, please email thomas.kingsley@independent.co.uk

Scotland Yard received around 300 calls in the operation to find the pair and a £10,000 reward was offered for information that leads to them being found safe.

Ms Marten is believed to have given birth not long before the couple abandoned their car (Social media)

Shortly after the couple disappeared it transpired that Gordon was jailed in the late 1980s in Florida, US, after raping and assaulting a woman when he was 14.

Timeline of all known movements since disappearance:

Thursday, 5 January- 6.30pm - M61 near Bolton

The missing pair travelled more than 200 miles across England (The Independent)

Just after 6.30pm on Thursday, 5 January officers from Greater Manchester Police were called to a car on fire on the hard-shoulder of the M61 near junction four at Farnworth, Bolton.

Ms Marten and Gordon were not at the scene with officers believing they had fled on foot. However, most of their belongings were destroyed in the fire.

Friday, 6 January - 3.30am - Liverpool

The couple’s car on fire on the M61 (Met Police)

After establishing the identity of the car owners, Greater Manchester Police launched a missing persons investigation.

Their initial enquiries revealed the pair walked to the Anchor Lane bridge which links the Highfield and Little Hulton areas. They then hailed a taxi and travelled an hour for more than 30 miles to Liverpool.

Moving at pace, they then hailed another taxi and travelled more than 200 miles from Liverpool to Harwich around 3.30am on Friday, 6 January.

Saturday, 7 January - 9am - Harwich

A CCTV image which is believed to be Ms Marten outside Harwich Port in Essex (PA Media)

The trio were seen by a member of the public in Harwich at about 9am on Saturday, 7 January. Officers also received a number of confirmed sightings of the family in Colchester on Friday, 6 January and Saturday, 7 January.

Subsequently, the investigation was handed over to Essex Police on Monday, 9 January.

Saturday, 7 January - 10.30am - East London

Essex Police carried out a number of enquiries and reviewed hours of CCTV and were able to place the couple near East Ham Station between 10.30am and 12.30pm on Saturday, 7 January.

As this was the last confirmed sighting of the family, the investigation was handed over to the Metropolitan Police Service on Thursday, 12 January.

Detectives have since established that the couple took a taxi from East Ham, being dropped off in Whitechapel Road at 6:14pm.

They left taxi with an orange bag and a pram and kept their faces covered. At 6.19pm Gordon purchased a a blue two-man tent, two sleeping bags and two pillows, from an Argos on Whitechapel Road.

At 11.46pm they got a taxi to Haringey.

Sunday, 8 January - 1.24am

Ms Marten and Gordon sighted outside of East Ham station (Metropolitan Police)

After getting a taxi late on Saturday night to Haringey, the couple then got in another taxi on Allison Road, Haringey that took them to Newhaven, East Sussex, where they were dropped off outside the port at 4.56am.

They walked to where the A259 crosses over the B2109 and were later seen sheltering under an overpass at around 6am.

At around 6.15am they walked along Cantercrow Hill into the fields beyond.

The couple are believed to have been camping in the Sussex countryside with their newborn (PA Media)

Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of the Met’s East Area Command said: “Previous appeals have resulted in around 300 calls from members of the public, but sadly they have not led to the couple and their baby being found.

“While we are very grateful to everyone who has already called, we still need to hear from anyone who has seen the couple since Sunday, 8 January and we are offering a reward of up to £10,000 for any information that leads to the family being found.

“I am appealing in particular to people who may have spent time in the countryside near Newhaven and elsewhere in Sussex to think carefully as to whether they may have seen Constance and Mark over the past four weeks.

“Given the time that’s passed they may have travelled on, so I also need to hear from anyone who may have seen them further afield.”

Monday, 27 February - 9.30pm - Brighton

Constance Marten, 35, her boyfriend Mark Gordon, 48, were located by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas, Brighton on Monday night after a member of the public reported seeing them shortly before 9.30pm.

The pair were arrested in brighton and taken into police custody.

Their newborn baby is still missing and an urgent search operation is underway to find the infant who has not had any medical attention since the birth in early January.

Anyone who has information on the family’s whereabouts should call the incident room on 020 7175 0785.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.