A friend of Constance Marten has claimed she previously warned the missing mother about the type of men she “falls in love with” but that she “doesn’t listen to anyone”.
Noisette Tahoun, who worked at the same film production company as Ms Marten in Cairo, Egypt, in 2010, said she was “not shocked” when she found out that the 35-year-old had been reported missing.
Speaking to The Independent, Ms Tahoun said she had told the heiress to “take care of the people she gets close to”.
Mark Gordon, the partner of Ms Marten and who is 13 years her senior, was jailed in the late 1980s in Florida, US, after raping and assaulting a woman in her early 20s when he was 14. After serving a 20-year sentence he was deported back to the UK in 2010, it emerged on Wednesday.
“I was not shocked when I heard she was missing,” Ms Tahoun said.
“I know when she falls in love she goes anywhere with the person she loves.
“I’ve given her advice about it... I’ve warned her to take care of the people she gets close to.”
Ms Tahoun described how, while they were working together in Cairo, she had warned Ms Marten about a “vulgar” boyfriend.
“I told her to stay away from such people because they take advantage of her they don’t love her for who she is,” she said.
“When she falls in love she doesn’t listen to anyone.”
Gordon and Ms Marten, who met in 2016, went missing on 5 January, when their baby was thought to have been only a few days old, abandoning their broken-down car on the M61 near Bolton. Most of their possessions were destroyed when the vehicle caught fire but they have a substantial amount of cash, allowing them to live off-grid, police said.
The couple are understood to have lived an isolated life since meeting in 2016, with Ms Marten cutting off ties with family and friends.
Constance’s aristocrat father Napier Marten, who is a film and music producer, has since urged his daughter to take herself and the child to safety as soon as possible. In an emotional plea, made through The Independent, he said: “I want you to understand that you are much much loved whatever the circumstances. We are deeply concerned for your and your baby’s welfare”.
Ms Tahoun said she last heard from Ms Marten in 2012.
Appealing for Ms Marten to turn herself in, Ms Tahoun said: “You need to stay in touch with everyone who loves you and not be distanced. You don’t need to vanish.”
Detective Superintendent Basford of the Metropolitan Police who is leading the investigation said: “This is a complex investigation with officers from across the Met continuing to work around the clock to find Constance, Mark and their baby.
“There is nothing to suggest that any of them have come to any sort of intentional harm – we just need to ensure they are okay, especially the baby, and do not require any medical assistance for any underlying issues.”
