Police have released two new CCTV clips of a couple who have been missing with their baby for more than six weeks. Officers say the cash that they took with them will “be coming to an end”.
Constance Marten, 35, and her boyfriend Mark Gordon, 48, went missing after their car broke down in Bolton on 5 January this year. It is believed Constance gave birth either in or near the car only a day or two earlier.
Neither the baby nor Ms Marten have received any medical attention.
Officers say it is unknown if the baby was full-term or has any health issues, which is why officers “remain committed to finding the family”.
On Tuesday, police released two new clips of CCTV footage, which captured the couple in two locations in Newhaven, East Sussex, on Sunday 8 January – the last confirmed sighting of the pair.
The first clip, captured on Avis Road, Newhaven, at a petrol station forecourt at 5.18am, shows the couple carrying numerous bags. They pause for a moment to exchange some words before continuing down the road.
The second, captured on a property camera from Cantercrow Hill, Newhaven, shows the couple carrying what are presumably the same bags, walking speedily down the road at 6.25am on Sunday morning.
Pic: Met Police
In a renewed police appeal to find the couple, Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford said: “We know, obviously as we’ve released, that they had a large amount of cash available to them. And we still believe that they will have cash available to them, as of today.
“But we also know that with a newborn baby comes the requirement for the items that they require, and also, just day-to-day living for both Constance and Mark. We know they’re coming to a position where that cash will be coming to an end.”
He added that officers have been “working around the clock behind the scenes” and have “viewed more than 660 hours of CCTV” as part of their efforts to find them.
“They could be absolutely anywhere in the UK, so we need everyone to remain vigilant,” DSI Basford continued.
“Information from the public has been vital to our investigation and we have received more than 325 calls to our dedicated incident room – thank you to everyone who has made contact with us so far, we are so grateful to you.”
‘Genuine concern for health and wellbeing’
DSI Basford explained that the couple were last seen with a blue two-man tent as they were believed to be camping in Newhaven and elsewhere in Sussex.
“I would like to stress that we are not doing this and putting so many resources and efforts into finding the family just to be awkward or to interfere,” he added.
“We have a genuine concern for the health and wellbeing of the baby, and Constance and Mark, and it our duty to ensure that they are okay.”
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Midwife and police renew appeal for information on missing couple
Director of midwifery for Barts Health NHS Trust, Shereen Nimmo, also issued an appeal directly to Ms Marten, urging her to get medical checks done on her child.
She stressed that it was “not too late” for the child to have these checks done, but the longer the couple do not access medical care, the more they are “putting [their] baby at risk”.
Read more:
Police update appeal for missing couple as concern ‘continues to grow’
Couple and baby sleeping in tent in sub-zero temperatures, police say
Mapping the sightings of missing couple and newborn baby, from Liverpool to London
Where have the couple been spotted so far?
Aside from the two CCTV clips released by police today, officers believe that following the car fire, the family travelled to Liverpool and then onwards to Harwich via a taxi at about 3.30am on Friday 6 January.
They have also been seen in east London. On Saturday 7 January, they were spotted carrying bags containing camping equipment – including sleeping bags and two pillows. They spent the next few hours along the Whitechapel Road area, before walking to Brick Lane.
At around 11.46pm, they dumped a number of items, including a pushchair and got into a taxi to Haringey, north London, before travelling to East Sussex in another taxi, in the early hours of Sunday 8 January.
Constance Marten entering Flower and Dean Walk, east London
Carrying bags near Brick Lane, east London
They were seen sheltering from the rain, under an overpass, at about 6.00am on Sunday morning in Newhaven. Around 15 minutes later they walked into the fields beyond Cantercrow Hill.
They are believed to have moved some considerable distance since.
Ms Marten, who is from a wealthy aristocratic family, first met Gordon in 2016. She was a promising drama student at the time.
Since then the couple have led an isolated life, and in September, when Ms Marten was well into her pregnancy, the couple began moving around rental flats.
Gordon served 20 years in a US prison for rape and battery committed when he was 14.
