Tag: Mark Gordon'

  • Extensive hunt for missing child took us to a wildlife preserve

    Extensive hunt for missing child took us to a wildlife preserve

    Teams from mountain rescue organizations have joined the search for Constance Marten and Mark Gordon‘s infant.

    On Monday night, the pair was taken into custody in Brighton.

    After over two months on the run, they were apprehended on accusations of child maltreatment and are still being held in police custody.

    Teams are frantically searching a sizable area between Brighton and Newhaven in an effort to locate the baby, who has been missing since his birth in early January and has not received any medical care.

    Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
    Mark Gordon and Constance Marten were arrested on Monday night (Picture: Shutterstock)
    Search operation to find the missing baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
    Police officers and teams from London Search and Rescue at Wild Park Local Nature Reserve today
    Search operation to find the missing baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
    More than 200 officers have been urgently searching an area of seven miles by 13 miles for the baby

    This morning, officers from London Search and Rescue could be seen in orange hi-vis jackets searching Moulsecoomb Wild Park.

    The wooded nature reserve is around a mile from where Marten and Gordon were arrested.

    Officers, some wearing jackets indicating they were dog handlers, searched underneath sticks and logs close to where the area meets Hollingbury Golf Course.

    At the start of each section of their searches, one shouted: ‘Are we ready? Look behind you, and let’s get going’ before they walked in a line, scouring the area.

    A uniformed officer was seen standing guard at the entrance to the park, with dog walkers saying they saw police tape cordoning off parts of the woodland.

    CCTV image of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten on Whitechapel Road in London
    Mark Gordon and Constance Marten evaded capture for weeks on end (Picture: PA)
    Search operation to find the missing baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
    A police search team works through an allotment area (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

    In a press conference yesterday, police said they still ‘hold hope’ that the missing baby is still alive, but have warned ‘risk to the child is extremely high’.

    A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘Whilst we hold hope that the baby is still alive, we agree that the risk to the baby is extremely high.

    ‘More than 200 officers have been engaged in the search and officers arrived within 6 minutes after the 999 call yesterday that led to the arrests of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon.’

    Police have also searched every shed at the Roedale Valley Allotments near where Marten and Gordon were arrested and will remain on site for some time.

    An entry on the allotments society Facebook page said officers had forced entry to outbuildings as the hunt for the two-month-old baby continues.

    Search operation to find the missing baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
    A huge search focused on Roedale Valley Allotments in West Sussex.
    Search operation to find the missing baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon
    Locals have been urged to remain ‘vigilent’ in aiding the search.

    The couple had avoided police since the infant was born in early January.

    They moved around the country, paying for everything in cash and covering their faces when on CCTV.

    But a tip-off led to them being detained at around 9.30pm on Monday by officers from Sussex Police in Stanmer Villas.

    CCTV footage had showed Marten and Gordon walking past a row of houses in Brighton, both with their hoods up, prior to their arrest.

    A neighbour told The Sun the ‘suspicious’ couple walked by her house at 8.40pm with no shopping bags, then returned at 9.25pm carrying two bags of food from a shop.

    Walking behind Marten, Gordon can be seen carrying what appears to be a large metal pipe, and can be heard ‘shouting’ at her.