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MISSING BABY
Missing aristocrat Constance Marten & lover Mark Gordon arrested but baby STILL missing & may have been left out in open
COPS who last night found missing mum Constance Marten and her lover Mark Gordon are desperately hunting for their "extremely high risk" baby.
The Aristocrat and her convicted sex offender boyfriend were last night discovered in Brighton after a tip-off from a member of the public - and police now fear they may have left their child out in the open.
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The couple were located - without their one month old baby - on a residential street shortly before 9.30pm and an urgent search continues in the area.
Cops have been seen searching the woods behind Stanmer Villas where temperatures last night dropped to 1C.
The nearby Roedale Valley Allotments are now being treated as a "potential crime scene".
Residents say said police were seen photographing an oil drum used to burn rubbish and took finger prints at the plots.
MORE ON CONSTANCE
A police officer was also pictured picking up a pink pair of child ear muffs from the ground.
They were placed into an evidence bag afterwards.
Police say they are still hoping the baby is alive and have appealed to anybody who might be looking after the child to come forward.
But Constance and Gordon have so far refused to tell police the sex of their baby.
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The couple were arrested this morning on suspicion of child neglect.
DSI Lewis Basford from the Met police said: “We can’t say at this time if it’s a boy or a girl and we are still awaiting test results from the placenta found in their car on the M61.
“At the moment, we are still in the position where they have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect and there is a search for the baby.
“We are looking at open land, outbuildings where they may have placed the baby while they were in the local area before we arrested them.
“There’s nothing to say they were in the caravan, we still think they were living in the outdoor environment and the that is leading us, and the arrest location, to the outdoor search.
“I think, we’ve got to keep the hope that maybe they have allowed somebody else to care for the baby who thinks they are doing some good on behalf of the couple but as we know, as the temperature drops and the longer the baby goes without parents the risks are high.”
And cops are asking locals to check their own properties.
DSI Bashford continued: “We are asking the public to remain vigilant in the local areas as they go about their business but also to look at the premises that they own - any outbuildings and their own property.
“Please take five minutes to take a look at those and assist us in the search for the baby.”
We’ve got to keep the hope that maybe they have allowed somebody else to care for the baby who thinks they are doing some good on behalf of the couple.
DSI Lewis Basford
Cops say the couple were last night spotted near a convenience store by a member of the public who then rang 999.
It's thought the pair had been using an ATM to take out cash.
Residents witnessed the moment the officers swooped on the area last night, with dozens of cops on foot and in cars and vans.
One mum said she saw Gordon restrained on the floor just yards from her home.
It comes as...
- Tearful Marten yelled at police to ‘get off’ lover as he was restrained by cops
- Giveaway led to capture of Marten and lover after seven weeks on run
- Mystery over gender of baby as cops test placenta found in car
- Dramatic moment ‘screams’ heard during couple's double arrest
- Marten’s father Napier ‘relieved’ aristocrat has been found but ‘alarmed’ her baby is still missing
- Police find child’s ear muffs after searching bins in fingertip search of allotment
She told The Sun: “There was loads of shouting and screaming. It was chaos outside.
“I opened my door eventually to see this man on the floor restrained by police. He was then placed in an unmarked car and led away.
Another neighbour said police “seemed to believe they were in the woods”.
He said: “Police came to my house around 11pm last night asking about people camping in the woods.
“They seemed to be interested in that and focused on that line of enquiry - they weren’t asking about anything else.
“They asked me if I’d seen anyone sleeping in a tent in the woods recently, but I’ve not been through there for a while.”
'ESCAPE' FUND
Miss Marten and Gordon were reported missing after their car broke down near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on January 5.
It's believed before they disappeared, Marten withdrew £15,000 of cash and the pair bought burner phones with multiple sim cards.
The pair ditched their burning car and a nationwide hunt for the three of them began.
They are believed to have spent time sleeping rough and travelling the country using cabs after being spotted buying camping equipment from an East Argos on January 7.
Concerns grew for the missing aristocrat, 35, and her baby, as temperatures across the country plummeted.
Gordon, 48, served 20 years in a US prison for rape and battery before he was deported to Britain in 2010.
Before they were found, the pair were last seen with their baby in Newhaven, East Sussex, on January 9.
CCTV captured images of the hooded pair dumping their child's pram in the port town.
Cops previously said the new mum had given birth in her car days before the pair fled.
The condition of the baby remains unknown.
ROYAL LINKS
In the days after they vanished, it was revealed former drama student Miss Marten has links to the Royal Family.
The daughter of Napier Martin, a former page to , and granddaughter of Mary Anna Marten, whose godmother was the Queen Mother, Constance comes from a family of wealthy landowners.
Constance was deemed an 'it girl' when she appeared on upmarket mag Tatler's babe of the month page while she was a student in 2008.
It is believed that she paid for her time at drama school via a multi-million pound trust fund stored at C. Hoare & Co, the UK's oldest private bank.
However, she has reportedly led an isolated life since moving in with Gordon in 2016.
Detectives offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the couple's whereabouts in January.
MISSING BABY
Constance's mum previously penned an open letter to her daughter.
Virginie de Selliers wrote: "You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.
"I know you well enough; you are focused, intelligent, passionate and complex with so much to offer the world. So many of your friends have come forward to say such positive things about you, assuring us of their warmest love and support for you and your family.
"You have made choices in your personal adult life which have proven to be challenging, however I respect them, I know that you want to keep your precious new-born child at all costs.
"With all that you have gone through this baby cannot be removed from you but instead needs looking after in a kind and warm environment.
"I want to help you and my grandchild. You deserve the opportunity to build a new life, establish a stable family and enjoy the same freedoms that most of us have.
"Constance, I will do what I can to stand alongside you and my grandchild. You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.
"I am ready to do what it takes for you to recover from this awful experience so you can thrive and enjoy motherhood.
"I love you and miss you, Mum xx."
A Met Police spokesman said: "Shortly before 9.30pm on Monday, a member of the public reported a sighting of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon in Stanmer Villas, Brighton.
"Officers from Sussex Police attended the location and the pair were arrested. They remain in custody.
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"The baby is still missing and an urgent search operation is taking place in the area.
"Anyone with information that could assist the search is asked to call 999."
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