Foreign
Seeking Answers: Couple Arrested and Search Continues for Missing Baby
Two people have been further arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter as police investigate the disappearance of their newborn baby.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were detained on Monday after a member of the public spotted them in a shop.
The couple had been missing for 53 days prior to the arrest, and the police search for them began when the car the pair had been travelling in was found ablaze by the side of a motorway.
Investigations revealed that Marten had likely given birth in the car without a midwife or any medical assistance.
The couple were arrested under suspicion of child neglect; they are now also facing charges of gross negligence manslaughter as the baby has still not been found.
With temperatures falling and no trace after two months, police fear the baby could have “come to harm”.
Over 200 officers are searching a 91 square mile area and have requested help from the public, asking that they report any potential sightings and information on where the couple may have been sleeping.
Sniffer dogs, drones, a police helicopter and thermal imaging cameras are also being used in the search.
However, temperatures are expected to drop to 1°C overnight, making the search more difficult.
The parents have yet to provide police with any further information about the baby’s condition or whereabouts.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, from the Metropolitan Police, said “we must be open to the fact this may not end in the way we would like”.
Police have also offered a £10,000 reward for information, particularly anyone who may have helped the couple.
Ms Marten’s estranged father Napier Marten said that although there was relief the two were found, it was “tempered by.
The couple met at drama school in 2016 and had been living nomadically since September 2019, when Marten first showed signs of pregnancy.
Gordon is a registered sex offender and was convicted of rape in 2005.
Police are urging anyone who may have seen the couple to come forward with any relevant information, as authorities work around the clock in an attempt to locate the missing baby.
Credit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64804320
