✕CloseConstance Marten: Father of runaway aristocrat makes emotional plea to missing daughter
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
A missing aristocrat and her rapist boyfriend, who are on the run with their newborn child, used cash to purchase the car they abandoned on the motorway days later after it burst into flames, detectives believe.
Constance Marten, 35, and her partner Mark Gordon, 48, a convicted sex offender, went missing two weeks ago after reportedly concealing her pregnancy for five months.
Their car was found abandoned and on fire on the M61 near Bolton on 5 January.
Ms Marten was later seen on CCTV carrying the baby as the family made their way to Liverpool, Harwich, Colchester, and then east London.
It emerged this weekend that emergency service staff called to the car fire noticed a placenta and signs of childbirth in the back seat of the car, which The Independent is told was bought with cash before likely suffering a mechanical failure.
It follows revelations that Gordon had previously been jailed for 20 years, after raping one of his neighbours, armed with a pair of garden shears during a hostage situation in Florida when he was 14-years old.
Recommended
- Constance Marten: The runaway heiress, her convicted rapist partner and the painful rift at the heart of British aristocracy
- Who are Constance Marten and Mark Gordon: Everything we know about couple missing with newborn
- Who is Napier Marten? Father who made emotional appeal for daughter missing with baby
Show latest update
Car left burning on motorway paid for in cash days earlier, detectives believe
It emerged yesterday that the couple used cash to buy for the car which was left burning on the M61 near Bolton days later, according to detectives.
They are believed by police to have taken a large amount of cash with them, likely in an effort to evade authorities.
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 08:091674404084
Constance Marten is ‘very good actress’, friend says
Constance Marten is a “very good actress” and “could have gone far” but lost interest in drama, according to a friend who told the Sunday Times that she was shocked when the heiress dropped out of a course at the East 15 drama school in Essex in 2016.
Constance, known to friends as “Toots”, is understood to have studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Leeds before completing an NCTJ journalism qualification.
My colleague Thomas Kingsley has the full report:
Who are Constance Marten and Mark Gordon: Everything we know about missing couple
The family has been missing for almost two weeks
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 16:141674396854
Napier Marten ‘deeply concerned’ for welfare of his estranged daughter and her newborn
Earlier this week, Constance’s estranged father Napier Marten issued an appeal for her to come out of hiding.
“Darling Constance even though we remain estranged at the moment, I stand by, as I have always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us,” Mr Marten said in an appeal issued through The Independent.
“I beseech you to find a way to turn yourself and your wee one in to the police as soon as possible, so you and he or she can be protected. Only then can a process of healing and recovery begin, however long it may take, however difficult it may be.
“I would like you to understand that the family will do all that is needed for your wellbeing. And I also wish you to understand you are much much loved whatever the circumstances. We are deeply concerned for your and your baby’s welfare.”
✕Constance Martens: Father of runaway aristocrat makes emotional plea to missing daughterAndy Gregory22 January 2023 14:141674393354
Report: The runaway heiress, her rapist partner and the aristocratic family rift
How did Constance Marten, whose father was a page to Elizabeth II, go from gracing the pages of society bible Tatler to being on the run with a man who, after burgling and raping a woman as a teenager, spent 20 years imprisoned in Florida before being deported to Britain?
Tom Ough has this comprehensive report:
The runaway heiress, her rapist partner and the aristocratic family rift
Her upbringing had all the trappings of high society, so how did Constance Marten come to be on the run for weeks on end with a sex offender 13 years her senior? Tom Ough reports
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 13:151674387298
Constance’s father once journeyed to Australia after ‘awakening'
When she was nine, Constance Marten’s father had what was described as an “awakening”, writes Tom Ough.
Napier Marten later told how a voice in his head had told him to discard his £115m family fortune, shave his head and fly to Australia. He followed its bidding and, having duly shaved his head, had an out-of-body experience while standing on a cliff-top with a group of Aboriginal Australians.
“Everything in my life materially was a completely empty shell,” he said. He lived in a lorry and trained in head massage, later returning to the UK and working as a tree surgeon.
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 11:341674381852
‘You don’t need to vanish’: Former colleague urges Constance Marten to contact her loved ones
A friend who worked with Constance Marten in Egypt has urged her to contact her loved ones saying: “You need to stay in touch with everyone who loves you and not be distanced. You don’t need to vanish.”
Noisette Tahoun, who worked at the same film production company as Ms Marten in Cairo in 2010, told The Independent that she had previously warned the missing mother “to take care of the people she gets close to”.
My colleague Thomas Kingsley has the full report.
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 10:041674378371
Car abandoned by couple likely broke down, say police
Detectives believe that the couple’s car is likely to have suffered a mechanical failure, rather than have been deliberately set on fire, The Independent understands.
Its abandonment on the M61 near Bolton saw police first announce the search for the couple and their newborn, with officers understood to have discovered placenta and signs of childbirth on the back seat.
Many of the couple’s belongings are thought to have been destroyed in the fire attended by officers on the hard shoulder near Bolton more than a fortnight ago.
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 09:061674374283
Good morning, I’ll be resuming live updates on the blog this morning as police continue to search for Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, who are on the run with their newborn baby.
Andy Gregory22 January 2023 07:581674347424
We’re pausing our live coverage of this story for the evening. For the latest updates, visit https://www.independent.co.uk/
Daniel Reast22 January 2023 00:301674345684
Map shows known movements of missing aristocrat and convicted rapist partner
Police have been searching for the missing aristocrat Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, a convicted rapist, after the couple left their car on the hard shoulder of the M56 near Bolton a fortnight ago.
They have travelled over 200 miles across England and could now be anywhere in the UK.
In case you missed it, below is a map, produced by our reporterThomas Kingsley, tracing their movements in England over the last fortnight:
Detectives believe the 35-year-old mother gave birth in the back of the car, which was left burning on the motorway
(The Independent)
Daniel Reast22 January 2023 00:01
NewerOlder
✕
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log in
Popular videos
{{/link}}