Napier Marten – live: Father of missing aristocrat Constance issues emotional plea

The aristocrat father of Constance Marten has made an emotional appeal telling her to turn herself in to the police.

Napier Marten, a film and music producer, urged his daughter Constance – who is missing with her sex offender partner Mark Gordon – to take herself and the child to safety as soon as possible.

Appealing to his daughter, Mr Marten said: “I want you to understand that you are much much loved whatever the circumstances. We are deeply concerned for your and your baby’s welfare”.

Mr Marten, 63, told The Independent he had known about Gordon’s criminal conviction for some time and had lived with the family “in great concern”.

Ms Marten is said to have met her partner in 2016 and they are understood to have lived an isolated life ever since.

After meeting Gordon, Ms Marten cut off contact with her family and friends.

Last September, they began moving around the country, renting AirBnBs for brief periods.

They have been missing for some two weeks.

Commenting further on the case, Detective Superintendent Basford described the investigation as “complex”, adding the couple could be “anywhere in the UK”.

He said: “This is a complex investigation with officers from across the Met continuing to work around the clock to find Constance, Mark and their baby.

“There is nothing to suggest that any of them have come to any sort of intentional harm – we just need to ensure they are okay, especially the baby, and do not require any medical assistance for any underlying issues.

“The last confirmed sighting of them was more than a week ago in East Ham – they could now be anywhere in the UK, which is why it is vital that members of the public continue to contact us with any suspected sightings.

The assistance you’ve provided so far has been invaluable. Please don’t forget about Constance, Mark and the baby – if you see them or think you have seen them then please contact us as a matter of urgency.”

• At 18.33hrs on Thursday, 5 January, officers were called to a car on fire on the hard-shoulder of the M61, near junction four (Farnworth, Bolton). However, the occupants were not at the scene.
• It is believed most of their belongings were destroyed in the car fire.
• Enquiries revealed that Constance and Mark were the occupants of the car and that Constance had very recently given birth, possibly one or two days before, and had not been assessed by medical professionals.
• A missing persons investigation was launched by Greater Manchester Police, who established that the family left the vehicle and the motorway safely – walking to the Anchor Lane bridge which links the Highfield and Little Hulton areas.
• Officers believe they then travelled to Liverpool and then onwards to Harwich via a taxi at about 03.30hrs on Friday, 6 January.
• Mark, Constance and a baby were seen by a member of the public in Harwich at about 9am on Saturday, 7 January. Officers also received a number of confirmed sightings of the family in Colchester on Friday, 6 January and Saturday, 7 January.
• Subsequently, the investigation was handed over to Essex Police on Monday, 9 January.
• Essex Police carried out a number of enquiries and reviewed hours of CCTV and were able to place the couple near East Ham Station between 10:30hrs and 12:30hrs on Saturday, 7 January.
• As this was the last confirmed sighting of the family, the investigation was handed over to the Metropolitan Police Service on Thursday, 12 January.

The Metropolitan Police is appealing for information about the whereabouts of Ms Marten and her partner Mark Gordon, who were last seen in London more than a week ago.

The force said “officers are growing increasingly concerned” about the welfare of Ms Marten, who recently gave birth to a boy, whose safety is the Met’s “priority”.

Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who is leading the investigation, said: “It has now almost been two weeks since Mark and Constance’s car broke down on the M61 near Bolton and they have been on the move all that time with a newborn baby.

“As far as we are aware, neither Constance nor the baby have received medical attention since it was born. Our priority is to ensure the baby, and indeed both Constance and Mark, are safe and well.

“Once again, I appeal directly to you Constance and Mark. Please do the right thing for your baby and get in touch with us so that we know that you are all doing okay.”

A mother missing with her partner and newborn baby belongs to an aristocratic family which used to own a sprawling country estate and has close links to the royal family.

Constance Marten, 35, is the granddaughter of Mary Anna Marten, a British Museum trustee whose godmother was the late Queen Mother, and who used to own the Crichel estate in Dorset.

My colleague Thomas Kingsley reports:

The partner of a woman missing with a newborn baby is a convicted rapist who served 20 years in prison.

Mark Gordon and aristocrat’s daughter Constance Marten went missing with their newborn baby on 5 January, when they left their broken-down car on the M61 near Bolton. Police were alerted to the vehicle when it caught fire, destroying most of their possessions.

My colleague Thomas Kingsley reports:

A couple missing for 11 days with their newborn have a substantial amount of cash, allowing them to live off-grid, police have said.

Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and their baby have no luggage with them after most of their belongings were destroyed in a car fire, and are using cash to pay for taxis and places to stay.

Ms Marten comes from a wealthy aristocratic family, while Mr Gordon is a sex offender who served 20 years in US jail for rape and battery.

Police are worried for the newborn and say neither Ms Marten nor the baby have had medical attention since the birth.

Investigators said it is unusual for hotels to accept cash payments and appealed to staff at hotels or hostels where the couple may stay to come forward.

A mother who has disappeared with her newborn baby and partner may have been spotted twice at sites more than 200 miles away from where they went missing three days ago, police say.

Ms Marten, Mark Gordon and the child have been missing since their vehicle broke down near junction four of the M61, near Bolton, on Thursday evening.

The partner of a woman missing with a newborn baby is a convicted rapist who served 20 years in prison (Thomas Kingsley writes).

Mark Gordon and aristocrat’s daughter Constance Marten went missing with their newborn baby on 5 January, when they left their broken-down car on the M61 near Bolton. Police were alerted to the vehicle when it caught fire, destroying most of their possessions.

The Metropolitan Police has released a fresh appeal in the “high risk” search as officers fear the family could be anywhere in the UK.

Gordon is a registered sex offender who was jailed in the late 1980s in the US, after raping and assaulting a woman in her early twenties when he was 14 years old. He was put behind bars in Florida when he was 16 and served a 20-year sentence before being deported back to the UK in 2010.

The Independent previously revealed that Ms Marten is the granddaughter of Mary Anna Marten, a British Museum trustee whose godmother was the late Queen Mother, and who used to own the Crichel estate in Dorset.