Recovered/Located UK - Constance Marten & Mark Gordon & Newborn, left a broken down car on motorway, Bolton Greater Manchester, 5 Jan 2023

[Northern Sigh]

I'm virtually certain that the mother in this case is a photojournalist who previously worked for Al Jazeera. Her website (now defunct) is archived here. It includes links to social media profiles that are still online, though not updated in years; the woman in the Facebook photos is almost definitely the same person in the police handout. She goes by the nickname Toots and has other children (presumably they're safe and accounted for). It looks like Mark Gordon could be the father of the older kids as well as the missing newborn.

I'd usually expect these kinds of details to be in a missing-persons story, but the information in the media and police statements has been scanty. Something feels very odd here.

The photos in the article look like mugshots to me

 

[wowiezowie]

The photos in the article look like mugshots to me

I thought that too at first. Maybe they're just recent digital versions of passport or identity pictures.

 

[wowiezowie]

I noticed this quote on the Manchester Evening News website made by an investigating officer;

"Constance, I know this is an exceptionally hard time for you and you are likely feeling scared but I promise that our number one priority is the same as yours – to keep your beautiful new born safe."

Do you think they were threatened by someone and went on the run and, what would make her give birth without any medical treatment?

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

I noticed this quote on the Manchester Evening News website made by an investigating officer;

"Constance, I know this is an exceptionally hard time for you and you are likely feeling scared but I promise that our number one priority is the same as yours – to keep your beautiful new born safe."

Do you think they were threatened by someone and went on the run and, what would make her give birth without any medical treatment?

Any number of reasons but often due to mental health issues, or history of drug and/or alcohol abuse or having had other children taken away due to neglect, and possibly same likely to pertain to this one, or could be the partner not deemed safe to be around children.

All speculation as we do not know the motives in this particular case.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Think the Indie have been looking on here?


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.

Mother missing with newborn baby belongs to aristocratic family with royal links

Constance Marten, who went missing after their vehicle broke down on the M61, is part of the Marten family who used to own Crichel estate in Dorset

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Lucy6226]

They broke down/abandoned their car in my local area, so I've been following this for a few days.

I will say if it was just a case of they'd run away from Social Services then there would not be as much national press regarding this story. Parents running to avoid Social Services intervention is fairly common and does not result in this coverage. So I suspect there is a lot more to this story than we are being told....it will all come out eventually I guess! Moo

 

[StillDiggin]

Essex police have now taken over the case from greater Manchester police, makes sense as Essex was where they were last seen.

https://m.facebook.com/100067671438156/posts/pfbid0oPMyvgmjTr9TEuXtAYX5B7AiQqnQfx2YMVTa3zzo4SeYUsGj6W6JhRQXycApA15Sl/?d=n

 

[Perodicticus potto]

Think the Indie have been looking on here?

Or they're the first to break rank. Can't be long till Mail Online reprints the entire contents of her FB page

 

[fennel]

They broke down/abandoned their car in my local area, so I've been following this for a few days.

I will say if it was just a case of they'd run away from Social Services then there would not be as much national press regarding this story. Parents running to avoid Social Services intervention is fairly common and does not result in this coverage. So I suspect there is a lot more to this story than we are being told....it will all come out eventually I guess! Moo

Not sure about that, I’ve been a children’s social worker for a decade and while it would perhaps seem surprising, I’ve never heard of anyone running like this. It’s certainly not at all common and would attract coverage even if only local.

 

[Lucy6226]

Not sure about that, I’ve been a children’s social worker for a decade and while it would perhaps seem surprising, I’ve never heard of anyone running like this. It’s certainly not at all common and would attract coverage even if only local.

I've not been a social worker for as long as you tbf, but I have seen a fair few families who have moved from area to area to avoid involvement.

I guess the odd thing with this case is it did go national so quickly, rather than staying a local story.

 

[StillDiggin]

Police issue update as search for missing couple and baby continues

Police have issued a new statement

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

 

[Lucy6226]

Police issue update as search for missing couple and baby continues

Police have issued a new statement

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Statement says police do not want to disrupt family life...hmmm

 

[Perodicticus potto]

In case anyone else finds the MEN's website impossible to read, here's the BBC's version of the same story:

Baby's welfare is priority in missing couple search, police say

Police searching for a missing couple and their baby "do not wish to interrupt their family life".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Normal Norm]

An update from Essex police says that they now have a number of confirmed sightings in Colchester (around 20 miles from Harwich).

Essex Police Facebook page

 

[StillDiggin]

Entire town's hotels and B&Bs being searched for missing couple and newborn baby

Mark Gordon and Constance Marten have been missing since their vehicle broke on the M61.

metro.co.uk

 

[Perodicticus potto]

Entire town's hotels and B&Bs being searched for missing couple and newborn baby

Mark Gordon and Constance Marten have been missing since their vehicle broke on the M61.

metro.co.uk

"to make sure the new-born baby is alive and well"? Yikes.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

A LEADING detective has appealed directly to a mother who has disappeared with her newborn baby to come forward.Detectives believe missing mum and newborn baby were last seen in Colchester

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston, who is leading the search, said officers have a “number of confirmed sightings” in Colchester.

Detectives visited every hotel and bed and breakfast in Colchester overnight on Monday to establish whether the family had stayed with them.

<modsnip - no more than 10% of an article may be copied>


Police officers delivered leaflets across Colchester yesterday to familiarise residents with the faces of the missing trio.

Mr Huddleston added: “We don’t want to impose our search on these people. We want to make sure the newborn baby is alive and well and that Constance doesn’t need any medical help.

'Put the welfare of your child first' - police chief's urgent appeal to missing pair

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon have been spotted in Colchester and Harwich

www.gazette-news.co.uk

 

[Perodicticus potto]

Looks like all the papers have picked up on her aristocratic background now, too. I predict that this story will get more prominent.

 

[Perodicticus potto]

Extra details from ITV:

In his latest update, Det Ch Insp Rob Huddleston confirmed the infant was "less than a week old", meaning the new mother would have given birth within hours of the breakdown on the M61. [....]

"We don't know why they might be avoiding detection," he said. "We know they have travelled from Manchester through Liverpool and down into Essex. Why that is, we don't know.

"We have already spoken to the ports and they haven't made any effort to go through Harwich."

Baby missing with parents is 'less than a week old' | ITV News

Parents Constance Marten and Mark Gordon have not tried to leave the country but it remains unclear why they do not want to be found, say police. | ITV News Anglia

www.itv.com

This case is like a Talking Heads song, it stops making sense.

 

[baguettepasta]

I do think it's odd how there's been no posts from their families or friends in light of their disappearance - normally there'd be tabloid articles written about someone's mum pleading for their safe return. makes me wonder if she/both are estranged from their families?