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

[infinit]

I'm not that clued up about cryptocurrency either but I know in the past few years (driven by isolation and lockdowns) it has become a more common way to pay. I've seen signs in local independent stores saying they take it as payment and after a very quick search I found the location of over 250 ATMs where you can withdraw cash from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. I also know some cab drivers will accept it.
But I am in Canada and not the UK, so I'm not sure what its like there. From another quick search, it seems you can get a debit card kind of card for your cryptocurrency too.
Maybe someone else with more knowledge can help here?

There are very few crypto ATMs, in fact they were made "illegal" last year. No major retailers accept it that I'm aware of and I've never noticed a corner shop that does either personally, though I've not really gone out of my way to look.

JMO.

 

[Observant-ADHD-ENFP-BSc]

There are very few crypto ATMs, in fact they were made "illegal" last year. No major retailers accept it that I'm aware of and I've never noticed a corner shop that does either personally, though I've not really gone out of my way to look.

JMO.

Thank you
ETA: I did a quick search for crypto atm's in UK and there is not many at all. 22 in the London area.

 

[Observant-ADHD-ENFP-BSc]

I've seen Newhaven, Eastbourne and Crawley mentioned over the last 5 days. I know Id notice a random blue tent pop up if out on my travels. Lets face it, its likely going to be somewhat close to local amenities/footpaths for convenience.

Out of interest, do you have a link for the Crawley association? I can't find mention of it anywhere

 

[Sillybilly]

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[ScalableHeights]

I'm curious about the mention in the ITV News piece that they're camping in Ashdown Forest. It's either bad reporting or specific intel. Cantercrow Hill leads on to the South Downs, not Ashdown Forest. The two are nowhere near each other. I live on the outskirts of the forest and it's a good 20+ miles from Newhaven. The South Downs would be extremely exposed so I'm not surprised they wouldn't stay there, but Ashdown Forest is a forest in name only, it's largely open heathland with a few sheltered spots. It's a very popular place for locals to walk though, so despite it's vastness I think someone would spot you. A blue tent would certainly stick out at this time of year. It was also very, very cold at night in January round here (in minus temps very often). If they're doing this (and I'm not convinced they are) they must be feeling extremely desperate.

 

[jackal67]

I'm curious about the mention in the ITV News piece that they're camping in Ashdown Forest. It's either bad reporting or specific intel. Cantercrow Hill leads on to the South Downs, not Ashdown Forest. The two are nowhere near each other. I live on the outskirts of the forest and it's a good 20+ miles from Newhaven. The South Downs would be extremely exposed so I'm not surprised they wouldn't stay there, but Ashdown Forest is a forest in name only, it's largely open heathland with a few sheltered spots. It's a very popular place for locals to walk though, so despite it's vastness I think someone would spot you. A blue tent would certainly stick out at this time of year. It was also very, very cold at night in January round here (in minus temps very often). If they're doing this (and I'm not convinced they are) they must be feeling extremely desperate.

I agree about Ashdown forest ,I have walked there many times, very open and so unlikely in my opinion. How would they have travelled there and for what reason? Where could they buy supplies etc within walkin g distance . JMO

 

[JuicyLucy]

I agree about Ashdown forest ,I have walked there many times, very open and so unlikely in my opinion. How would they have travelled there and for what reason? Where could they buy supplies etc within walkin g distance . JMO

Not necessarily pushing the Ashdown Forest as an idea, but they could get there easily enough. Taxis seem to be their preferred transport mode, but if their money's dwindling then they could have, say, travelled by bus or train from Newhaven to Brighton, and then spent 2 hours on a nice warm bus to Forest Row, where they could also buy food, nappies etc on an ongoing basis. Perhaps its somewhere they visited in happier times (JMO).

12 - Eastbourne-Brighton
270 - East Grinstead - Brighton (Churchill Square)

 

[jackal67]

Not necessarily pushing the Ashdown Forest as an idea, but they could get there easily enough. Taxis seem to be their preferred transport mode, but if their money's dwindling then they could have, say, travelled by bus or train from Newhaven to Brighton, and then spent 2 hours on a nice warm bus to Forest Row, where they could also buy food, nappies etc on an ongoing basis. Perhaps its somewhere they visited in happier times (JMO).

12 - Eastbourne-Brighton
270 - East Grinstead - Brighton (Churchill Square)

Yes. But would Ashdown forest be a good place to stay under the radar in your opinion? It just seems highly unlikely to me . Brighton yes far easier to blend in .I honestly feel they have left the country but just my opinion of course

 

[JuicyLucy]

Yes. But would Ashdown forest be a good place to stay under the radar on your opinion?

I mean, it's as good as any and better than many imo. Over 6000 acres of mixed terrain, with multiple points of access, large areas where hardly anyone goes, bodies of water, diverse flora and fauna...if you went full Ray Mears you could survive pretty well, I'd say. I wouldn't necessarily peg them as the type, but personally I would find that quite appealing! I think there are even some shepherds huts in places too, though I can't evidence that so it's JMO/speculation. It also has 45 car parks, so if you were hoping to hitch a lift onwards at some point, you could do worse. I can't say I have a strong feeling either way though, and it's so long since the positive sighting in Newhaven that realistically they could be practically anywhere - just as likely to be in Scotland imo!

Ashdown Forest - Wikipedia
Car Parking Payments - Permits | The Conservators of Ashdown Forest

 

[ScalableHeights]

Not necessarily pushing the Ashdown Forest as an idea, but they could get there easily enough. Taxis seem to be their preferred transport mode, but if their money's dwindling then they could have, say, travelled by bus or train from Newhaven to Brighton, and then spent 2 hours on a nice warm bus to Forest Row, where they could also buy food, nappies etc on an ongoing basis. Perhaps its somewhere they visited in happier times (JMO).

12 - Eastbourne-Brighton
270 - East Grinstead - Brighton (Churchill Square)

A bus is likely to be far too public, with too many eyes on them, not to mention CCTV, so if they were going to do this journey a taxi would be a much better bet. I don't see Forest Row as a likely destination at all though - it's a posh, well-to-do little town; a homeless family wandering around with a tent would stick out a mile.

 

[JuicyLucy]

A bus is likely to be far too public, with too many eyes on them, not to mention CCTV, so if they were going to do this journey a taxi would be a much better bet. I don't see Forest Row as a likely destination at all though - it's a posh, well-to-do little town; a homeless family wandering around with a tent would stick out a mile.

Like I say, I'm not particularly pushing it as an idea so much as answering the question of how and why to the person who was curious about the news story. That said, my experience of riding on buses is that no one really looks at anyone, and very basic precautions such as sitting separately from one another would render them practically invisible imo. The police seem to think that they're running out of money, so if they can't afford taxis anymore what other options would they have if they wanted to keep moving?

Constance Marten ‘camping wild in Sussex and running out of cash’

Is anywhere 'posh' anymore? They wouldn't have been visiting estate agents or going to school open days, so much as getting off the bus, picking up some basics and heading off up the hill, same as lots of other people going about their business in towns across Sussex. The idea isn't to wander round Forest Row with a tent (I presume) so much as to get to the area in order to camp on the forest.

My personal view however is that they're more likely still to be in the Newhaven area, where they'll also stand out even though Newhaven is definitely not 'posh', just because hardly anywhere in Sussex is very ethnically diverse. But if the goal is to get out of the country by biding their time until an opportunity arises, they'll do better at a working port, as their recent travel history suggests they know.

JMO

 

[dotr]

New footage shows missing couple with newborn baby headed for Sussex countryside

New footage shows a missing couple and their newborn baby heading towards the Sussex countryside.

www.theargus.co.uk

''New footage shows a missing couple and their newborn baby heading towards the Sussex countryside.
Constance Marten, her partner Mark Gordon, 48 - a convicted sex offender - and their four-week-old baby have been missing for the last month''.

 

[jackal67]

New footage shows missing couple with newborn baby headed for Sussex countryside

New footage shows a missing couple and their newborn baby heading towards the Sussex countryside.

www.theargus.co.uk

View attachment 400700

''New footage shows a missing couple and their newborn baby heading towards the Sussex countryside.
Constance Marten, her partner Mark Gordon, 48 - a convicted sex offender - and their four-week-old baby have been missing for the last month''.

So this footage is from 9th January. Nothing since tgen. They could be anywhere by now.

 

[JuicyLucy]

The trio were dropped off in a taxi at 4.56am on Sunday, 8 January just outside the entrance to the Newhaven Ferry.

They then walked to where the A259 crosses over the B2109.

They were seen sheltering from the rain, under the overpass, at about 6am.

At around 6.15am on Sunday, January 8, they walked along Cantercrow Hill into the fields beyond as the latest CCTV pictures show.

The road is a dead end but leads onto paths up into the South Downs.

New footage shows missing couple with newborn baby headed for Sussex countryside

Thank you for posting that link @dotr. I hadn't previously seen that they were in this location

They covered a fair bit of ground in a short space of time, considering the amount they were carrying and the fact that CM was only days post partum at that point. Cantercrow Hill is a totally different part of Newhaven from the ferry terminal or the swing bridge overpass that they were seen sheltering under in earlier CCTV images, and almost the entire walk is uphill. Google maps says it would take 29 minutes to walk but I couldn't do it in that time and they clearly didn't either. CM has extraordinary fortitude imo.

We don't know exactly what route they took, but when you look at their last known location on a map, it doesn't look like the result of random meandering to me and I suspect that they knew exactly where they were headed before they started walking. If I ask myself why they first took the taxi to the ferry terminal then, I find myself wondering whether they hoped to travel by ferry and then had to rethink, or whether they intended to give the false impression of travelling by ferry but had another plan in mind all along. The interesting thing of course is what, or who, they were walking towards.



JMO/Speculation

 

[rockthecasbah]

The trio were dropped off in a taxi at 4.56am on Sunday, 8 January just outside the entrance to the Newhaven Ferry.

They then walked to where the A259 crosses over the B2109.

They were seen sheltering from the rain, under the overpass, at about 6am.

At around 6.15am on Sunday, January 8, they walked along Cantercrow Hill into the fields beyond as the latest CCTV pictures show.

The road is a dead end but leads onto paths up into the South Downs.

New footage shows missing couple with newborn baby headed for Sussex countryside

Thank you for posting that link @dotr. I hadn't previously seen that they were in this location

They covered a fair bit of ground in a short space of time, considering the amount they were carrying and the fact that CM was only days post partum at that point. Cantercrow Hill is a totally different part of Newhaven from the ferry terminal or the swing bridge overpass that they were seen sheltering under in earlier CCTV images, and almost the entire walk is uphill. Google maps says it would take 29 minutes to walk but I couldn't do it in that time and they clearly didn't either. CM has extraordinary fortitude imo.

We don't know exactly what route they took, but when you look at their last known location on a map, it doesn't look like the result of random meandering to me and I suspect that they knew exactly where they were headed before they started walking. If I ask myself why they first took the taxi to the ferry terminal then, I find myself wondering whether they hoped to travel by ferry and then had to rethink, or whether they intended to give the false impression of travelling by ferry but had another plan in mind all along. The interesting thing of course is what, or who, they were walking towards.

View attachment 400744

JMO/Speculation

Good theory. Could be someone willing to hide them for a while, make it look like they have left the country then move on later on. IMO.

 

[StillDiggin]

Mother of missing aristocrat writes emotional open letter

Virginie de Selliers pledged to stand by Constance Marten, 35, and her grandchild, telling her: 'You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.'

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Maltesepuppy]

Interesting, it says that investigators believe they saved the cash before they went missing as opposed to CM having the money from her trust fund.
If all they have are savings from a number of months they cannot have that much left, especially after all those taxis.

 

[Observant-ADHD-ENFP-BSc]

IMO, their original plan was to catch a ferry to Ireland, but the car broke down at the worst possible time and so they had to roll with it.
They probably had enough money at the time and possibly everything they needed (the belongings destroyed with the car), but lost their belongings and only had the cash left.
I feel they are running on fumes now, it is sad. Half of me is rooting for them and half of me just wants them all in a safe. warm place.

 

[Obergine]

Mother of missing aristocrat writes emotional open letter

Virginie de Selliers pledged to stand by Constance Marten, 35, and her grandchild, telling her: 'You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can.'

www.dailymail.co.uk

Note how this wording carefully excludes Mark and hints that she could somehow keep her baby... interesting. I can't see how that would be possible now even without him and with full family support

 

[Obergine]

The trio were dropped off in a taxi at 4.56am on Sunday, 8 January just outside the entrance to the Newhaven Ferry.

They then walked to where the A259 crosses over the B2109.

They were seen sheltering from the rain, under the overpass, at about 6am.

At around 6.15am on Sunday, January 8, they walked along Cantercrow Hill into the fields beyond as the latest CCTV pictures show.

The road is a dead end but leads onto paths up into the South Downs.

New footage shows missing couple with newborn baby headed for Sussex countryside

Thank you for posting that link @dotr. I hadn't previously seen that they were in this location

They covered a fair bit of ground in a short space of time, considering the amount they were carrying and the fact that CM was only days post partum at that point. Cantercrow Hill is a totally different part of Newhaven from the ferry terminal or the swing bridge overpass that they were seen sheltering under in earlier CCTV images, and almost the entire walk is uphill. Google maps says it would take 29 minutes to walk but I couldn't do it in that time and they clearly didn't either. CM has extraordinary fortitude imo.

We don't know exactly what route they took, but when you look at their last known location on a map, it doesn't look like the result of random meandering to me and I suspect that they knew exactly where they were headed before they started walking. If I ask myself why they first took the taxi to the ferry terminal then, I find myself wondering whether they hoped to travel by ferry and then had to rethink, or whether they intended to give the false impression of travelling by ferry but had another plan in mind all along. The interesting thing of course is what, or who, they were walking towards.

View attachment 400744

JMO/Spe

I have pondered this too. They could be attempting to make it look like they left the port but always intended to go cross country or they could have got there and been spooked by the many cameras and obvious futility of the attempt. Either way they must have had a map at the time.

I have also wondered if they were hanging around the Newhaven area for a few days with a view to finding 'the right' lorry driver.