Father of missing newborn is registered sex offender
- Published
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were last spotted, on CCTV, near East Ham underground station, on 7 January
The father of a newborn baby who police want to trace is a registered sex offender, US police records reveal.
The baby has been missing since their parents' car broke down and caught fire on the M61 near Bolton, on 5 January.
Since then, Constance "Toots" Marten and Mark Gordon appear to have been avoiding police, moving to Liverpool, Harwich, Colchester and London in quick succession.
Ms Marten, 35, is from a wealthy family but is estranged from them, say police.
Known to her friends as Toots, she grew up in a stately home in Dorset which was used as a set for the 1996 film of Jane Austen's Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
She had a privileged upbringing, attending a private school, university and drama school - but after meeting Gordon, 48, everything changed.
"At that point the affluent, normal, social aspects of Constance's life, they stop," Det Ch Insp Payne said.
"Then it is just Mark and Constance. They're estranged from family from what we can understand."
Gordon, whom she met in 2016, has been a registered sex offender in the UK since 2010, having been convicted in Florida of a rape he committed aged 14.
He served some 20 years in prison in the United States before being deported to Britain.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon have been missing since their car broke down on the M61 in Greater Manchester
"Our top priority is ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the newborn baby," Det Supt Lewis Basford, of the Metropolitan Police, said.
"We have no evidence to suggest that either Constance or the baby have been assessed by medical professionals."
Police do not even know if the child was born prematurely or went full term.
Only a day or so old at the time of the car fire, they could have been born in the vehicle, officers say.
The couple appear to have left their home in Eltham, south-east London, in September, when Ms Marten would have shown the first signs of pregnancy, and have since led a nomadic lifestyle, police say.
After the fire, near Farnworth, at 18:30 GMT, they walked off the motorway embankment and flagged down a taxi, which took them to Liverpool.
From there, they took another taxi to the Essex port of Harwich but there is no sign of them trying to board a ferry.
And on 7 January, they took a taxi from Harwich to East Ham, spending hundreds of pounds in fares in a couple of days.
Taxi drivers report hearing the baby in their cabs.
The last time they were spotted was that day, on CCTV, near East Ham underground station.
'Slush fund'
Thought to have lost their belongings in the fire, the couple are travelling using cash.
Ms Marten has inherited wealth, and officers say the couple are likely to have built up a "considerable slush fund" that could allow them to live off-grid for some time.
Whenever they are near CCTV cameras, they look away or cover their faces, police say.
Det Ch Insp Payne said the couple could be anywhere in the UK.
"We want to find this child - that is our overriding aim," he said.