Brighton residents are being asked to carry on passing any information which might be useful to police as the search for Constance Marten and Mark Gordon’s missing baby continues.
Items found in gardens or sheds, any possible sightings of the couple in the last three weeks, or anything spotted in the open, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could help officers find the weeks-old child.
At a press conference this afternoon, Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford from the Metropolitan Police told reporters that officers “must consider that the baby has come to serious harm”.
The couple remain in custody, having been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence, and investigators have applied for a 36-hour extension to hold them for further questioning.
Mr Basford said: “This is a hugely difficult and painstaking search operation, covering a vast area of some 90 square miles.
“We’re using every resource we have at our disposal to find the baby.”
He said the force was using helicopters, sniffer dogs thermal imaging equipment and drones to search open land in Newhaven, to the north and east of Brighton and parts of the south downs.
Members of the public can expect to see search teams working over the next few days, including overnight.
He said support from the public has been vital during the course of the investigation so far and we continue to appeal to them for the information which they keep providing.
He urged the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour or items found in gardens, outbuildings or sheds between 8 January and the couple’s arrest on Monday night.
He said: “If you’re walking in this area and you see something you think we should know about, please don’t hesitate to contact us, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you.
“Before their arrest, their last known sighting was in Newhaven on 8 January, and I’m therefore reiterating the appeal to members of the public between Brighton and Newhaven to report any potential sightings or information.”
Anyone with information should call the Met Office incident room 020 8345 3865 or 999.
Meanwhile, specialist teams are scouring parkland around a mile from where aristocrat Constance Marten and her partner Mark Gordon were arrested in Stanmer Villas as the desperate search for their missing baby continues.
Dozens of officers from the Metropolitan Police and a team from London Search and Rescue were seen in Wild Park Local Nature Reserve, which backs onto Hollingbury Golf Course, in Brighton, East Sussex.
The officers, some wearing jackets indicating they were dog handlers, searched underneath sticks and logs close to where the two sites meet.
