Search teams have continued to comb woodland and the South Downs by torchlight in a hunt for evidence after the remains of a baby were found by police.

A huge search for the missing two-month-old child of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon ended in tragedy after remains were found in a wooded area close to where the couple were arrested on Monday night.

More than 200 officers conducted a thorough search of a vast area around Brighton.

A post-mortem examination will take place in due course to help detectives establish what happened.

Teams continue to search the area looking for evidence following the discovery.

The couple remains in police custody after investigators were granted an extra 36 hours to question the pair by Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

Speaking outside the headquarters of Sussex Police yesterday evening, Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of the Metropolitan Police said that the discovery was “an outcome that myself and that many officers who had been part of this search had hoped would not happen”.

He said: “It is my very sad duty to update that police officers searching a wooded area close to where Constance and Mark Gordon were arrested discovered the remains of the baby.

“A post-mortem examination will be held in due course. A crime scene is in place and work at the location is expected to continue for some time.

“I recognise the impact this news will have on many people who have been following this story closely and can assure them that we will do everything we possibly can to establish what has happened.”

 

Marten, 35, who comes from an aristocratic family, went missing with Gordon, 48, when their car was found abandoned and on fire at the edge of the M61 on January 5.

From there, the couple travelled around England by taxi and had been last seen in Newhaven on January 8.

They were finally arrested in Brighton, minutes after a member of the public tipped off police.

According to The Sun, the couple used a Brighton food bank last Wednesday, but did not ask for baby supplies and did not have the infant with them.

The couple also allegedly did not buy baby supplies from a convenience store shortly before they were arrested, the newspaper claimed.