Mother of sex offender missing with aristocrat’s daughter claims they ‘married in secret’
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The mother of a missing sex offender with the daughter of an aristocrat has claimed they “married in secret” and calls her son a “good boy”.
Constance Marten, 35, is currently missing with her partner Mark Gordon, who attacked a woman in the United States when she was 14 and served 20 years in jail.
Last night, his mother Sylvia, 83, claimed that the couple had secretly married “some time ago” after Marten became pregnant.
She said: ‘I am very worried. I love my son. He’s a good boy, so I don’t know what this is all about.
Ms Marten and her partner Mark Gordon have been missing since January 5 after their car broke down and caught fire on the M61. The couple was seen walking off the highway with their newborn.
A 2010 mugshot of Gordon released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
‘I’m worried about all of them. I’m thinking, I wonder if someone kidnapped them.
Gordon was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, but he, his mother and half-siblings moved to the US when he was young.
It comes after film producer Napier Marten made a plea to his daughter Constance to keep her and the girl safe.
Mr Marten, son of Mary Anna Marten, whose godmother was the late Queen Mother, told the Independent: ‘Dear Constance, even though we remain estranged at this time, I am standing by, as I always have and as the family always has, to do whatever it takes to have you safely return to us.
‘I beg you to find a way to turn yourself and your little one over to the police as soon as possible, so that you and he or she can be protected.
‘Only then can a healing and recovery process begin, however long, however difficult.
We are deeply concerned for your well-being and that of your baby.
‘I want you to understand that the family will do whatever is necessary for your well-being.
And I also wish you to understand that you are very, very loved in any circumstances.
Ms. Marten has been missing for almost two weeks.
Yesterday the Metropolitan Police, who are leading the search to find the couple and newborn, said they have a substantial amount of cash from a multi-million dollar trust fund that allows them to live off the grid.
Constance Marten, pictured on the right, at the Mist Mag party in 2013 with two other women
Constance Marten, photographed again at the party in 2013, has been missing for two weeks.
Constance Marten’s social media presence showed a creative side in her early years.
The car the two were driving broke down and caught fire, as seen in this police image.
Police posted this photo of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon outside East Ham station at around 11:45am on January 7.
They have no luggage with them after most of their belongings were destroyed in the car fire, and they are using money to pay for taxis.
Police are concerned about the newborn and say that neither Ms. Marten nor the baby have received medical attention since birth.
The couple are understood to have lived a secluded life since they met in 2016 in London, with then drama student Ms Marten cutting ties with family and friends.
It is unclear how they met, but Gordon is believed to have lived near her and worked as a laborer.
Last September, they began moving around the country, renting AirBnBs for short periods.
On 5 January, they were on the M61 when their car broke down and caught fire near junction four at Farnworth, Bolton.
The couple then walked to Anchor Lane Bridge, where they took a taxi to Liverpool before taking another to Harwich, Essex.
They were seen in Colchester on Friday the 6th and Saturday the 7th of January, when they took another taxi to East Ham station in Newham, London.
Whenever Ms Marten and Mr Gordon are seen on CCTV, they cover their faces or look away, and have kept the baby covered.
Investigators say the couple appear to know how to evade authorities, making their search difficult.
Constance Marten, whose nickname was Toots, comes from an aristocratic family.
Police believe they could be anywhere in the UK and are asking the public to come forward with any information that could help find them.
Some 200 officers are working on the search and have reviewed more than 200 hours of CCTV footage since the couple were last seen on January 7.
Gordon’s conviction relates to an attack in Florida on a woman in her early 20s when he was 14.
Mrs. Marten is the granddaughter of Mary Anna Marten, whose godmother was the late Queen Mother.
The family used to own the Crichel estate in Dorset.
Privately educated, the 35-year-old comes from an aristocratic family with ties to royalty.
When she was 21, she appeared in the society magazine Tatler as its ‘Babe of the Month’.
Posing in 2009 for a question and answer session, Ms Marten described her favorite spot as being on top of the Matterhorn, which she had recently climbed.
When asked what his best party had been, he replied: “Viscount Cranbourne’s party in Dorset: the theme was the Bacchus Party.”
He added that his party trick was to “crush a Coke can between my shoulder blades” like “a human recycling machine” and that his future plans included getting a tattoo of a turtle on the bottom of his foot.
After her car broke down on the M61 near Bolton on Thursday night, Marten is believed to have been seen wrapped in a red blanket in Harwich Port, Essex, at 9am on Saturday.
Ancestors of Constance: George Marten with his wife Mary and their daughters Victoria, Charlotte and Georgina
His family’s £100m Dorset estate included a Grade I listed mansion, four villages, a cricket club and a lake, while his brother’s wedding to a society jewelery designer last summer was featured on the fashion bible website Vogue.
She is known by the nickname ‘Toots’ and attended St Mary’s Private School in Shaftesbury, after which she is believed to have studied Arabic and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Leeds.
Then she trained as a journalist and photographer. She is the granddaughter of Toby Marten, Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy and groom to George VI, and his wife Mary Anna, who had close ties to the royal family and attended the Brownies herd at Buckingham Palace alongside Princess Margaret. in his youth.