A couple have been further arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter as hundreds of police search for their two-month-old baby.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were arrested in Brighton on Monday on suspicion of child neglect after being spotted by a member of the public at about 9.30pm.
Police said more than 200 officers were looking for the child and had been searching an allotment and woodland in the city.
A helicopter, sniffer dogs, thermal cameras and drones are also involved as the area widens to include the area towards Newhaven – where the couple were previously spotted.
It’s believed they had been living rough in a tent and moving around at night to avoid being found.
They were arrested “minutes” after being seen using a cash machine at a shop in Hollingbury Place – less than two miles north of Brighton seafront, said officers.
In an update on Tuesday afternoon, police said the couple had now also been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Marten, 35, and Gordon, 48, were reported missing on 5 January after their car caught fire on the M61, near Bolton.
It’s believed Marten had given birth just a few days before.
They were spotted multiple times in the days that followed, including in Liverpool, Essex, south London and East Sussex.
Concerns about their baby grew as it’s not thought to have had any medical care.
Marten, who is from a wealthy aristocratic family, is said to have lived an isolated life with Gordon – a convicted sex offender who spent 20 years in jail in the US.
Read more:
From Liverpool to Brighton – mapping the sightings
CCTV breakthrough suggests couple ‘sleeping in tent’
Met Police Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford said the couple had not given them information about the child’s whereabouts or even disclosed its gender.
“We now have to consider the possibility that the baby has come to harm,” he told reporters.
He said he still hoped the baby could be found alive but that the cold weather was an obvious risk to its safety.
“Clearly the risk is getting higher… this may not end in the way we would like, but we need to remain hopeful,” he said.
He added they were still open-minded about the possibility the child may have been given to someone else to look after.
Chief Superintendent James Collis, from Sussex Police, said the search area was “vast” at about 91 square miles and centred on land between Brighton and Newhaven – about seven miles further down the coast.
He also appealed for people to contact the force with any information or potential sightings over the last few weeks.
Marten’s father, Napier Marten, told The Independent it was “an immense relief” to know the couple had been located but “very alarming news her baby has yet to be found”.
He added: “For whatever reasons she and her partner went on the run, the consequences of their actions have increased many fold. It would have been far better if they had handed themselves in earlier.
“When the time comes, I am longing to see Constance to reassure her that, whatever the weather, I love her dearly and will support her as best I can through the difficult weeks and months here on in.”