Police say a missing baby is now the focus of their investigation, following the arrest of a couple in Brighton, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon.
When the couple went missing in January, the baby was thought to be only a few days old.
The couple, who were dressed in black pumper jackets, were apprehended while using a cashpoint machine at Mulberry Store, which was close to the location of their arrest. Officers responded within minutes of receiving a 999 call from a member of the public who had seen the media appeals for the missing couple.
Police praised a member of the public, a local man in his 30s, for making the call this afternoon. Officers investigating the CCTV show the couple dressed in black puffer jackets but without the baby, which Police are desperately trying to locate.
Officers have been reviewing CCTV at the shop that has the cash machine outside that was used by the couple who had evaded capture until their arrest.
Police have stated that they are questioning the couple, but they have refused to reveal the location of the baby or confirm whether or not the baby is safe.
In a “urgent search” involving helicopters, drones, and police dogs, officers are scouring an allotment and golf course on the Sussex Downs.
Ms Marten and Gordon, a convicted sex offender, were discovered by a member of the public on Monday evening in the Fiveways area of north Brighton.
Det Supt Lewis Basford said the search was “now all about that baby” in a direct appeal to the public.
He stated that they are concerned about the child’s exposure to the elements.
After their car broke down near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January, the couple had been travelling across England by taxi for weeks, apparently evading police.
The arrest site was near open land, and the couple was on their way there. We know they travel and that they travel long distances “Det Supt Basford stated.
Please be vigilant, members of the public here in Brighton and crossing over towards Newhaven.
Around 20 officers have been seen searching Hollingbury Golf Course and Roedale Valley Allotments for the missing baby. Police have also asked residents to search sheds and outhouses.
A group of about 20 Metropolitan Police officers walk in a line through the Roedale Valley allotments north of Stanmer Villas.
Ms Marten and her partner left their home in Eltham, south-east London, in September, after she became pregnant for the first time.
Their car broke down on the M61 near Bolton and was discovered burning on 5 January, after which the couple travelled to Liverpool, Essex, and London in quick succession.
CCTV footage showed them attempting to conceal their faces from cameras.
