The search for missing baby continues even after the arrest of aristocrat and partner

An alleged suicide in St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire: the case of the missing mother and her mother-in-law

A body was recovered from a river near where Bulley went missing in the northern English village of St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire Police said. Bulley’s family have been notified of the discovery of the body.

Our thoughts are with the family ofNicola at this sad time. We ask that their privacy is respected.”

Bulley was last seen on the morning of January 27. Police say she was walking her dog after dropping off her children.

Her phone was spotted on a seat next to the river after she was found wandering alone with her dog. But for three weeks, the search launched by Lancashire Police for the 45-year-old mother of two drew a blank.

The case baffled the public and attracted widespread media attention, with police also – unusually – choosing to reveal that Bulley had been struggling with alcohol issues and menopause at the time of her disappearance.

Lancashire Police Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith told journalists on Wednesday that the social media frenzy had “significantly distracted” the investigation. “In 29 years’ police service, I’ve never seen anything like it.

Some of it has been very upsetting and shocking to the family. Obviously, we cannot ignore anything, and we have done a thorough review of everything, but of course it has distracted us.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/19/uk/nicola-bulley-intl-gbr/index.html

Bulley’s friend, Paul Ansell, and Constance Marten, Mark Gordon, were arrested last week in a wooded area

Bulley’s friend told CNN that she is a kind person who loves her two daughters and family and friends. Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, had described the situation as a “perpetual hell”.

The pair that went missing with their baby in the early part of January have been arrested by UK police.

“It is my very sad duty to update that this afternoon, police officers searching a wooded area close to where Constance Marten and Mark Gordon were arrested, discovered the remains of a baby,” Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford of the Met’s East Area Command said in a statement on Wednesday.

The search for the couple and newborn began in early January, with police releasing several appeals and offering a £10,000 ($12,090) reward for information that would lead to their discovery.

In a renewed appeal last week, Basford said more than 630 hours of security camera footage had been reviewed and police had received more than 350 calls from the public.

Basford stressed that we are not trying to find the family just to be awkward or to interfere, and he put so many resources into finding the family. We have a genuine concern for the health and wellbeing of the baby, and Constance and Mark, and it our duty to ensure that they are okay.”

Marten’s father is a film and music producer. The family was deeply concerned about her and her child’s welfare, according to an audio appeal published by The Independent last month.

“Darling Constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, I standby, as I have always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us.

“I beseech you to find a way to turn yourself and your wee (little) one into the police as soon as possible so you and he or she can be protected. He said a process of recovery and healing can only start when it’s possible.

Marten and Gordon Gordon, an occupants of a car that had caught fire on a highway in Bolton, England, are charged with gross negligent manslaughter

On January 5, police inquiries identified Marten and Gordon as the occupants of a car that had caught fire on a highway in the northwestern town of Bolton, England.

The pair were not at the scene and most of their belongings were destroyed in the fire, according to police, who launched a missing persons investigation.

The pair and their baby had left the highway safely, and police used sightings and security camera footage to map their movements through various UK cities and towns.

They paid with cash for items such as a two-man tent, two sleeping bags and two pillows, which made them fear they had been camping at a time of cold temperatures.

The baby’s body was found in the woodland near where the Marten and Gordon had been arrested earlier this week, UK authorities said Wednesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said the pair were initially arrested on suspicion of child neglect but were later arrested on suspicion of gross negligent manslaughter.

“This is an outcome that myself and the many officers who have been part of the search, had hoped would not happen,” he said. “I recognize the impact this news will have on the 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.”