Marion BARTER

Circumstances

Between 1994 and 1997 Florabella Remakel, who at that time was known as Marion Barter, worked as a teacher at The Southport School (TSS) on the Gold Coast. In 1996 she won a state wide Queensland teaching excellence award.

Prior to May 1997, Florabella changed her name from Marion Barter to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel and obtained a new Australian passport in that name. She did not disclose her name change to her family and on the 22 June 1997, she travelled to England for a planned holiday.

In late July or early August 1997, Florabella spoke to her daughter by phone and she indicated she was in England, making no mention of returning to Australia.

Florabella’s passport indicates she returned to Australia via Brisbane at 10am on the 2 August 1997. She arrived back in the country without notifying anyone and has not made contact with anyone since.

On the 13/8/1997, a Medicare card in the name of Marion Barter was used at a doctor’s surgery at Grafton Shopping World.

In October 1997, Florabella’s daughter received information that a bank account in the name of Marion Barter had been accessed in Byron Bay and Burleigh Heads. Enquiries also revealed that a further withdrawal was made at Ashmore in Queensland.

The last time Florabella was seen in Australia was at the Surfers Paradise Bus terminal on 22 June 1997.

If you have information that may assist police to locate Florabella please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Marion Barter, born 1945, has been missing from the Gold Coast area of QLD since 1997.

Marion had previously been a school teacher on the Gold Coast and was awarded the Teacher of Excellence award then came 2nd nationally in 1996.

Marion's daughter Sally has not spoken to her Mum since August 1st 1997. At that time Marion was on holiday in the UK on a year-long trip, she left Australia in June 1997. In October 1997, when she missed her son's birthday, her family began to be concerned for her and were unable to contact her. At that time they checked her bank accounts to learn her account had been emptied over a period of weeks in the Byron Bay area. She has not been heard from since this time and also missed her daughter's wedding that she had been looking forward to. Her Medicare card was used in Grafton NSW in August or September 1997 but never used again.

In February 2011 Police were able to let her family know Marion had changed her name and obtained a new passport. Her passport had her name as Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, living in Luxembourg, Married and she had a visa to come to Australia for 3 days. That passport has never left the country.

Sally is bewildered as to why she suddenly ceased all contact with all her family and friends. She just needs to know her Mum is alive and she has had years of worry.

If you have any information about Marion Barter or Florabella Remakel please call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or Tweed Heads Police.

Suspicious disappearance of Marion Barter

Marion Barter, aged 51, was last seen at a bus depot on Scarborough Street, near Railway Street, at Southport, Queensland, on Sunday 22 June 1997.

In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, Marion was also observed by a family member leaving a service station on Ferry Road, Southport, in a red Honda Civic Breeze with a tall male passenger in the vehicle.

Inquiries at the time revealed that Marion left Australia for the United Kingdom on Sunday 22 June 1997, under the name Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, which she had officially changed the month before leaving the country.

Her outgoing passenger card stated that she was divorced and intended to reside in Luxembourg.

On Saturday 2 August 1997, investigators believe Marion may have re-entered Australia under the name of Florabella Remakel with an incoming passenger card stating she was married and resided in Luxembourg.

Inquiries also revealed that following her disappearance, an unknown person appears to have accessed a bank account belonging to Marion.

Family members reported Ms Barter missing to police at Byron Bay in October 1997, with detectives from the Tweed-Byron Local Area Command commencing an investigation into her whereabouts.

As part of their inquiries, detectives explored numerous leads in Australia and overseas in relation to Marion’s disappearance.

In July 2019, a formal review of the case was conducted by the Tweed-Byron Police District, the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad and the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

The Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit subsequently established Strike Force Jurunga – in collaboration with local officers and the State Crime Command’s Missing Persons Registry – to re-investigate Marion’s disappearance.

A coronial inquest, presided by the NSW State Coroner, began in Sydney on Monday 21 June 2021, and will continue at Ballina and Byron Bay next week.

A NSW Government reward of $250,000 for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for Marion’s suspicious disappearance has been announced today (Friday 25 June 2021).

As inquiries continue, police are renewing their appeal to the community to come forward with any information that may assist detectives with their inquiries.

Minister for Police and Emergency Services, David Elliott, said Marion’s case has left her family and friends with many unanswered questions.

“For 24 years, family and friends of Marion have lived without any understanding of why she disappeared so abruptly,” Mr Elliott said.

“Marion’s daughter, Sally, has never given up her quest for the truth. The NSW Government hopes this new reward will encourage anyone with information, particularly in the timeframe that police believe Marion returned to Australia, to come forward and speak to detectives.”

Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, said strike force detectives have re-examined items from the original investigation, with the hope that this appeal and the upcoming inquest will encourage people to speak up.

“Marion’s behaviour leading up to June 1997 and following her departure from Australia has been described as out of character,” Det Supt Doherty said.

“We are particularly eager to hear from anyone who may have had any interaction with Marion Barter or Florabella Remakel from June 1997 onwards, particularly in late July or early August 1997.

“We are trying to piece together some of the missing links in Marion’s movements and her close connections to create a full picture of exactly what has happened,” Det Supt Doherty said.

UPDATE: The second episode of 'The Lady Vanishes' is now live. You can listen and subscribe via acast, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

After 22 years, Sally Leydon’s determination to find her missing mother is as strong as ever.

Marion Barter, a 51-year-old teacher on the Gold Coast, vanished in 1997 after boarding a plane for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the UK and Europe.

While friends and family haven’t seen her since, police records show her passport was stamped on return to Australia under a different name, Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, weeks later.

Barter's sister Deirdre Stuart told 7NEWS she had no inkling she would never see Marion again but wanted her daughter Sally to let her mum go.

“I think she should just leave Marion be and accept that she's gone and that she's got a new life somewhere and just let it go,” Stuart said.

Marion’s other sisters Lee and Bronwen appear to also be resistant to renewed efforts to find her.

“Lee gets distressed, she was very close with Marion. She gets quite distressed when Marion is brought up," Stuart said.

“If she feels the need to track down Marion just in case something awful has happened to her, that's what she's got to do," she said.

"I'm not about to judge Sally for what she's doing but it's not something I would do.”

Johnny Warren

“I went to a Young Liberal Party ... at a place called Oyster Bay, near where she lived," Economos said.

"Marion was there on her own listening to records in the lounge room. So I started talking to her.

"And she was a bit embarrassed because I was told she didn’t have anyone, no partner, while she was at college”.

“Then I spoke to John about her, he wasn’t there with us that night. And oh, it was laborious pushing them together.

"Anyhow, eventually we went out together a couple of times and they got together… and you know.”

“The split came in ’71, the morning after he came back from Japan with the St George team,” Economos said.

“He was over there on a tournament. And over breakfast, he just told her he didn’t want to be married anymore”.

And then as he left, he rang me, before he told everyone else ... because he felt obliged to notify me because I was the culprit for bringing them together," Economos said.

"He says ‘I have to tell you, Marion and I are busted up’. I said, ‘no you’re not’.

Economos says he asked Warren what had happened, and Warren had replied: "‘Nothing, I just want to be free.’ And that was it.”

No one has seen Marion for 22 years — or, if anyone has, they’re not saying. Her family certainly has not seen the popular teacher and former wife of football legend Johnny Warren since she abruptly quit her job at a Gold Coast private school and sold her home to travel overseas in 1997, at the age of 51.

Once a prolific letter-writer and gift-giver, she has missed every significant family occasion without a word: her daughter’s wedding, son’s funeral, the death of both her parents, the birth of her grandchildren, not to mention birthdays, Christmases and everything between. There was no goodbye or explanation.

Leydon suspects foul play but police think otherwise. They point to a curious set of events in the year she disappeared — Marion secretly changing her name before her travels, her apparent return to Australia without telling family or friends, withdrawals of large sums from her bank account, and the use of her Medicare card in a visit to a doctor — as evidence she chose to vanish.

Despite confirming they have not sighted Marion and that they cannot now find any trace of her, police say they are satisfied on the threads of the disappearance that she did not want to be found; that she started a new life.

Leydon says this is based on assumptions. What if, she says, someone took advantage of Marion’s kind nature and her deep-seated yearning to love and be loved, and that she is the victim of fraud and murder?

She is deeply concerned that, blindsided by a name change, the police have made a mistake in failing to launch a full-scale investigation into a likely homicide.

Leydon wants to be proved wrong, and won’t rest until the mystery is solved. Her efforts to find out what happened to her mother have led to a Seven Network podcast, The Lady Vanishes, which is attracting a wave of attention to the case. It follows a series of cold-case podcasts including The Australian’s investigative series The Teacher’s Pet, on the disappearance and alleged murder of Sydney mother Lyn Dawson.

“My mum was really vulnerable, and really gullible,” Leydon, 45, says. “She is not a street-smart person. For her to go and fake an identity and vanish is just something that seems so out of character and something that she could just not physically pull off. My gut feeling is, being the person she is … she met somebody and he promised her the world and she’s fallen for it and she met with foul play.” Marion had been married and divorced three times. Her first marriage, in the late 1960s, was to “Captain Socceroo” John Warren. She had her two children — Leydon and a son, Owen — with her second husband in the 70s. After the end of her third marriage, she moved to the Gold Coast in the 90s and took a job teaching boys aged four and five at the Southport School.

Outwardly, there was success. In 1996, she won a state teacher award of excellence and placed second nationally. But things were tense at the Anglican private school; Marion clashed with some of the other staff and told Leydon there had been unfounded accusations around her treatment of students, portraying it as a case of tall-poppy syndrome. She told her daughter someone had even accused her of touching boys.

Marion quit on just four days’ notice. She told her family she was going to the UK and Europe for a 12-month break. She put her house up for sale, accepting $165,000 within three weeks, for a loss of $15,000 on the purchase price.

As she prepared to put her belongings into storage, there was an event that in hindsight stands out. Leydon’s then fiance, Chris, now her husband, was helping her pack when Marion noticed the time and panicked, ordering him to leave. He drove away and picked up Leydon, commenting on her mother’s rude behaviour. On the way home the couple stopped at a service station with a McDonald’s drive-through and looked over to see Marion in a car with a mystery man. Leydon says her mother stared at her like a deer in headlights and, instead of filling up, drove off in a hurry. The next day Marion said it was just a friend. He has never been identified.

Other things that did not seem particularly unusual at the time have also taken on new meaning. Marion did not want her daughter to take her to the airport for her flight abroad, instead getting a friend to drop her off at a bus stop and making her own way. Leydon now wonders if her mother was travelling with someone when she left Australia in June 1997.

Letters, postcards and small gifts from Marion started arriving at the homes of family and friends, and even for her former students; her messages discussed her travels, and none gave any indication she was planning to disappear.

Late on the night of July 30, 1997, a landslide at Thredbo destroyed two ski lodges, killing 18 people. Leydon and her fiance had been at Perisher and returned home the next day to find an answering machine message from Marion, worried about their safety. She phoned again the following day, August 1, and spoke to Leydon at length. Marion was on a payphone and kept running out of money, the line repeatedly cutting out. Leydon offered to call, saying she wanted a decent chat, but Marion said she was out and had been having morning tea with some little old ladies in Tunbridge Wells, England.

Marion said she wouldn’t be writing very many postcards, as she wanted to enjoy her holiday. That was the last time Leydon spoke to her mother.

Leydon didn’t know it at the time but a day later, on August 2, 1997, Marion was registered as returning to Australia. Her passport was under a different name, one her family had never heard of: Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel. On her Customs card, Marion was listed as being a married housewife from Luxembourg. She had changed her name by deed poll before travelling overseas and had obtained a new passport.

Marion’s family knew nothing of the name change or of this return journey, presuming she was still overseas.

Months went by without a call from Marion, but it was only after she failed to contact her son for his birthday on October 18 that Leydon became alarmed and phoned Marion’s bank.

“She said, ‘I’m really sorry, I can’t tell you anything due to privacy’,” Leydon says. “Then she paused and said, ‘Did you say your mum’s overseas?’ I said yes, and she said: ‘Oh my god, there’s money coming out of her account in Byron Bay.’ ”

The bank staff member read out details of the withdrawals, all in amounts of $5000 at a time, daily for more than three weeks. For three days in the middle of that period, the money had been withdrawn from bank branches at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.

“She taught at Southport and I lived at Mudgeeraba. They’re all five minutes within each other,” Leydon says. “If you wanted to go missing, why would you risk coming back?” Leydon and her fiance drove to Byron Bay the next day with a picture of Marion. They asked around the beachside town, but no one recognised her.

Then Leydon went into the Commonwealth Bank and asked a staff member if the ATMs had CCTV cameras, explaining why and showing a photo.

The staff member told her it rang a bell and, after checking with someone that Leydon assumed was a manager, he returned and asked: “What would you like me to say to her if I see her?”

Leydon went straight to the Byron Bay police station and told them everything she knew. The officer who took the details phoned her back within days with distressing news.

“He said, ‘We’ve found your mother, she doesn’t want anyone to know where she is or what she’s doing,’ ” Leydon says.

The problem with this phone call is that police never documented it. When Leydon last year obtained a heavily redacted version of the NSW police file, the call was not logged; there was nothing to show what led the officer to say Marion had been found. The officer, who has since retired, says he has no recollection of it.

Leydon also was disturbed to discover in the documents that when she reported her mother’s disappearance to Byron Bay police, it was recorded only as an occurrence — Marion was not listed as missing.

There are other apparent errors in the file. Marion told police that in total about $80,000 was withdrawn from her mother’s account over three weeks. But a police note says $80,000 was electronically transferred overseas, and that this was presumably to buy a house with her new partner. There is nothing to explain why police thought she had a new partner. Significantly, police have confirmed to Leydon that her mother’s passport was never used again, and has since expired.

Police have confirmed to Leydon that Marion hasn’t accessed her superannuation, estimated to be a six-figure sum. Marion also had an account with Barclays bank in London, with about $20,000 that hasn’t been touched.

Leydon says there’s “nothing to say anywhere or prove anywhere” that it was actually Marion who returned to Australia, or that it was Marion who withdrew money from her account in Byron Bay and Burleigh Heads. She also remains upset about other material in the police file, including an email in which an officer refers to her trying to find a “scapegoat”. The same person claims in the email that it was believed Marion had been located as recently as a couple of months earlier.

“They need to be able to provide me some decent evidence,” she says. “They can’t just sit there and throw these things out there.”

Byron Bay detective Gary Sheehan inherited the case years after Marion disappeared and remains in charge. He confirmed to Leydon that Marion had never been sighted by police and that he did not know where she was.

Ahead of the launch of the podcast series earlier this month, Sheehan said he had sent out 17 requests to agencies around the country, checking on Marion’s identities. There was no record of any activity in either name.

Sheehan this week referred inquiries back to police media, who said he was unavailable. But he told the podcast that Marion’s behaviour led him to believe she was “trying to remove herself from the family”. His investigations had identified Marion’s name change, her apparent return to the country, and the use of her Medicare card to see a doctor in Grafton in northern NSW in the days that followed. In about 2012 Sheehan arranged for her name to be removed from the national missing persons register.

“There’s been nothing to suggest that she is in grave fear of her safety,” he said. Disappearing is not a crime. A person only has to satisfy authorities they have made a conscious decision to leave and are not in danger.

Tragedy struck the family when Marion’s son, Owen, took his own life five years after she went missing. It’s inconceivable to Leydon that Marion deliberately cut off all contact. “That’s all I’m asking for — show me proof,” she says. “Even if she’s alive and well, I just want proof. Because in my world, I can’t sit back and not know that’s she’s not buried in some ditch somewhere and no one’s searched for her.”

‘I’ll call you back’: The last words of missing mum last seen in Tunbridge Wells

Marion Barter, 51, last spoke to her daughter in a series of patchy phonecalls - but what happened to her?

The mystery disappearance of a mum last seen in Tunbridge Wells has baffled police for 22 years.

The Australian primary school teacher had been visiting Kent as part of a solo-trip to the UK.

After the end of her third marriage she had become a single mum to her two children Sally and Owen.

But a few years later she suddenly sold her home on the Gold Coast and flew to England - never to be seen again.

Her family don't know if she's dead or alive but her daughter Sally is determined to find out what happened to her.

Sally's quest has been recorded in hit podcast The Lady Vanishes, which follows the ups and downs of this incredibly complex case.

Final phonecall

On July 31, 1997, Marion made her final contact with her daughter Sally Leydon in a series of patchy phonecalls.

Sally told 7news her mother had left her answerphone messages shortly after arriving in the UK.

It was the first time she had been in contact with her family back home in the Gold Coast.

Sally said: "She called back later from a pay phone. She told me she was sitting in Tunbridge Wells in the UK.

"She was having scones and tea with some old ladies that she had just met and said she just wanted to touch base."

Sally recalls her mother telling her she was having a lovely time exploring everywhere but the phone kept cutting out.

Marion continued to add money to the payphone and call back around five times until she ran out of money.

Sally said she knew she was definitely in the UK because there was the typical delay effect on the call.

She said: "I spoke to her about what I had been up to … and then the phone just went dead, and that was the last time I have spoken to her.”

Marion was reported missing by her daughter Sally in October that year after she learned thousands of dollars had been siphoned from her bank account.

Concerned she hadn't heard from her mum for a while, she called her bank to ask if there had been any activity.

When Sally said her mum was overseas, the woman in the bank said 'Oh my god, money is coming out of her account in Byron Bay’.”

Sally learned tens of thousands of dollars had been siphoned from her bank account by someone in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.

Since her disappearance 22 years ago, police in Bron Bay say they have never been able to find a single trace of her.

Sally Leydon's quest to find out what happened to her mother can be heard n a new podcast series 'The Lady Vanishes' which you can listen to here.

In the podcasts intro, Sally heartbreakingly says: "I don't even have to know where you are, I just need some proof so that I can get on with my life too."

Inquest into the disappearance of Marion Barter, teacher and former wife of Socceroo legend Johnny Warren

Marion Barter 'covertly' started new life after going missing, inquest told

When Marion Barter left Australia in 1997 for the trip of a lifetime to Europe her family had no idea she had changed her name and they would never see her again.

The suspected death of the mother of two has captured the attention of millions of Australians through the popular podcast The Lady Vanishes and now after 24 years, the NSW Coroner's Court is investigating the case.

A NSW Police detective told the inquest the investigation into Ms Barter's disappearance was flawed and important opportunities were missed during a 10-year gap where "very little happened".

Detective Senior Constable Gary Sheehan, who was put on the case in 2009, said it was "unusual" it seemed to "slip through the cracks" and it was "extremely frustrating" that potential leads were lost as certain evidence was no longer available.

"I formed the opinion that this matter had not been investigated as thoroughly as it should have been."

Ms Barter was a teacher at the prestigious Southport School in Queensland and was once married to 'Captain Socceroo' Johnny Warren.

She was awarded the state's top teaching award by Ita Buttrose in 1996 but months later decided to resign, sell her house quickly for a loss and travel to the UK for a working holiday.

Her family said she was acting strangely in the lead-up to her trip and she was seen sitting in her car with a mystery man in Southport.

Ms Barter was last seen at a Southport bus stop on June 22, 1997, where a friend dropped her so she could make her way to the airport.

The then-51-year-old told her family her belongings had been packed into a storage facility but police have never been able to find it.

Ms Barter initially kept in touch with her family and friends but when she didn't call to wish her son a happy birthday in October 1997, alarm bells rang.

Her daughter, Sally Leydon, reported her concerns to the Byron Bay police but the detective who was assigned to the matter marked the case as an "occurrence" rather than a missing person.

"It [became] obvious that Sally had a large amount of information that had not been documented by police ... a whole range of information that was important and should have been recorded from the get go."

It wasn't until 10 years later that Detective Sheehan discovered Ms Barter had changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel just before leaving Australia and got a new passport in that name.

Counsel assisting, Adam Casselden SC, told the inquest the name was "highly unusual" and the reason for the name change was "intrinsically linked" to Ms Barter's disappearance and whether she was still alive.

Detective Sheehan also found out that Ms Barter took a return trip to Australia on August 2, 1997 under her new name.

The Medicare card of Ms Barter was used at an optometrist in Grafton in northern NSW about 10 days later and more than $80,000 was withdrawn from her bank accounts around the same time.

In 2011 NSW Police took Ms Barter off the state missing persons register and suspended their case but in 2019 the homicide review unit reopened the case and Ms Barter was put on the National Missing Persons register.

But Detective Sheehan told the inquest he has always believed Ms Barter wanted to separate herself from her family.

"I believe she was covertly arranging a new life. That was my opinion and still is. I think she went to great lengths to do so," he said.

The inquest into Ms Barter's disappearance is set to hear from dozens of witnesses over two weeks in Sydney and Ballina.

Marion Barter inquest: Family told to ‘stop looking’ for mum’

An inquest has heard a “caring” mother who disappeared told authorities she did not want her family to know where she was.

The Gold Coast teacher’s family and friends, including her daughter Sally Leydon, were stumped when their mother stopped calling after flying to the UK for a year-long holiday in July 1997.

Ms Leydon contacted police after Marion strangely missed her son’s birthday in October 1997.

The family later learned Marion had changed her name before leaving to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel.

On Wednesday, the court heard a police officer contacted Marion’s family a week after the report was made, to say they had spoken with Marion - and she did not want anything to do with her family.

“They said they found my mother who didn’t want anyone to know where she was and what she was doing,” Ms Leydon told the court.

She said her grandfather, John Wilson, was not satisfied with this response and took charge of the search for his daughter.

Ms Leydon said Mr Wilson told her in February, 1988, he too had heard Marion did not want to speak with them - The Salvation Army this time delivering the harsh news.

“You can tell them to stop looking for me in Byron Bay because I’m far, far away. And you can tell Sally I’m upset with her for not putting money in my account for the car,” Ms Leydon was told her mother said when contacted.

“I think that was the basis the family believed it was her, and kind of stopped looking for her.”

Ms Leydon had organised to transfer money into Marion’s bank account after she sold her car, but she had not sold it yet.

Leslie Loveday told the court the behaviour was out of character for her “beautiful” neighbour and friend.

“Someone said they found her and she didn’t want anything to do with family or friends. Marion cared deeply about her family. I still don’t understand why that was said,” Ms Loveday told the court.

Sally Leydon has been waiting for 24 years to find out what happened to her mother but if it’s going to take a few more months to get answers, she’s prepared to wait.

On the final day of the inquest into the disappearance into Marion Barter, a five-day extension to take place in the new year was announced, to allow NSW Police to follow up leads that were yet to be pursued.

Those leads include finding out where the shipping container holding many of Marion’s valuable antiques and artworks ended up, as well as her strange connection to Luxembourg.

“Well, if they feel that they have more things to investigate, obviously that is something I want to happen. I don’t want an easy answer,” Sally told 7NEWS at the inquest’s conclusion.

It was also scheduled to take place in Ballina and Byron Bay in northern NSW, but a COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdowns led to that being cancelled and most witnesses having to appear via video or audio links.

Senior Counsel representing the Coroner, Adam Casselden, told the court at the end of proceedings that Marion Barter’s disappearance was “an ongoing investigation by NSW Police”.

The Coroner scheduled the inquest to resume on Monday 14 February, 2022 for five more days.

The Lady Vanishes

Marion Barter was last seen by family and friends just before she left Australia in late June 1997, for what was to be a year-long holiday to the UK and Europe.

However, travel records indicate her passport came back into the country just three weeks later, on August 2, 1997.

According to her incoming passenger card, she was only back for eight days as a visitor and her actual residence was in Luxembourg.

She had also changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel and had ticked the box for ‘married’, in contrast to her outgoing passenger card, which listed her as ‘divorced’.

Many of the details explored in the inquest were known to Sally and listeners of the 7NEWS podcast The Lady Vanishes, which was responsible for the inquest occurring in the first place.

Prior to 2019, Marion wasn’t even considered missing by NSW Police, which had jurisdiction over her case.

This was despite Sally having made the report to them in 1997, shortly after her mother had failed to send her brother Owen a birthday card, which she described as completely out of character.

Sally had also discovered money was mysteriously being withdrawn from Marion’s bank account in Byron Bay, even though her mother was still supposed to be overseas.

Various red herrings, including claims that Marion had wanted to start a new life and cut herself off from her family, led police to categorise her as ‘located’, even though they never spoke to her or saw her.

Lack of new information

It’s been a gruelling two weeks for Sally, who appeared frustrated by the lack of new information from the inquest - a direct result of the passage of time that has passed.

Most people who’d had any dealings with Marion before she vanished couldn’t remember details, and various documents which could have helped officers who have since taken over the investigation find her, no longer existed.

Making matters even more stressful for Sally, was having to be on the witness stand for three of the nine days, as barrister representing NSW Police Kim Burke grilled her about whether she was more worried about her mum’s welfare or the fraud on her bank account.

“I’d like to say, I think I have said numerous times … I was concerned for my mother,” Sally recalled.

Sally broke down several times during the proceedings, including when she had to relive the last time she saw her mother, but also during the cross-examination by Ms Burke.

At several stages, the Coroner intervened, and asked Ms Burke to move on or tone it down.

“Just quieten down the tone all round - it’s a very accusatory tone and it’s not helpful,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Family feud

The inquest also saw old family feuds reignite, particularly between Sally and Marion’s sisters, the latter of which were critical of Sally’s refusal to let the matter drop.

This seemed to be because they held the belief, like their parents, that Marion chose to go missing and wanted to start a new life.

“(Marion) was looking for love and she was looking for a permanent relationship and she never seemed to be able to find that,” Diedre said.

“She had 3 marriages, 3 divorces ... she was constantly moving from one man to another.

“Her first marriage to John Warren was what she would have called perfect - she thought she had a perfect relationship.”

“It completely destroyed her ... that destroyed her life really - it tainted everything else she did after.”

However, Deirdre acknowledged that since learning of Marion’s return to Australia, she no longer holds the belief that Marion vanished voluntarily and started a new life.

Sally learned during the inquest that Marion’s youngest sister, Lee, had found two new postcards from Marion - one of which was sent from the UK on August 7– five days after Marion had apparently returned to Australia.

Missing her mum

Later, Sally reflected on the impact of not having her mother in her life anymore.

“We didn’t really have a normal family life because, between my mum and my dad, there were five marriages and five divorces,” Sally lamented.

“I think I was robbed of the opportunity as an adult to have an adult relationship with my mum.

“I was probably a bit self-absorbed with things going on with me at the time - building houses and getting engaged…