Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, Jun 1997

[TootsieFootsie]

If Marion is still alive, I was wondering if she would try to keep tabs on her family somehow like, that person who follows you on Facebook or something, that person that you have no idea who they are.
Or maybe through another person, ie who is that mystery person who you seem to see around sometimes, that seems to show an interest in you but you are sure that you don't know them.
I received a Christmas card for years from someone I didn't know, for years after my mother died in a car accident.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

If Marion is still alive, I was wondering if she would try to keep tabs on her family somehow like, that person who follows you on Facebook or something, that person that you have no idea who they are.
Or maybe through another person, ie who is that mystery person who you seem to see around sometimes, that seems to show an interest in you but you are sure that you don't know them.
I received a Christmas card for years from someone I didn't know, for years after my mother died in a car accident.

That's a nice idea Tootsie, watching over from a distance .... and what a lovely gesture with the yearly Christmas cards, sad to hear of your loss.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks Itsapuzzle! It was a very long time ago.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Has anyone got any ideas on why Marion changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel without telling anyone, other than to intentionally start a new life with new identity? H'mm, I'm going to see if I can compile a top 10 list, may take a while, but just something to ponder.

Also had a listen to the Ron Iddles podcast Good Cop, brilliant, sensational, five stars. And someone recommended Death in Ice Valley, wonderful, five stars, a lot like The Lady Vanishes format.
‎Death in Ice Valley on Apple Podcasts
And still on podcasts, some of the Lady Vanishes team have started a new podcast called Pendulum.
PS: Excellent sleuthing Cagney&Lacey, you knew The Puz would return, hee hee ....

 

[tempcoops]

Reading with interest and just wanting to put down some thoughts.
Fact - prior to leaving Marion legally changed her name.
Fact - whether she did actually come back to Australia, or remained overseas, one has to have an existance for things like access to doctors, pensions, driving, teaching (in her case)...
So... to avoid such an existance one could -
1. Rely on a partner for full financial support (since she couldn't teach) and existance (medical atttention slightly difficult unless partner is a doctor)
2. Join a cult and live off the land, no need to drive, perhaps they have a cult doctor for anything medical.
3. Not be alive.

I guess my point is, to truly remain anonymous (with her real or Florabella name) you'd have to live through a partner, join a cult, or no longer be alive.

I guess the other possible scenerio is she is using yet another name. Marion Brown is nice and generic. I've met two.

 

[tempcoops]

Has anyone got any ideas on why Marion changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel without telling anyone, other than to intentionally start a new life with new identity? H'mm, I'm going to see if I can compile a top 10 list, may take a while, but just something to ponder.

Also had a listen to the Ron Iddles podcast Good Cop, brilliant, sensational, five stars. And someone recommended Death in Ice Valley, wonderful, five stars, a lot like The Lady Vanishes format.
‎Death in Ice Valley on Apple Podcasts
And still on podcasts, some of the Lady Vanishes team have started a new podcast called Pendulum.
PS: Excellent sleuthing Cagney&Lacey, you knew The Puz would return, hee hee ....

Hmmmm... could just be an incredibly eccentric thing to do? (in keeping with how she has been described) Or perhaps a mental illness type thing to do? Possibly 'romantic'... personally I think it's a terrible name, but hey...

On that note, I totally think it was a name she liked from her time living in the Blue Mtns. to coincidental. Could have easily have become Glenbrook Warrimoo Marion Remakel.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Just my opinion but I think something may have frightened her enough to want to disappear. It all seemed to happen in a hurry, the selling of the house etc.

Of course I have no idea what really happened, but from the postcards and phone calls it doesn't seem to suggest she was going to cut off contact with her family.
Did she meet a man who wanted their relationship kept secret, ie the man at macca's. Did he gain control of her and her finances and finally her life itself.

Are there people who know something ? There would have to be, I think.

Is she lying somewhere, in Australia, still unfound ?
Was it her who came back to collect the money, then someone took that money, and then took her life ?
Is she a so far unidentified body or remains either here or in another country ?

All just a jumble of thoughts.

Where is Marion ?

 

[JLZ]

Reading with interest and just wanting to put down some thoughts.
Fact - prior to leaving Marion legally changed her name.
Fact - whether she did actually come back to Australia, or remained overseas, one has to have an existance for things like access to doctors, pensions, driving, teaching (in her case)...
So... to avoid such an existance one could -
1. Rely on a partner for full financial support (since she couldn't teach) and existance (medical atttention slightly difficult unless partner is a doctor)
2. Join a cult and live off the land, no need to drive, perhaps they have a cult doctor for anything medical.
3. Not be alive.

I guess my point is, to truly remain anonymous (with her real or Florabella name) you'd have to live through a partner, join a cult, or no longer be alive.

I guess the other possible scenerio is she is using yet another name. Marion Brown is nice and generic. I've met two.

4. Has the possibility that she's in gaol been excluded?

 

[Joni C]

Neither here nor there really, but has anyone been able to find a photo of Mr Glover, per chance? Would just be curious to see what he looked like ... found his wife and daughter in the archives, but his image is proving quite elusive in my searches.

Here you go x

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Here you go x

Oh Joni, wowee, thank you so much, sensational sleuth ..... h'mm, I really didn't picture him to look like that, had a totally different image in mind of him, he looks quite debonair really. Thank you

 

[Itsapuzzle]

I don't think she sale of the house is something the police should have taken so much into consideration. Episode 2, Johnny Warren's brother mentions that Marion wasn't prepared to rent out the house to strangers for three months. Now, she also had her wallet stolen from her car in the driveway, which you would think would make you less inclined to leave your house unattended/rented for a year. The sale of the house makes sense to me. Add to that she was planning to move anyway. Just my thoughts.

 

[Cliff Hardy]

4. Has the possibility that she's in gaol been excluded?

Interesting left field suggestion but to get 22 years she would probably have had to murdered someone.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Spontaneous name change thought ..... Marion may have had a bet with someone, perhaps the mystery man, and the loser had to change their name by Deed Poll to the one selected by the said winner of bet. Then after the 12 months had elapsed Marion could change it back .... that would be a reason why no-one knew about it. Just a possibility.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Ten ideas on why Marion could have changed her name, in no particular order.

1. Safety while travelling alone. (The woman who used Marion's stolen credit card may have committed other crimes in her name that could cause her trouble while overseas).
2. Mystery man asked her to do it as a favour to inherit something/make happy elderly/sick relative (false story)
3. A name like Florabella would be a talking point while overseas, would engage people in conversation, "oh, what an unsual name", get's the ball rolling.
4. Advised by someone in a position of authority/power to do it.
5. Would feel safer travelling alone overseas with a name that looked like it was from there, name sounds European.
6. Didn't want anyone to know about her previous marriages, so a bit of a clean slate, and why not go with an interesting name.
7. Had a serious bet with someone, lost, and had to honour it by changing the name. (bet with villain in the case)
8. Didn't want to be associated with her past life anymore, wanted to start anew (maybe had bit of a breakdown)
9. Was threatened by someone who said they had a contract out on her - hey, a bit outrageous, but I've got to get to 10.
10. Was asked to change it to deliver something undercover for mystery man overseas, government secret stuff - (well, could be a story that she was told by mystery man, who knows)

It would seem that the name change only appeared on the passport, which is interesting, doesn't appear to have come up anywhere else, which makes you think it was just for travel safety/advised by someone else, again this mystery person. I don't think Marion thought of this by herself, the answer to everything is probably with who advised her. Ah well, just a few thoughts. Cheers

 

[Mel 1303]

Ten ideas on why Marion could have changed her name, in no particular order.

1. Safety while travelling alone. (The woman who used Marion's stolen credit card may have committed other crimes in her name that could cause her trouble while overseas).
2. Mystery man asked her to do it as a favour to inherit something/make happy elderly/sick relative (false story)
3. A name like Florabella would be a talking point while overseas, would engage people in conversation, "oh, what an unsual name", get's the ball rolling.
4. Advised by someone in a position of authority/power to do it.
5. Would feel safer travelling alone overseas with a name that looked like it was from there, name sounds European.
6. Didn't want anyone to know about her previous marriages, so a bit of a clean slate, and why not go with an interesting name.
7. Had a serious bet with someone, lost, and had to honour it by changing the name. (bet with villain in the case)
8. Didn't want to be associated with her past life anymore, wanted to start anew (maybe had bit of a breakdown)
9. Was threatened by someone who said they had a contract out on her - hey, a bit outrageous, but I've got to get to 10.
10. Was asked to change it to deliver something undercover for mystery man overseas, government secret stuff - (well, could be a story that she was told by mystery man, who knows)

It would seem that the name change only appeared on the passport, which is interesting, doesn't appear to have come up anywhere else, which makes you think it was just for travel safety/advised by someone else, again this mystery person. I don't think Marion thought of this by herself, the answer to everything is probably with who advised her. Ah well, just a few thoughts. Cheers

Or decided that changing her name on her passport might provide more of a smokescreen when she snuck back into Australia to drain the accounts.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Or decided that changing her name on her passport might provide more of a smokescreen when she snuck back into Australia to drain the accounts.

Yes Mel 1303, there is that possibility of course, the police certainly thought so too ..... there was some mention about a Luxembourg passport may have been used by Marion to leave the country undetected after withdrawing the funds, wonder if anything more has been researched about that, that was pretty interesting. H'mm. Otherwise, I really don't understand why she'd come back to Australia when she had the choice of anywhere to settle overseas, she was already there, why bother coming back at all to dart around the place hidden from all, like some cloaked figure hiding out for the rest of her life. Such a puzzle.

 

[Rosewood]

Today’s conversations was very nothing. I assume they still have no access and will not be able to find out anymore. I guess next weeks podcast will show their frustration.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Bonus Conversations 13 is up
The Lady Vanishes Podcast | Free Listening on Podbean App

 

[natural sagacity]

Today’s conversations was very nothing. I assume they still have no access and will not be able to find out anymore. I guess next weeks podcast will show their frustration.

I agree there was absolutely no information. Basically the whole conversation revolved around the police refusing to cooperate and release the file due to 'making a mistake in the investigation and not wanting it found out'. I am sick of the whole bagging out the police. Just accept Marion is most likely living overseas.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

I agree there was absolutely no information. Basically the whole conversation revolved around the police refusing to cooperate and release the file due to 'making a mistake in the investigation and not wanting it found out'. I am sick of the whole bagging out the police. Just accept Marion is most likely living overseas.

Yes, Gary Sheehan has inherited this case, and let's face it, it's a cold case ..... poor fellow's run off his feet dealing with current crime, oh boy, they've got to type statements, attend court, interviews, etc - and add to that, well, his 'hands are tied' .... this case should really be with a cold case team, don't you think, would be fairer on everyone, a team that has all the time and resources needed to put into it. Look, if one of them could just find out who that Monsieur Remakel number was registered to, that would be something that could get the ball rolling, not that hard to find out, and let Fernand off the hook and clear his name (if he's not involved in the matter) seems unfair to leave him dangling as a suspect for so long after being named publicly to millions of listeners around the world! When I saw that ad in Le Courrier I thought "ah, too easy", but, err, apparently not. Natural sagacity, I know you think Marion's having the time of her life living overseas, might very well be, riding a bicycle on a country road in France with a basket of lavender on the handle bars, nice thought, but if there was just some proof presented then everyone could pack up their bags and go home. Just a few thoughts. Cheers