Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, Jun 1997 #5

[TootsieFootsie]

The previous episode had more topics we could delve into and discuss.

This one was more about people's feelings and opinions and thoughts.

The melanoma was the only thing that really took me by surprise.

 

[SaintGertrude]

Well, I'm back on The Brethren bandwagon .... h'mm, quite a lot of magazines from back in the day ..... could that be the magazine found in LA library? This was discussed in earlier threads, I know, but now having heard it mentioned again in this episode, it does make me wonder. Would really like to see the television footage that the sister said looked like Marion.

I cannot really imagine Marion joining the Brethren at 50 years old when she was set in her ways. Speaking from a Christian perspective I know that they would have told Marion that they believe in no sex before marriage Marion loves her men and in my opinion being quite bohemian not really her choice of lifestyle. Unless Marion married again quite quickly or had some kind of religious conversion it just doesn't sit with me.

 

[sunnynz]

I cannot really imagine Marion joining the Brethren at 50 years old when she was set in her ways. Speaking from a Christian perspective I know that they would have told Marion that they believe in no sex before marriage Marion loves her men and in my opinion being quite bohemian not really her choice of lifestyle. Unless Marion married again quite quickly or had some kind of religious conversion it just doesn't sit with me.

I agree, brethren’s are a very closed community too - they don’t really go round recruiting people.

 

[sunnynz]

The coldness of the sisters is remarkable. I know a set of sisters in my broader family who are the same though - years of snide comments and poor communication and definitely an absence of unconditional love. I think some families are just that way. In the family I know, I can 100% imagine them deciding not to search for one of the sisters should she have left.

definitely some conflicting views of Marion. Some describe her as humourless while others describe her as having a big laugh. She loved men, had a relationship with a married man, and there’s a photo of her on the Facebook page looking fab in some very short denim shorts. Yet then she loved antiques and Laura Ashley and seemed prim and proper on other mentions. Hard to really get a clear picture of what she was like in my opinion.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

The previous episode had more topics we could delve into and discuss.

This one was more about people's feelings and opinions and thoughts.

The melanoma was the only thing that really took me by surprise.

I found it interesting to hear that one of the sisters and her husband offered to pay for a private investigator back in the day to find out what happened, but the offer was unfortunately declined. I thought that was a kind and generous offer. MOO
Looking back with hindsight now 24 years on, oh boy, can't help wondering what that would have turned up, hey. I was very surprised by the melanoma info too. At some point she would have required treatment for it, you would think, so where did she go?

 

[Itsapuzzle]

I cannot really imagine Marion joining the Brethren at 50 years old when she was set in her ways. Speaking from a Christian perspective I know that they would have told Marion that they believe in no sex before marriage Marion loves her men and in my opinion being quite bohemian not really her choice of lifestyle. Unless Marion married again quite quickly or had some kind of religious conversion it just doesn't sit with me.

I know, it's a wacky thought .... but then again

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

My biggest question right now that still seems unanswered is why have the sisters only unearthed the latest postcards recently (I think it was late last year, from memory)? They have a huge significance to the investigation, IMO. Where have they been all this time and why weren’t they handed over to Sally or LE much earlier? Why does it appear that the sisters weren’t asked about this at the inquest or during their interviews? Evidence doesn’t usually just conveniently appear like this.

Yet another head spinner episode. Why was the youngest sister not asked to attend the inquest as she is the one that has now come forward with the postcards? What did she know and what was her opinion of her sister?

The eye melanoma and the Medicare card being used at an optometrist makes you think perhaps Marion did come back to Australia at some point before that appointment? Still she can’t have left it untreated so that makes no sense either.

Also it confirmed something to me that her divorce to Johnny Warren, hero to the Australian public, must have done some long term psychological damage. For him to return from playing football in Japan for the National team and then just dump her must have hurt.

I do wonder if her time in the UK with him was one of her happiest memories and she wanted to rediscover some of these. Sadly not been able to find what happened with them in the UK in 1968 and who she may have befriended at that time. She still mentioned the 30 years ago on the newly found postcard.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

What surprised me was that I had assumed that Marion was the one leaving relationships. But here we have Johnny Warren leaving her and the last husband Ray Barter doing the same.

Her confidence must have taken a real beating. Oh and then there was the pilot she was keen on.

Not sure if she was ever the one who left the relationship.

Also it confirmed something to me that her divorce to Johnny Warren, hero to the Australian public, must have done some long term psychological damage. For him to return from playing football in Japan for the National team and then just dump her must have hurt.

 

[Seriallyaddicted]

Yes, it did and that's my point really. The air fare back to Australia would have been more than the loss of interest, and general inconvenience of closing the account and moving the money. I would think that removing cash is better for a criminal than a bank transfer because there is no traceability.

So you still think that a criminal took Marion’s money and she didn’t come back to Australia?

 

[Estelle]

"KiwiNZ, post: 16920755, member: 236815"]even stranger Marion's sister didn't seem to bother to tell Sally about it been a melanoma at any stage in the last 24years , Sally obviously didn't know.

Can anyone clarify if the eye condition for sure was melanoma? A similar-- phonetically sounding condition is melanosis.

"Primary Acquired Melanosis (PAM) is newly formed brown pigmentation of the conjunctiva. People with white skin are more likely to get this. It usually affects one eye only." "PAM is most likely to be observed in fair-skinned individuals who are middle-aged or older."
"There are two different types of PAM: ‘PAM without atypia’ and ‘PAM with atypia.

"PAM without atypia is benign with no risk of transformation into melanoma.
PAM with atypia, however, can turn into melanoma."

"Malignant Melanoma. Presentation. Patients are typically 60 to 70 years old and present with a nodular mass..."

NHSGGC : NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Homepage of our official site
https://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/conjunctival-pigmented-lesions-diagnosis-management

The 5-year survival rate for eye melanoma is 82%. When melanoma does not spread outside the eye, the 5-year relative survival rate is about 85%. The 5-year survival rate for those with disease that has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes is 71%.

 

[Estelle]

Australia has reciprocal health care agreements with:

• Belgium
• Finland
• Italy
• Malta
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• the Republic of Ireland
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Reciprocal health care agreements

So there was no need for Marion to come back here so that she could use her Medicare card. IMO someone else used her card as there is no photo on the card.

 

[Estelle]

Yet another head spinner episode. Why was the youngest sister not asked to attend the inquest as she is the one that has now come forward with the postcards? What did she know and what was her opinion of her sister?

The eye melanoma and the Medicare card being used at an optometrist makes you think perhaps Marion did come back to Australia at some point before that appointment? Still she can’t have left it untreated so that makes no sense either.

Also it confirmed something to me that her divorce to Johnny Warren, hero to the Australian public, must have done some long term psychological damage. For him to return from playing football in Japan for the National team and then just dump her must have hurt.

I do wonder if her time in the UK with him was one of her happiest memories and she wanted to rediscover some of these. Sadly not been able to find what happened with them in the UK in 1968 and who she may have befriended at that time. She still mentioned the 30 years ago on the newly found postcard.

From what we have been told about Marion, I would predict that she was a "love addict".

While the term “love addiction” may be controversial among mental health professionals, having an overwhelming or obsessive compulsion toward love or a loved one is not uncommon. Love addictions are formed as a defense against psychological pain. Love addicts have a fantasy of being rescued by their loved one and often believe that this one person can somehow make them okay. They have too high an opinion of the object of their affection, and too low an opinion of themselves. Because of this, love addicts pour too much time and energy into their relationships, while neglecting their own well-being, family, friendships and even careers.

Love Addictions: Do You Have an Unhealthy Addiction to Love?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Someone else could very well have used her card.

But also it could have been Marion that used it.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I should have said "the last husband that we know of"

What surprised me was that I had assumed that Marion was the one leaving relationships. But here we have Johnny Warren leaving her and the last husband Ray Barter doing the same.

 

[Estelle]

Someone else could very well have used her card.

But also it could have been Marion that used it.

True but if she did not have time before she left Australia, one would have thought that it would have been something urgent that she could have seen a doctor about it in England. I also question why she would have gone to someone in Grafton months later.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Maybe she did go to see someone about her eye, in the UK but then felt she wanted to get it checked out back home, a second opinion.

And since money wasn't a problem she decided to do two things, come back, get the rest of her money and go to see an optometrist here.

True but if she did not have time before she left Australia, one would have thought that it would have been something urgent that she could have seen a doctor about in England. I also question why she would have gone to someone in Grafton months later.

 

[Estelle]

Maybe she did go to see someone about her eye, in the UK but then felt she wanted to get it checked out back home, a second opinion.

And since money wasn't a problem she decided to do two things, come back, get the rest of her money and go to see an optometrist here.

Actually you only go to an Optometrist to have a test to get new glasses. Marion needed to see an Opthamologist about the melanoma.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

It's not impossible.

I know, it's a wacky thought .... but then again

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Or eye doctor as many people call them.

Actually you only go to an Optometrist to have a test to get new glasses. Marion needed to see an Opthamologist about the melanoma.

 

[Bibno]

So you still think that a criminal took Marion’s money and she didn’t come back to Australia?

I honestly have no idea at all whether she came back or not.

I just thought that if Marion *just* wanted to get her money there were easier, less costly ways of doing it than flying back to Australia and visiting the branch daily to take out $5,000, but it might be the only way for a third party to actually get their hands on the cash.

What do you think happened?