Australia Australia - Marion Barter, 51, missing after trip to UK, June 1997 #13

[JayJayJay]

This damning publicity might help generate some leads. The bizarre love letter that may be key to cracking the Lady Vanishes mystery

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

TBH it's not even that well publicised in mainstream media in Oz either, apart from Channel 7. No one I know has heard of the case yet from MSM.

I have contacted a number of national news media outlets in the UK a while back asking they run the story but never heard anything back. Very annoying & frustrating.

 

[KinseyFan]

It has been narrowed down to an eye check because only this service is claimable on Medicare. Glasses would require payment (and claim on private health fund if you wished to get money back) plus it would require time for the glasses to be prepared and a return visit to collect them anyway. The Grafton records show one visit for eye exam only.

Wonder if the eye test results have been compared to any previous eye test results. Could it help determine likelihood of it being the same eyes? Sadly should have been checked out at the time.

 

[gymtonic]

This damning publicity might help generate some leads. The bizarre love letter that may be key to cracking the Lady Vanishes mystery

I do wish I could read the letter in the original French though, because the translation is crap!
I reverse translated from this article to see if the French idiom rang true, and it's just weird. It looks to me as though that they just ran it through an online translator rather than getting a real person translator in who would have translated idiom/ slang (argot) as well.
See "ma femme" if that's what he wrote can mean "my woman" or "my wife"!
and another example... “On Monday, I leave the UK and Ireland a few days to buy our boat"...I mean would you say that? not just I am leaving the UK? maybe he actually said "I am leaving for the UK and Ireland"?

 

[Carfrae]

If he did, than she's just as bad as he is.

I think one of the most interesting things he said about Diane is ‘she doesn’t ask questions’ so that might include where he has been, where the money was coming from and why he changed his name so frequently. Perhaps it suited her not to ask. Just my view.

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

I’m seriously hoping MC has played no part in his crimes. It will be fascinating if & when we hear her interview with the Podcast team and hopefully very enlightening.

Apart from DdeH who is unlikely to be totally honest about her husband’s activities and peccadilloes this is the best chance to find out more about RB, his history & movements in Europe from the woman that is probably the closest person to him apart from his wife.

 

[Deleted member 249471]

I wish we could find earlier photos of RB. Did he say he volunteered at his kids swim meets? I wonder if there are photos. It’s just odd in 2022 to have no online presence.

Here you go, all from NAA file.
Edit: the last one was a screen shot of a passport image shown during the inquest which I'm not allowed to post. It was from at least 10 years ago - he had tidy short white hair, no beard and was slimmer than he is now.

 

[lrb66]

I’m seriously hoping MC has played no part in his crimes. It will be fascinating if & when we hear her interview with the Podcast team and hopefully very enlightening.

Apart from DdeH who is unlikely to be totally honest about her husband’s activities and peccadilloes this is the best chance to find out more about RB, his history & movements in Europe from the woman that is probably the closest person to him apart from his wife.

 

[sunnybree]

This MC really has me questioning her involvement in all of this and subsequent letter that she gave up.

What is her reasoning for outing him when he said himself she was his best friend. That is twice now he was really taken aback that she ratted him out. They seemed to have had a very long romance.

RB is no true friend to any woman. Like all narcissists he is delusional; he’ll choose someone to be on a pedestal but they only serve the purpose of making him feel something about himself. The way he feels about his relationship with MC may be very, very different to how she has felt. Only my opinion.

 

[gymtonic]

Here you go, all from NAA file.

That's them! The 4th one is illuminating
So from memory the top left is 1969 at age 30? and top right 1981 at 42? and the bottom left was the one I did not have provenance for (and thus no age).

 

[KiwiNZ]

Wonder if the eye test results have been compared to any previous eye test results. Could it help determine likelihood of it being the same eyes? Sadly should have been checked out at the time.

They have no records from the visit unfortunately

 

[Deleted member 249471]

Here’s a wildcard! Someone’s dobbed in someone from Rye UK and a Barclay’s bank employee in association with Marion’s disappearance in hopes of claiming the reward. Missing Marion, links to Rye - Rye News

Pretty sure it’s a troll. Their comment on TLV FB was quickly deleted and if you search their name on FB for other posts you will see why I think it’s a troll

Thank you for this!
A particularly interesting paragraph:

"Rye News has been contacted by an individual laying claim to the $250,000 reward money. This person confirmed she has submitted a name to the court, that of a Rye man, as a possible suspect, and in addition, the details of a former bank employee put forward as a person of interest. We understand there is also a Metropolitan Police involvement in this fascinating story."

So it IS an international effort and UK police are in on it

It's just a shame the article never uses the words 'Marion Barter' or 'Florabella Remakel' so it won't come up on searches. They simply call her 'missing Marion'.

Update on the Rye article for those who missed it... it might not be accurate but the product of a troll.

As you can see, after we saw the Rye article, another sleuth informed us there was a troll on TLV fb page who posted insane rubbish (far crazier than our theories ) who spoke similarly to what is written in this article (and then some).

Although the writer might've had the best intentions, this article might not have been fact checked, and may contain inaccurate information.

 

[lrb66]

Re relationship between RB
and link to the real FR
Just a theory
Marion now has the initials of the real FR
RB asks her to go to the bank/ other financial institute in Luxembourg or Belgium to withdraw funds from his own “accounts “ or co sign as spouse as he doesn’t have his papers with him to verify identity??
It would be interesting to know if there had been a fraud/ attempted fraud on real FR accounts??
Marion finds out RB isn’t really FR after putting information together in Australia?
Something happens??

Also interested that when TLV podcast speaks to MC ( episode 11 or 12) about Florabella Remakel from Australia who is missing that her memory doesn’t not twig that she had an affair with a man that now lives in Australia who was ( at least by her evidence we have heard now) a con man?
IMO/MOO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I can see how he might have once been attractive to women.

Here you go, all from NAA file.
Edit: the last one was a screen shot of a passport image shown during the inquest which I'm not allowed to post. It was from at least 10 years ago - he had tidy short white hair, no beard and was slimmer than he is now.

 

[Clarityn]

Something small to consider
• Looking up Trove & classifieds it seems newspapers held a “Box” for particular entries

• Therefore likely that instead of it being a PO Box in Lennox Head, it was a Box L51 from Le Courier

• Therefore also very possible that he had other adverts in other foreign language newspapers at the time

• IMO the name changes & selections were very deliberate

 

[BonnieB]

MC has always been a conundrum to me.
Did RB initially try to scam MC or was it purely sexual?
Did she provide RB with FNR ID documents or did he steal them?
Was she the 'family' he visited every time he traveled OS?
Was the long standing 'relationship/friendship' with RB one-sided or not?

And then after the inquest...
Did she keep his letters for sentimental reasons or for evidence of stalking?
What behaviour of hers made RB believe she was his best friend?
What induced her to testify against him?
Was it the potential of involvement in a murder investigation?

As soon as I answer one question, it raises another.

 

[mishy66]

Also interested that when TLV podcast speaks to MC ( episode 11 or 12) about Florabella Remakel from Australia who is missing that her memory doesn’t not twig that she had an affair with a man that now lives in Australia who was ( at least by her evidence we have heard now) a con man?
IMO/MOO

I think it twigged alright, hence my point in a earlier thread

 

[mishy66]

MC has always been a conundrum to me.
Did RB initially try to scam MC or was it purely sexual?
Did she provide RB with FNR ID documents or did he steal them?
Was she the 'family' he visited every time he traveled OS?
Was the long standing 'relationship/friendship' with RB one-sided or not?

And then after the inquest...
Did she keep his letters for sentimental reasons or for evidence of stalking?
What behaviour of hers made RB believe she was his best friend?
What induced her to testify against him?
Was it the potential of involvement in a murder investigation?

As soon as I answer one question, it raises another.

I hear you @BonnieB

And I bet my bottom dollar that the family DdeH says she stayed with when they were married was not Maria C with her legs blown off, Andre who was long gone by 1976 or Freddy or Desire his 'cousins' / 'brothers'.

All MOO IMO JMO

 

[Bagpus]

So thinking the purpose of taking JO overseas was to get her title deeds. But what was the purpose of taking Marion overseas. I mean if he told her to sell her house and he would buy her a school in Europe so they could start a new life…by the time they left he already had all her valuable antiques and could have certainly come up with a way to get her money into his account before their trip—then he could have just done all that and skipped town without going overseas. Why go?

He expected her to transfer all the proceeds of her house to Europe to buy the school?

He then had to make her do a handbrake turn back to Australia to withdraw it?

 

[TheStupidTree]

Just reading through RB extensive NAA file.... In hindsight it is sad to say they really dropped the ball.