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

[KiwiNZ]

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[KiwiNZ]

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[KiwiNZ]

What makes me distrust the police investigation into signs of life etc... is the fact they seem to claim that she didn't have a drivers license after giving up her NSW one. I don't believe that for a second, she didn't seem the type to drive without one and had no reason to in the years leading up to her disappearance, also she claims to have hired a car in the UK

I don't think their "searching" is all that great.

 

[LondonEloise91]

apologies if this has already been mentioned, but there is a big gap in the investigation for me - in that no-one mentions Marion's son Owen. He was said to be a drug addict - that for me shows a potential reason why Marion or someone pretending to be here could be withdrawing large sums of cash each day. I remember Bill Edgar the private detective had said he couldn't properly investigate because he wanted to look into the family too & was told he couldn't/not to publish what he found?

 

[SaintGertrude]

Deleted

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Owen has been mentioned many times.

apologies if this has already been mentioned, but there is a big gap in the investigation for me - in that no-one mentions Marion's son Owen

 

[KiwiNZ]

There are other ways to assume an identity other than changing a name by deed pole, there was a time it was a thing to use the names and DOB off children's and the departed graves and apply for a birth certificate and then a passport. Can't imagine Marion would go to this extent on her own, but she could have left the country under another identity, which could explain why she never accessed her pension

 

[LondonEloise91]

Owen has been mentioned many times.

sorry

 

[vivienbee]

apologies if this has already been mentioned, but there is a big gap in the investigation for me - in that no-one mentions Marion's son Owen. He was said to be a drug addict - that for me shows a potential reason why Marion or someone pretending to be here could be withdrawing large sums of cash each day. I remember Bill Edgar the private detective had said he couldn't properly investigate because he wanted to look into the family too & was told he couldn't/not to publish what he found?

I pretty much listed this exact theory on the previous page. I personally did not mention his name because there is nothing substantiating his involvement whatsoever and when someone is no longer around to defend themselves the situation becomes very complicated.
Where did Bill Edgar say that?

 

[sunnynz]

apologies if this has already been mentioned, but there is a big gap in the investigation for me - in that no-one mentions Marion's son Owen. He was said to be a drug addict - that for me shows a potential reason why Marion or someone pretending to be here could be withdrawing large sums of cash each day. I remember Bill Edgar the private detective had said he couldn't properly investigate because he wanted to look into the family too & was told he couldn't/not to publish what he found?

Welcome to websleuths and thanks for posting! It’s kind of been talked around the edges as a topic but it’s a tricky one given the sensitive nature of the way Owen died. I personally think that it needs to be looked into because in most crimes there is usually a link to close family/friends of victims in some way. I’m NOT saying Owen did anything but if he were a drug addict then he obviously could have had connections with shady people.
I hope the police are/have investigated this angle.

 

[KiwiNZ]

I pretty much listed this exact theory on the previous page. I personally did not mention his name because there is nothing substantiating his involvement whatsoever and when someone is no longer around to defend themselves the situation becomes very complicated.
Where did Bill Edgar say that?

I think it was on his "lost boys of TSS" facebook page if you do a search for Marion on the page it should bring it up

He was going to do a podcast about Marion and other TSS stuff but that never happened

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Nothing to be sorry for.

sorry

 

[SaintGertrude]

I think it was on his "lost boys of TSS" facebook page if you do a search for Marion on the page it should bring it up

He was going to do a podcast about Marion and other TSS stuff but that never happened

Bill describes Marion's relationship with her children as toxic and was told too leave the matter of the furtinure and investigating her family well alone. The more he investigated the more he claims to have understood why Marion left. I get the feeling that he may now not be on talking terms with the podcast producers as mention of his name may cause upset for Marion's family.

 

[SaintGertrude]

I think it was on his "lost boys of TSS" facebook page if you do a search for Marion on the page it should bring it up

He was going to do a podcast about Marion and other TSS stuff but that never happened

Other things got in the way so he had to decline due to personal commitments. Given his book launch there may be a podcast in the US so likely the subject of Marion could be covered if he takes up the deal.

 

[KiwiNZ]

Bill describes Marion's relationship with her children as toxic and was told too leave the matter of the furtinure and investigating her family well alone. The more he investigated the more he claims to have understood why Marion left. I get the feeling that he may now not be on talking terms with the podcast producers as mention of his name may cause upset for Marion's family.

I have a lot of empathy for him and the horrid things he has had to endure, but I get the feeling he is a straight shooter and pretty direct, even if he was on the wrong path I don't think he would back down and would be pretty vocal in his thoughts, if he "thought" he was right, so I could see how they may not apricate his approach

 

[poppypopcorn]

I think Marion's relationship with both of her children appears a bit odd to outsiders. If I remember from the podcast Owen spent a large part of his teens living with his Dad rather than his mother as her husband (the Barter one I think) didn't get on with him? And the comments from her sisters about how she absolutely would miss Sally's wedding if she had better things to do.

It's all painting a picture of a woman who was a bit selfish in respects to her children - her needs first, her desire to be in a relationship or keep a man happy above all else. Marion's children don't appear to have had a particularly stable upbringing. I don't think that's particularly uncommon, but does throw doubt on how much Sally, Owen or the sisters really knew what was going on.

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

We're in another bloomin' lockdown here - ah well .... so I was just looking on youtube and someone's put up footage from East Sussex, it's footage of buses basically, but you see people walking around on the footpaths, crossing roads, see shops ... just saw one dated 26 June 1997 in Lewes, and there's Brighton on 2 August 1997 - Tunbridge Wells in 1998 - but it made me think, gee, that's when everyone was filming their holidays and everything - wouldn't it be good to get a call out there for people who were in Rye, Tunbridge Wells, etc - East Sussex basically, when Marion was there, and ask them to upload to youtube, there's every chance that Marion is in someone's footage, photos, she'd have to be. End of spontaneous lockdown youtube thoughts.
PS: I work from home so I still have to work

I did post a while back the one of the Dutch family holiday snap of The Pantiles in Tun Wells from July 97. I still think one of the lady’s in the photo looks like Marion from the back but I’ve been told not likely to be from the clothes she is wearing. Of course the odds are thousands to one.

I did ask the question on TLV Facebook page whether Marion would have taken a camera and did she own one? Why go 10000 miles on a dream trip and not take a camera with you?

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

Looking closely at the postmarks on these two postcards, I'm wondering if the one to Deidre is actually postmarked July 7 and not August 7. It's very hard to see the "Aug" part of the postmark. But everything else on these postmarks (including what looks like a possible time stamp ending :15PM) is exactly the same (Hastings, 7:??:1997). Seems likely they could have been mailed together, both on July 7. I'm not 100% sure this is the postcard Deidre believes was postmarked August 7th, but she mentioned not having kept another postcard (so I'm guessing the August 7th date refers to the postcard she still has).

Also, can anyone read the postmark dates on the Sally's Crafts/Alfriston postcard or the London/David Jones Postcard sent to Sally?

Sadly none of them are that clear. Only the letter to Sally which was postmarked Tonbridge on the 30/6/97.

The Alfriston postcard appears to have been posted in Sussex (town?) in July 97 and the Cat Shop postcard was postmarked Hastings. The London postcard was postmarked London but only July 97 is distinguishable. There does appear to be a 1 on the date.

 

[SaintGertrude]

Could Marion have maybe booked herself into somewhere like a clinic for a short period after she came back to Australia. We know that Marion did not really drink very much but prescription medicine can equally addictive. I think with all the problems at TSS and the underlining stress caused there is always the possibility that she was on the edge of something like a breakdown. Assuming she was fit to travel perhaps Marion went to Luxembourg with a totally different ID. It may be interesting to see what help is available for this kind of event happening. Could the person she may have corresponded with via Le Courier have been in the medical profession like a psychiatrist maybe and he invited her to stay whilst she sorted herself out. Maybe whoever she may have met was the good guy

 

[Lord Peter Flimsy]

Interesting theory vivienbee, this is quite possible ... I've thought about this too, getting a call to come back urgently - but I was thinking kind of like a Goran Markovic type scam, "gotta get back quick you're in danger" scenario .... but that's probably nuts. But then you've gotta think how could anyone phone her, I mean, who even knew where she was staying? That's where I get stuck. She rang Sally a few times, maybe she was ringing someone else too, that's possible. They've just gotta find someone who met her in the UK, anyone .......... there's just been nothing! Was she with someone over there who told her she had to get back to Australia quick ....

This is massively frustrating for all of us looking into this case in the UK. Not found one person who remembers her or has come forward. Saying that this case has barely had an ounce of publicity in the UK including the South East of England which is strange. This is the land of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple after all. I feel it needs publicity in one of the bigger national newspapers (any who might remember her probably aren’t on Social media) and a mainstream TV station to tell the whole bizarre story. A little old lady sitting in front of her TV in the UK might then say that face looks familiar.