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

[SaintGertrude]

*Deleted duplicate post*

 

[SaintGertrude]

There are lists of unclaimed monies in the ASIC Gazette. I am not sure how far back this goes as it would be interesting to go through any names in the late 1990's if such a list exists. ASIC Gazette: Unclaimed Monies | ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission
There is also a section for unclaimed life insurances. The earliest I can find is in 2002:-
https://asic.gov.au/media/1313341/ASIC24A_03.pdf

 

[SaintGertrude]

There are lists of unclaimed monies in the ASIC Gazette. I am not sure how far back this goes as it would be interesting to go through any names in the late 1990's if such a list exists. ASIC Gazette: Unclaimed Monies | ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission
There is also a section for unclaimed life insurances. The earliest I can find is in 2002:-
https://asic.gov.au/media/1313341/ASIC24A_03.pdf

Looking at all the PO box numbers with unclaimed monies there is nothing with a letter in front. Is it of certainty before I go down a rabbit hole that the Le Courier advert L51 was not a mistype for PO box 151 Lennox Head

 

[SaintGertrude]

Moving aside a little from my list of unclaimed monies which I will go back to later.
What if there was a misprint in Le Courier advert with the PO box number and it was meant to list this address.
https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-nsw-lennox+head-124218174
151 North Creek Road, Lennox Head, NSW 2478
Instead of Box L51, Lennox Head, NSW 2478

 

[KiwiNZ]

If I were to book a holiday in France the first question most people including family would ask me is where exactly?

With Marion we are led to believe not a single person asked her. It almost beggars belief. What if there was an emergency at home (her Dad’s illness for starters) and they knew she was away for a year? No contact address or phone number? Really?

Whether she would have told them Tunbridge Wells is another question although she was happy to inform everyone she was going to travel on the Orient Express.

I know some families aren’t close but what about her friends, work colleagues and social network?

This really bothers me, I cant believe absolutely no one asked about her plans, even the women she stayed with for weeks before she left, or at her farewell dinner. She could have lied if asked, She could have avoided the questions, an indication of either of those would have been helpful information now - but according to the family and friends they didn't even ask.

Maybe Marion was cut from the same cloth and quite self absorbed so the lack of interest in her life didn't bother her, in which case leaving and starting a new life wouldn't have bothered her either, because I don't get the sense from her sister that others feelings are that important to them. ( I get the impression her sister would have done the same given half the chance)

 

[KiwiNZ]

Looking at all the PO box numbers with unclaimed monies there is nothing with a letter in front. Is it of certainty before I go down a rabbit hole that the Le Courier advert L51 was not a mistype for PO box 151 Lennox Head

The Po Box existed and was correct but the post office burnt down and all records with it

 

[SaintGertrude]

There are lists of unclaimed monies in the ASIC Gazette. I am not sure how far back this goes as it would be interesting to go through any names in the late 1990's if such a list exists. ASIC Gazette: Unclaimed Monies | ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission
There is also a section for unclaimed life insurances. The earliest I can find is in 2002:-
https://asic.gov.au/media/1313341/ASIC24A_03.pdf

This one shows a Marion Wilson c/o a solicitors address in Victoria. (Wilson was Marion's maiden name so worth checking this one out)
https://asic.gov.au/media/1314217/ASIC36A_06.pdf

 

[SaintGertrude]

 

[SaintGertrude]

Any post was re-directed to Loveday's house as I recall from the inquest. It seemed to me to be a very vague arrangement.

 

[SaintGertrude]

This list of unclaimed monies seem more comprehensive if anyone else wants to look down that rabbit hole. A few M Wilson's listed.
Revenue NSW

 

[KiwiNZ]

I wonder if the police ever checked with Travel Insurance companies, they tend to keep records for a long time, that may hold some clues as to where she intended to go on her travels.

 

[KiwiNZ]

Any post was re-directed to Loveday's house as I recall from the inquest. It seemed to me to be a very vague arrangement.

some institutions will still require a postal address even if your not in the country, like the bank and any insurance company, It seems to me that Marion did do some "admin" when she returned like cancelling the car insurance, redirecting the bank post, and any other post as everything just stopped. (according to Lesley loveday) Also seems strange she would choose a friends address over her daughters for her mail to go too.

what I am not really clear on is did Marion close her bank account once the money was removed ? or was the account still active until the bank closed it due to inactivity ?

 

[SaintGertrude]

some institutions will still require a postal address even if your not in the country, like the bank and any insurance company, It seems to me that Marion did do some "admin" when she returned like cancelling the car insurance, redirecting the bank post, and any other post as everything just stopped. (according to Lesley loveday) Also seems strange she would choose a friends address over her daughters for her mail to go too.

what I am not really clear on is did Marion close her bank account once the money was removed ? or was the account still active until the bank closed it due to inactivity ?

This makes me think less of a homicide case at that point in time as whoever came back to Australia re-directed the post and cancelled insurance. This would involve some planning and seems more likely that it was Marion herself. Also if Marion had some personal secrets then she would not have wanted her family to open any post in her absence. There was also the fact that she had been staying on a short term agreement with Loveday when she left for the UK.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Looking at all the PO box numbers with unclaimed monies there is nothing with a letter in front. Is it of certainty before I go down a rabbit hole that the Le Courier advert L51 was not a mistype for PO box 151 Lennox Head

Here's a previous quote from Joni C's post at #542
"According to the old post mistress,m at lennox head, the "L" stood for Lennox Head , it was because all the mail went to Ballina in the 90s and they manually sorted it there, so L was put there to make the sorting process of a whole lot of tiny beach towns & post offices !"

 

[SaintGertrude]

Here's a previous quote from Joni C's post at #542
"According to the old post mistress,m at lennox head, the "L" stood for Lennox Head , it was because all the mail went to Ballina in the 90s and they manually sorted it there, so L was put there to make the sorting process of a whole lot of tiny beach towns & post offices !"

So the Po box was box number 51 at Lennox Head.

 

[poppypopcorn]

Again on the work thing from a UK perspective...

The exchange teacher - Susie? - lived at completely the other end of England from where Marion was. Susie is in Barrow in Furness in the far north west, Marion was in the extreme south east. They couldn't have been further away from each other. To draw an Australian comparison, it would be like me arriving in Perth and people saying it was because I had a friend in Sydney. Susie's reaction to being phoned by Alison, out of the blue, was entirely understandable after she and her husband saw the way the Ramekels were treated. She is a red herring. Nothing to do with this story.

Agree with the points though that nobody seemed to know why Marion chose this particular area of England to visit. I've said it before on these threads - Kent/Sussex is very nice, but it's really not a known tourist destination and certainly not somewhere that sees Australian tourists arrive for extended visits of 6 weeks or more. I asked on the FB page whether Sally or anyone else knew of a particular reason why Marion wanted to visit Kent/Sussex and they did not. Weird.

Working - this would have had to be under the radar. Marion did not have the right to work in the UK as an Australian, older resident, with no entitlement to a UK passport or an EU passport. No state school would have taken her on (and yes, schools aren't recruiting in July when the end of summer term is usually about 20th July). Most decent prep/private schools wouldn't have taken her either, she might have been the best teacher in the world but they just would not risk employing someone on a tourist visa, paying them cash in hand to avoid dealing with the tax authorities... just too dodgy. Even in the late 90s. She may have been able to find work as a private tutor or offering conversation to immigrant families - but I would imagine that if she was looking for that sort of work she'd be in a major city rather than drifting around the Kent countryside drinking tea and mooching in antiques shops. We've all been on holiday and had conversations about wouldn't it be great to get a job in that bar or couldn't you just imagine working here or something and that's all it is - holiday chat. For her to take a legit job in the UK she would have had to go back to Australia, and reapply for a working visa from Australia. And may not have had it granted.

There was clearly a reason why this part of England was chosen for an extended stay. Might be the proximity to continental Europe and easy travel through the tunnel or by ferry. Might be that if she was travelling with someone, he or she had connections there. Might be that she was travelling to visit someone who stayed there. But nobody seems to know which is very, very odd.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Except that Marion mentioned that she might contact her when she went to the UK.

The idea that the teacher might have known something if Marion contacted her didn't just come out of the blue.

The exchange teacher - Susie? - lived at completely the other end of England from where Marion was. Susie is in Barrow in Furness in the far north west, Marion was in the extreme south east. They couldn't have been further away from each other. To draw an Australian comparison, it would be like me arriving in Perth and people saying it was because I had a friend in Sydney. Susie's reaction to being phoned by Alison, out of the blue, was entirely understandable after she and her husband saw the way the Ramekels were treated. She is a red herring. Nothing to do with this story.

 

[poppypopcorn]

But there is nothing in Marion's postcards about potentially seeing Susie, or connecting again with Susie, or even travelling north of London. She might have mentioned it to people in Aus but she mentioned a lot of things which weren't true and didn't mention really big stuff like changing her name.

I don't think we can believe anything Marion said, it's like that saying when you tell a little lie you have to tell a bigger one to cover it, and another one and another.... she appears to have said lots of things to lots of people. The ultimate unreliable narrator.

 

[Curiosity Cat]

But there is nothing in Marion's postcards about potentially seeing Susie, or connecting again with Susie, or even travelling north of London. She might have mentioned it to people in Aus but she mentioned a lot of things which weren't true and didn't mention really big stuff like changing her name.

I don't think we can believe anything Marion said, it's like that saying when you tell a little lie you have to tell a bigger one to cover it, and another one and another.... she appears to have said lots of things to lots of people. The ultimate unreliable narrator.

 

[Curiosity Cat]

Finally, someone who also thinks Marion said a lot of things which were, at best, throwaway lines, otherwise total redirection of the truth!