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
Please let me apologise in advance, as my post may sound snappy. I respect the differing views of everyone, however the way Gary Sheehan has been portrayed is really starting to get to me.
Yes, Gary Sheehan inherited this case. Its a cold case. He also has current crime, statements, court, interviews, hands tied (by the law)- so what does he do? He investigates, and pretty thoroughly.
When Gary Sheehan inherited the case, his investigation uncovered the fact that she had changed her name by deedpoll, and the name on her passport, to Florabella Remakel. Complete shock to all- an unknown fact until Gary's investigation. He determined that the passport reentered Australia, with a claim that she was a house wife from Luxembourg who would be in the country for three days. His investigation found that the passport never left the country again.
Gary requested and received all of the documentation from the Commonwealth bank, as per conversations 12. He has access to all of the transaction information, the identification information, any change of address, contact numbers etc. This request was made as part of his investigation.
Gary Sheehan found the tip about a missing woman called Marion being buried in Armidale. He found the tip, which was by this stage fairly old, by sifting meticulously through YEARS of crimestoppers tips. He organised a search- with a cadaver dog and SES volunteers. He went to the address supplied by the tipster, which was real, and identified that the name supplied was fake.
Gary has searched medicare, Centrelink, RTA, banks. Gary has stayed in contact with Sally. When his investigation concluded that for reasons unknown, Marion had walked away from her own life intentionally, he went to Sallys home to tell her. In a different state. He didn't phone, or send an interstate colleague. He travelled to her house. He left more information that he really should not have on the table, and went to the bathroom. His hands were tied- however he broke a few rules to try and give Sally enough information to understand why he had come to this conclusion. For this- he was thrown under the bus. Completely outed on a public podcast. At the beginning of the podcast, Gary was cooperative and helpful. Was interviewed, and spoke openly. Yes, he has pulled back now, and answers emails fairly curtly with very police speak responses, but that is hardly surprising. The only thing that I find surprising with this is that the hosts of the podcast keep sounding surprised that people they are openly rude about all of a sudden wont cooperate with them.
Gary Sheehan has completed an investigation. Just through the information supplied in the podcast, we can put together a decent overview of some of what he has done. After a thorough investigation, he, as a professional, experienced investigator, concluded that at the time, Marion chose to walk away from her life. As was her legal right. She has the right to walk away, and to then have her privacy respected. I so wish the original investigator had actually seen her, and not been so trusting of the bank, however he didn't. It irks me that as the podcast has progressed, there is this continual "Sally has the right to know what happened to her mum" theme. She doesn't. Marion has the right to her privacy, and Sally has no right to access her bank details, her medicare details- any of it. Legally, Sally has zero right to any of it. Gary Sheehan's hands are tied by the law. The law that would protect each and every one of us if we chose to walk away from our lives. I find it really difficult, in many ways, as the reasons someone might walk away are so varied- if they are ill (mentally or physically, or both), were they fit to make the choice? If they were being coerced, were they happy with the choice? Unfortunately, in a lot of cases this is irrelevant- they made the choice, they left. I can see why friends and family would find it very hard to accept that a loved one just walked away- I don't know that in Sally's situation I could accept it either, but Gary had to reach a conclusion and he did.
There are plenty of times, especially early on, where the police could have done much better. However Gary Sheehan, in my opinion, is being portrayed very unfairly on the podcast.
