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

[TootsieFootsie]

From watching the latest video, they hope to extract DNA from Marion's ballet slippers.
And will firstly try to match it with bones found in Ballina.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Great to see that footage of Marion dancing - just adorable - very interesting to hear what former colleague Mandy Jennings had to say, saying she feels her name change was done unwillingly and that something must have happened - good piece of footage too seeing
DI Brown of the New South Wales Police Missing Persons Unit - " ... set up after the launch of the lady vanishes" ..... the power of the podcast, hey! Brilliant. Now these slippers are going firstly going to be tested for a DNA match with a bone found from Ballina - wonder where that was recovered from and when.

Looking at the new video of her at the dance, she seems decidedly odd. The clothes she is wearing and not really interacting with the others.

'90's fashion has a lot to answer for!! I personally think it was the worst decade when it comes to style, looking back, hee ..... also I think that footage of Marion sitting on her own, nothing odd there, she'd probably just walked off the dance floor for a rest after some energetic dancing Just my thoughts anyway. Cheers

 

[Intriguedbyintrigue]

Looking at the new video of her at the dance, she seems decidedly odd. The clothes she is wearing and not really interacting with the others.

I love how in the segment Brian describes this as Marion "living it up".
She does look really awkward!
I'd say that dancing isnt really her thing and shes at a dance where she doesnt really know anyone so full marks to her for getting up and joining in.

 

[Intriguedbyintrigue]

From watching the latest video, they hope to extract DNA from Marion's ballet slippers.
And will firstly try to match it with bones found in Ballina.

Ballina has been mentioned in the podcast somewhere - was that where they did the dig following the crimestoppers call??

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Not to go off topic but I think that "fashion" right now is the most boring of any decade.
Seems people like the bland and boring look, right down to identical hair styles, long and straight.

Back on topic, I was surprised at how baggy Marion's pants were.

'90's fashion has a lot to answer for!! I personally think it was the worst decade when it comes to style, looking back, hee ..... also I think that footage of Marion sitting on her own, nothing odd there, she'd probably just walked off the dance floor for a rest after some energetic dancing Just my thoughts anyway. Cheers

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Wasn't Armidale the place that someone said she had been buried?

No Cookies | Gold Coast Bulletin

* Someone calls Crime Stoppers in 2002 about a woman by the name of Marion who went missing in northern NSW, saying she had been murdered and buried in bushland near Armidale.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Re the dancing, was that when that Riverdance stuff was in, you sort of danced straight up and down with your arms by your side.
Maybe that was the dance that Marion was trying to do.
To me on watching the video she wasn't dancing differently to the others.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Stacked up to the Bone Room’s low ceilings are remains found in Forbes, Tweed Heads, Forbes, Bondi, Canberra, Eden, Annandale, Mona Vale, Goodooga, Lord Howe Island, Kurnell, Bega, BALLINA, Cape Solander, Armidale, Brady’s Gully, Katoomba, Bowraville, Barrington Tops, Watsons Bay and Narrabeen Beach.


Inside the Bone Room: The hidden collection of human remains in Australia's busiest morgue - In The Loop

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Re the dancing, was that when that Riverdance stuff was in, you sort of danced straight up and down with your arms by your side.
Maybe that was the dance that Marion was trying to do.
To me on watching the video she wasn't dancing differently to the others.

The dance Marion is doing appears to be the Nutbush City Limits ...
A church house, gin house
A school house, outhouse
On highway number nineteen
The people keep the city clean
They call it Nutbush, oh Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks Itsapuzzle !

Will have to google that.

 

[Handsome Sailor]

this case could be a reverse ivan milat scenario?

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Thanks Itsapuzzle !

Will have to google that.

No worries TootsieFootsie - I like this version best, google Koala Nutbush

 

[Meligator]

I don't know for sure, but checking her DNA may not necessarily indicate police believe a match is likely...it might just be police starting to show good faith at making reasonable investigative efforts by ruling out things they can easily rule out.

Regardless, its certainly is good to hear that Sally is getting more help from authorities now than she was before.

 

[Meligator]

Going back to the beginning of the story... The choice of Sussex and Kent as a holiday destination has struck me as weird right from the start of the podcast.

There's nothing wrong with choosing to go there on holiday but it's a bit odd. Most people who come to the UK from so far away want to see London, Oxford, Cambridge, or head further north to Scotland, the Lake District or York. Sussex/Kent is an unusual choice. Pretty enough, but mainly commuter towns for London. Lots of villages with tea shops and antiques centres but would it really be somewhere to occupy a visitor for 6 weeks from the middle/end of June through to the beginning of August? Personally, I don't think so.

There must have been another reason for basing yourself in that part of the UK. Whether it be a friend, a relationship, building links with a school or something else. Also as mentioned on the podcast the Eurostar train runs from Ashford (40km from Tunbridge Wells) through the Channel Tunnel and on into France or Belgium. There is a reason for her choosing that location for her holiday.

She did mention having a friend (former colleague I think) who lived in UK. But I'm not sure where in UK. Possible the friend lived in that area(?)

Do we know how long it was between the time Marion left Australia and the time family/friends started to receive correspondence from Marion? Seems like she sent a lot of letters/postcards around the end of July, but wondering if anyone received anything from her end of June/beginning of July (and if so, did that some from same area in UK). Seems possible she was somewhere else first, then traveled to UK specifically to send letters & make it look like that was where she was vacationing. She also established a bank account near that area (Rye) using name Marion Barter, but never withdrew that money. Was everything in UK just a red herring?

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Hey sleuths, episode 14 has landed ....

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Ooh Thanks Itsapuzzle XX

Hey sleuths, episode 14 has landed

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Just started listening to Episode 14 and paused to google any bones found at Wallsend, which is mentioned in the Podcast and came across this article from 2010.

"Mystery still surrounds a human bone found in a Wallsend backyard five years ago, with the case being referred to the missing persons unit in Sydney.

The bone was sent to the United States for specialised mitochondrial DNA profiling.

It was identified as being the right femur of an adult woman, Detective Sergeant Brett Golledge, of Newcastle, said.

Further analysis showed the woman was probably about 153 centimetres tall"

Bone draws blank

 

[Intriguedbyintrigue]

Stacked up to the Bone Room’s low ceilings are remains found in Forbes, Tweed Heads, Forbes, Bondi, Canberra, Eden, Annandale, Mona Vale, Goodooga, Lord Howe Island, Kurnell, Bega, BALLINA, Cape Solander, Armidale, Brady’s Gully, Katoomba, Bowraville, Barrington Tops, Watsons Bay and Narrabeen Beach.


Inside the Bone Room: The hidden collection of human remains in Australia's busiest morgue - In The Loop

Thanks for sharing the article - fascinating! I wonder how close they are to meeting their 5 year estimate (2020) to have the information into the database???

 

[Intriguedbyintrigue]

I don't know for sure, but checking her DNA may not necessarily indicate police believe a match is likely...it might just be police starting to show good faith at making reasonable investigative efforts by ruling out things they can easily rule out.

Regardless, its certainly is good to hear that Sally is getting more help from authorities now than she was before.

Called it Meligator!

The Ballina bone is one Sally has requested to be ruled out because of how close it is to Byron Bay. It appears the initial DNA checks at least are good faith extensions from the police.

 

[Intriguedbyintrigue]

Finally episode 14!

I really dont know what to make of Marion inviting parents to dinner parties and having tea parties for the kids. It just sounds so unprofessional to me. Different times maybe??

The dentist angle looked promising for a bit hey. I wish instead of focusing on TSS Dads Marion had crushes on theyd look into people she knew from the art club to try and find "the guy in the car".

Why didnt they ask Lesley about the mail or the storage container??

I feel like Ferdinands ex girlfriend is a hoax.

Im all bent out of shape (again) with the smug slinging off at police and in particular Gary Sheehan. Police obtain data during an investigation from multiple sources. Different sources of data often have differing accounts which the police work through and validate to try to determine what happened. To demand all the data from police and then blame them for inconsistencies is unfair.

The psychic stuff makes me so sad. It's a telling reminder of how vulnerable Sally is. I feel like she gets comfort from the psychics because they agree with what she thinks has happened. I just hope she doesnt put any reliance on what they say.