Australia Australia - Marion Barter - Missing After Trip to UK - June 1997 #18

[katwingbat]

It has come to my attention that there is a FB account for Ric Blum, which we do not know is genuine but was being used in 2014. In 2014 a pic was put on of the cruise ship AIDAbella which strangely sounds like Florabella.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

Looking at the history of the AIDAbella a German crew member disappeared from the ship in 2018 in suspicious curcumstances.

Crew Member Missing From AIDAbella

German newspapers are reporting that a crewmember, identified by his first name as "Mathias," disappeared from the AIDAbella cruise ship earlier this

www.cruiselawnews.com

Cruise Passengers Overboard

www.cruisejunkie.com

That FB profile only has two friends, one of whose profile info says they are admin for a group who likes to help families of missing persons

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

MOO is that he is (or was) totally tech savvy. IIRC GGB reported him receiving phone calls from a woman while she was driving, which led her (GGB) to believe that AKA was married. This was in 1998, so still relatively early for a mobile phone in Australia. And I am pretty sure that ER talked about AKA having a mobile phone number, but I can't remember where I read that information.

The few people I knew who had mobiles in the 1990s tended to be tech savvy & early adopters. Unlike AKA they were also juggling busy professional lives. So, if AKA could see the value in having a mobile phone back then, I am sure he would have been open to other new technology developments including the internet - he certainly had plenty of time on his hands to explore options and the motivation to find new ways to identify targets. Of course, his signature MO is to avoid leaving any trail so I am sure he would have been as equally dodgy with his on-line identity as he was with his real life name & address changes.

Basic internet skills would be very useful in allowing him to monitor his targets from a distance. It is not lost on me that AKA targeted AF after the death of her husband. How did he find out about this? How many other victims are there?

My dad was one of the first salespeople to sell 'mobile' phones in the 80s which in those days were a huge unit that were 'car-phones' so they weren't called mobiles yet. They were mostly taken up by people in types of industries where they were always out 'on site' and it was quite vital to reach them and involved big money. Before that people depended on CB radio and telegram or messenger relaying services - ringing in to fixed numbers or locations. Fax machines came in a few years later and then bleepers and then finally smaller more portable phones that were still huge bricks as we'd all remember - at that point the uptake was people like architects, site managers, industry bosses, and flashy people who worked in high end fashion or finance or estate agency.

I personally wouldn't say they were necessarily tech savvy but the main thing is they were out on site away from buildings but wanted / needed to speak to people urgently for 'big money' reasons. Also back then, nobody would have an actual clue where you were located geographically so you could literally lie about where you were. I can easily see why RB may have wanted a phone by that point.

*ETA also maybe people who needed to be got hold of for urgent reasons - emergency vets and suchlike

 

[HinterlandObserver]

My dad was one of the first salespeople to sell 'mobile' phones in the 80s which in those days were a huge unit that were 'car-phones' so they weren't called mobiles yet. They were mostly taken up by people in types of industries where they were always out 'on site' and it was quite vital to reach them and involved big money. Before that people depended on CB radio and telegram or messenger relaying services - ringing in to fixed numbers or locations. Fax machines came in a few years later and then bleepers and then finally smaller more portable phones that were still huge bricks as we'd all remember - at that point the uptake was people like architects, site managers, industry bosses, and flashy people who worked in high end fashion or finance or estate agency.

I personally wouldn't say they were necessarily tech savvy but the main thing is they were out on site away from buildings but wanted / needed to speak to people urgently for 'big money' reasons. Also back then, nobody would have an actual clue where you were located geographically so you could literally lie about where you were. I can easily see why RB may have wanted a phone by that point.

*ETA also maybe people who needed to be got hold of for urgent reasons - emergency vets and suchlike

My stepdad was an electrician in a small town in NSW I remember from around 1994 he had a mobile phone that had a black zip up case. It was almost like a child’s insulated lunchbox in size.
He was a bit of a “modern dude” so probably just liked being one of the first guys around with one. But they can’t have been too expensive or inaccessible if he got one was my thought?

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

My stepdad was an electrician in a small town in NSW I remember from around 1994 he had a mobile phone that had a black zip up case. It was almost like a child’s insulated lunchbox in size.
He was a bit of a “modern dude” so probably just liked being one of the first guys around with one. But they can’t have been too expensive or inaccessible if he got one was my thought?

I think they were still quite expensive then but the thing is you only paid for the monthly contract not the phone handset itself and the handset was insured against accidental damage IIRC.

I got my first mobile phone in approx 1996 - a large clunky thing coated in rubber and with the aerial mounted in rubber so that if you dropped it, it wouldn't shatter. By this time pretty much everyone who worked in a trade had one. So they couldn't have been too expensive, also I assume they'd be a work expense to write off against taxable income. Technology moved really fast then and it wasn't long before handsets got really small, had cameras, didn't need an aerial pulling out etc.

 

[KinseyFan]

Thanks for the reminders about phones! Different world. I remember sending a telegram to my then boyfriend, on site. Lol.

 

[KinseyFan]

This is so weird writing this, but I’m heading to Morocco tomorrow to visit a multilingual friend for a few wks. I never did follow the Moroccan connection with RB. I’d love to hear more if anyone can bear to repeating themselves.

 

[Martinie]

MOO is that he is (or was) totally tech savvy. IIRC GGB reported him receiving phone calls from a woman while she was driving, which led her (GGB) to believe that AKA was married. This was in 1998, so still relatively early for a mobile phone in Australia. And I am pretty sure that ER talked about AKA having a mobile phone number, but I can't remember where I read that information.

The few people I knew who had mobiles in the 1990s tended to be tech savvy & early adopters. Unlike AKA they were also juggling busy professional lives. So, if AKA could see the value in having a mobile phone back then, I am sure he would have been open to other new technology developments including the internet - he certainly had plenty of time on his hands to explore options and the motivation to find new ways to identify targets. Of course, his signature MO is to avoid leaving any trail so I am sure he would have been as equally dodgy with his on-line identity as he was with his real life name & address changes.

Basic internet skills would be very useful in allowing him to monitor his targets from a distance. It is not lost on me that AKA targeted AF after the death of her husband. How did he find out about this? How many other victims are there?

I think there's atleast a victim every year by looks of his time line that was put up! There's a few gaps, but they just probably haven't been found yet...

 

[mishy66]

I found a very close link to the Hedervary name and the areas mentioned in the UK!

 

[Mrs_Vee]

That FB profile only has two friends, one of whose profile info says they are admin for a group who likes to help families of missing persons

Interesting

 

[Bibno]

I found a very close link to the Hedervary name and the areas mentioned in the UK!

Will you be able to share what you have found?

 

[Martinie]

I found a very close link to the Hedervary name and the areas mentioned in the UK!

I also would like to know!

 

[mishy66]

Will you be able to share what you have found?

I hope so.

Just trying to work out how to without it getting a report...

 

[riddlesandpuzzles77]

Hi there........ been watching and reading this thread for a long time..... fantastic research by all you slyer hers
I have always watched this case as I lived in Ballina at the time and also went overseas to England and europe around the times.
I remember the coin shop and advertising in local paper as I had a coin I wanted to get looked at..... interesting thing was it was never actually open.... am I correct also that the coin shop also accountant?

Thanks again for everyone’s amazing research

 

[riddlesandpuzzles77]

Oh, also remember I was only able to get overseas back then as a single mum as there was a 2 for 1 deal.... my mum paid the fare..... we left from Brisbane, short stopover in Hong Kong for 8hrs (was able to leave airport and come back later) then on to stansted...... again this was November- jan 97-98 and realise not related but the 2 for 1 deal memory interesting.

 

[Martinie]

Hi there........ been watching and reading this thread for a long time..... fantastic research by all you slyer hers
I have always watched this case as I lived in Ballina at the time and also went overseas to England and europe around the times.
I remember the coin shop and advertising in local paper as I had a coin I wanted to get looked at..... interesting thing was it was never actually open.... am I correct also that the coin shop also accountant?

Thanks again for everyone’s amazing research

Are you speaking of RB'S supposed coin business also had an accountant there? Interesting..

 

[riddlesandpuzzles77]

Are you speaking of RB'S supposed coin business also had an accountant there? Interesting..

Yeh..... my memory is the shopfront was more accountant....? but the Ballina coins was also supposedly there as was signage etc.... almost like a foyer you go in to access a few businesses....if that makes sense.... of course open to my memory being off.... I just remember trying to go there numerous times when I was in town with idea of talking about this 1600s coin I had but never seemed to be open

 

[brjakj]

Yeh..... my memory is the shopfront was more accountant....? but the Ballina coins was also supposedly there as was signage etc.... almost like a foyer you go in to access a few businesses....if that makes sense.... of course open to my memory being off.... I just remember trying to go there numerous times when I was in town with idea of talking about this 1600s coin I had but never seemed to be open

Sounds like you dodged a bullet!

 

[Liselle]

@mishy66 In relation to your search of the de Hedervary name in the UK, I wonder if anyone eventually came forward following this article in the Burwash Village Magazine (April 2022)? [https://media..acny.uk]

 

[Liselle]

Hi there........ been watching and reading this thread for a long time..... fantastic research by all you slyer hers
I have always watched this case as I lived in Ballina at the time and also went overseas to England and europe around the times.
I remember the coin shop and advertising in local paper as I had a coin I wanted to get looked at..... interesting thing was it was never actually open.... am I correct also that the coin shop also accountant?

Thanks again for everyone’s amazing research

Perhaps this is the accountant you refer to? In May 2022, @BonnieB wrote-
"He was investigated by Centrelink in 1994 when he registered Ballina Coin Investments and DeHedervary Family Trust, set up by Vernon Paul Ware (Accountant) 95 Tamar St Ballina"

 

[mishy66]

Hi there........ been watching and reading this thread for a long time..... fantastic research by all you slyer hers
I have always watched this case as I lived in Ballina at the time and also went overseas to England and europe around the times.
I remember the coin shop and advertising in local paper as I had a coin I wanted to get looked at..... interesting thing was it was never actually open.... am I correct also that the coin shop also accountant?

Thanks again for everyone’s amazing research

If you do a search on this thread, you will find heaps of information on Ballina coins and his mate Vernon Ware the accountant