Bombshell twist in ‘The Lady Vanishes’ cold case 25 years after the beloved mum went missing

Bombshell twist in ‘The Lady Vanishes’ cold case 25 years after the beloved mum went missing – as her ‘mystery boyfriend’ is revealed

• Marion Barter was last seen on June 22, 1997 ahead of an indefinite trip to UK
• Bizarrely changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel via deed poll
• Returned to Australia, $80,000 reportedly withdrawn from a Gold Coast bank
• Her disappearance has been the subject of popular podcast ‘The Lady Vanishes’
• Coronial inquest at Byron Bay has this week revealed she had mystery boyfriend 

By Andrew Prentice For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 14:05 GMT, 1 February 2022 | Updated: 14:06 GMT, 1 February 2022

A popular Queensland school teacher who disappeared 25 years ago had a mystery boyfriend who previously fleeced a number of different women, a coronial inquest has revealed. 

The identity of Marion Barter’s lover was confirmed by police in a bombshell development on Tuesday.

Ms Barter’s current whereabouts remain unknown, with the court hearing the man in question is a Belgian national.

Barter’s cold case has been the subject of increased attention thanks to a recent podcast, The Lady Vanishes, which has been downloaded 9.5 million times.

Initially, Ms Barter was thought to be alive and living under a new identity after she was first reported missing by her daughter Sally Leydon in 1997.

Marion Barter, a Queensland school teacher who disappeared 25 years ago, had a mystery boyfriend who fleeced a number of different women, a coronial inquest has revealed

The mother of two (pictured, left with daughter Sally) was last seen on June 22 in 1997

Bizarrely, Marion Barter changed her name by deed poll to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel

It took a decade before she was finally declared a missing person.    

On Tuesday, Byron Bay Court House heard the mystery man is a Ric Blum from northern NSW. 

He has multiple aliases including Richard Lloyd Westbury, Frederick de Hedervary, Willie Wouters and Fernand Remakel, according to 7News.

Shortly before Ms Barter flew out of Australia on June 22 in 1997 after quitting her job at the exclusive Southport School on the Gold Coast on short notice, the one time wife of Socceroos legend Johnny Warren changed her name by deed poll to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel. 

The reasoning is believed to be that the mother-of-two wanted a ‘new life.’ 

Ms Barter told her family she was holidaying abroad in Europe for at least a year –  but in August 1997, two months after she left, a woman named Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel flew into Australia.

Police believe it was Ms Barter using her ‘new’ name she had legally changed months earlier.

The court also heard Mr Blum denies having any contact with Ms Barter on her  return to Australia.

In a further twist, a Gold Coast based bank teller is adamant Ms Barter – or someone using her identity – withdrew $80,000 from an account in her name from a Southport branch in the same year.

Queensland Police declared the matter closed in December of 1997, forming the belief Ms Barter was ‘safe and well’ and didn’t want her whereabouts disclosed.  

Her daughter believes she went to ground following a fall out with a colleague at the Southport School.

Marion Barter told her family she would be in the UK and Europe for a least a year after leaving suddenly in 1997 – it is believed she returned to Australia in August that year and failed to notify her family

Her daughter Sally Leydon is still searching for answers – she recalls her mother discussing with her a falling out with a colleague at the Southport School on the Gold Coast where she was a popular teacher

Last year, NSW Police announced a $250,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for Ms Barter’s disappearance

In 2002, a man called Crime Stoppers claiming he had seen the body of a missing woman called Marion in bushland in Armidale, NSW. 

Seven years later, Detective Gary Sheehan attended the location with a police dog – but no body was located.

Last year, NSW Police announced a $250,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for Ms Barter’s disappearance.

The inquest, which started in 2021, continues this week and again from February 14-18.

TIMELINE OF MARION BARTER’S DISAPPEARANCE 

June 1997: Marion Barter, aged 51 at the time, resigns as teacher from The Southport School in the Gold Coast with four days notice. 

She then flies to the United Kingdom saying she needed time off.

July 1997: Her daughter, Sally Leydon, speaks to her mother for the last time and has never heard from her since.

August 1997: $5,000 had been withdrawn from Ms Barter’s bank account everyday for three-and-a-half consecutive weeks in Byron Bay. 

The increments were also withdrawn for three consecutive days in Burleigh heads. 

Mrs Leydon goes to Byron Bay police with a picture of her mother and formally reports her as missing. 

2002: A man calls Crime Stoppers claiming he had seen the body of a missing woman called Marion in bushland in Armidale 

June 2007: New South Wales police finally respond to Ms Barter’s case and list her as missing on the state registry.

However, her name was taken down from the registry four months later.   

2009: Detective Gary Sheehan takes over Ms Barter’s case.

2010: Detective Sheehan investigate the possible lead of her murdered body dumped in Armidale bushland. 

He is sent to the area with one police dog on a rainy day and finds no clues.  

2012: Mrs Leydon finds out her mother had legally changed her name to Florabella Remakel, when she left for the UK in 1997.

2016: NSW police tell Mrs Leydon her mother’s case had been officially closed

2019: Channel 7 release a podcast called A Lady Vanishes, which prompts police to finally list Ms Barter on the national missing person’s register.

 

:

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk