It could be the plot of a Hollywood movie — a 51-year-old mother embarks on a new life in Europe, changes her name, and secretly marries her exotic lover, who turns out to be an international fraudster with a trail of other victims left in his wake.
That is what happened to Gold Coast teacher Marion Barter — also known as Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel — who went missing in 1997. After police botched the initial investigation, the team behind The Lady Vanishes podcast, along with Marion’s daughter Sally Leydon, uncovered a trove of new evidence that reopened the case and identified a key person of interest.
Today, the NSW Government announced a $1 million reward for any new information about her disappearance, but for Leydon, it has been a long, painful battle to get this far.
“While the questions remain unanswered, the consequences for our family have been devastating,” Leydon said. “This is a significant step forward and shows this case has not been forgotten.”
“For the person and people who may know what has happened to my mum, you’ve carried this information for years, you may have convinced yourself it’s too late or that it no longer matters, but it does matter. It always has. Time has not erased responsibility.”
The Disappearance of Marion Barter
Marion Barter was a popular Gold Coast teacher. Just six years ago, NSW Police did not even consider her missing. Leydon reported her mother missing just months after she left, after discovering money was being drained from her bank account in northern NSW and the Gold Coast. At the time, NSW Police remained adamant Marion was not missing despite there being no proof of life.
Former Byron Bay detective Gary Sheehan told Leydon that her decision to secretly change her name and return home to Australia within months of leaving on the “trip of a lifetime” meant she did not want to be found.
In 2019, 7NEWS launched The Lady Vanishes podcast after meeting with Leydon, who was fighting for access to documents about her mother’s case under the Government Information Public Access Act (GIPA). NSW Police argued that Marion, as a missing person, had a “right to privacy as any other individual.”
This changed when 7NEWS lawyers representing Leydon in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal successfully argued there was no evidence to suggest Marion was alive, and therefore her privacy was irrelevant. This was confirmed by released documents revealing Marion had not been sighted by police since disappearing, and claims that an officer had spoken to her could not be verified.
Even more damning was that NSW Police officers involved had failed to follow protocol and report the matter to the Coroner, which triggered an inquest and prompted a new police investigation called Strikeforce Jurunga.
The Prime Suspect: Ric Blum
During that investigation, a northern NSW octogenarian, Ric Blum, became the prime suspect. “This man initially denied knowing my mum when police first spoke to him,” Leydon told reporters on Monday. “The following day he changed his statement to admit he did know her and he had in fact been having a secret relationship with her in 1997.”
A convicted conman, Blum had several aliases, including Fernand Remakel, which he was using when he became romantically involved with Marion. “Evidence showed to the court revealed he used dozens of aliases over the years — 38 and counting — and obtained 10 Australian passports all under different names and identities over the last four decades,” Leydon continued.
In her 2024 findings, Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan declared Marion was dead and believed her death occurred around the time she was in a relationship with Blum, who sought to “deceive and exploit her.” The timing of her death is estimated to have occurred on October 15, 1997, after Marion apparently electronically transferred $80,000 from her bank account to an unknown one.
“I find that Marion changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel because she was in a relationship with Mr Blum and sought to share a name with him. The coincidence of the timing and destination of Mr Blum’s travel to Europe in June and August 1997 and Marion’s travel to England in June and August 1997,” O’Sullivan said.
While stopping short of recommending the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) lay charges against Blum, she did say that investigations into the case needed to continue. “Marion’s remains have not been found, and the available evidence does not allow me to make any findings as to the possible cause and manner of Marion’s death,” she said.
“I recommend that the NSW Commissioner of Police cause the investigation into the death of missing person Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, formerly known as Marion Barter, to be referred to or remain within the State Crime Command Unsolved Homicide Team for ongoing investigation, review, and monitoring,” she added.
Criticism of Initial Police Investigation
O’Sullivan was also very critical of NSW Police’s initial investigation into Marion’s disappearance and their attempts to divert blame to Leydon during the inquest proceedings. When asked why they had not laid charges already, Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi replied: “We simply don’t have enough evidence that will result in a prosecution.”
He said the Coroner did not refer the matter to the DPP, indicating she would have done so if she believed the evidence was strong enough. “The Unsolved Homicide Unit remains actively engaged, reviewing every lead and pursuing every possible avenue to determine what happened to Marion,” he said. “The increase of this reward to $1 million reflects the seriousness with which we continue to treat Marion Barter’s disappearance.”
Timeline of Events
Marion Barter was last seen at a bus depot on Scarborough Street, near Railway Street, at Southport in Queensland on Sunday, June 22, 1997. Detectives said Marion took the bus to the airport, where she left Australia for the United Kingdom under the name Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, which she had officially changed the month before leaving. Her outgoing passenger card stated that she was divorced and intended to reside in Luxembourg.
On Saturday, August 2, 1997, Marion re-entered Australia under the name of Florabella Remakel, with an incoming passenger card stating she was married and resided in Luxembourg. Leydon reported Marion missing to police at Byron Bay in October 1997, with detectives from the Tweed-Byron Local Area Command undertaking an investigation into her whereabouts. Police suggest that an unknown person accessed Marion’s bank account after her disappearance.
“For Marion’s family, every day without answers is another day of grief. If you have information, now is the time to come forward,” Doueihi said.
After spending almost 30 years searching for her mother, Leydon holds out hope that the increased reward may make a difference. “I still don’t have a body and I still don’t know where she is,” she said. “There are now one million reasons for someone to come forward and tell us what you know.”
Police and Counter-terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley said the increased reward from $500,000 was with the hope “something would be ignited in someone’s memory.” “Somebody will have seen something, somebody will have heard something – somebody knows something,” she said.
