‘Diabolical' twist after Aussie woman vanishes
Sally Leydon believed her mum was dead long before Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan handed down her findings on the matter in February 2024.
Still, to hear those words nearly three decades after she first went missing, without any indication of how or why or where she died, was a heavy, heavy moment.
'2024 is one of the worst years I've had in my life actually,' Sally told Gary Jubelin's I Catch Killers podcast this week.
'Being told that your mother is deceased, and then having to work out the next steps in that as a missing person case that is convoluted and confusing … it has been an absolute diabolical time for me.'
Sally last saw her mother, Marion Barter, in 1997, just before the 51-year-old schoolteacher dramatically quit her job to travel overseas.
A dead phone line, and mysterious bank transactions
On August 1, Sally received a phone call from her mum, who told her she was calling from a payphone in Tunbridge Wells in the UK.
The pair talked about Sally's upcoming wedding, but were cut off when the pay phone went dead.
It was the last time Sally would ever speak to Marion, though it was later discovered that the missing woman did return to Australia under a different name just a day later.
Unbeknown to anyone, it was later discovered that in May Marion had changed her name to 'Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel' and obtained a passport under that name.
This was the name she used while flying back into Australia in August 1997.
At the time, though, Sally had assumed her mum was still overseas, but when she hadn't heard from her for another few months, she called Marion's bank – only to discover that money was being withdrawn from her account in Byron Bay.
'We drove straight to Byron Bay Police and I walked in there and said, 'something's wrong',' Sally recalls.
Then, in a mistake she says still haunts her, Sally didn't take down the name of the officer she spoke with. She didn't ask for an event number – she just assumed the police would begin investigating.
'I hope other people learn from this: you make sure you take down every single detail,' she told Jubelin.
'Because I didn't remember the name of the guy who gave me the report. I didn't get a business card. I didn't get to make an official statement. I literally just told him everything, thinking that that was how you do it.'
'She doesn't want anyone knowing where she is'
Then, 10 days later, when Sally was back at home, she got a phone call.
'My memory is that it was the same person that I had spoken to at the front desk [of the police station] but I can't prove that because I didn't write anything down,' she laments.
'But that phone call was a gentleman calling me to tell me that they'd found my mother and she didn't want anything to do with us,' Sally continues.
'His exact words were: we found your mother. She doesn't want anyone knowing where she is or what she's doing.'
Police have since confirmed to Sally that they never spoke to or saw her mother Marion. The identity of the person that made that call is a mystery, and tragically, Sally's brother took his own life shortly after hearing that piece of news.
'He had his own issues and demons he was working through, but he was about to get married,' Sally explains.
'He was in a very good head space and in my heart, I think he did not cope very well when he was told that.'
A daughter's mission
In the intervening 27 years since her disappearance, Sally has not stopped searching for answers – unearthing a series of bizarre twists and turns along the way that have reshaped the way she thinks about her mother's disappearance.
Hindered by a police investigation that the coronial inquest in 2024 deemed 'inadequate', Sally has taken on much of the investigation and advocacy into her mother's case herself, launching a podcast about the disappearance entitled The Lady Vanishes in 2019.
One of the most compelling pieces of evidence Sally uncovered in the course of her podcast was the involvement of her mother with a man named Ric Blum (among other aliases), shortly before she left for her overseas trip.
Blum has denied any involvement in Marion's disappearance, and maintains they ceased their romantic involvement shortly before she travelled overseas.
Magistrate O'Sullivan found in the 2024 inquest that Blum had lied and deceived the inquest, based on evidence surrounding his travel history (which lined up with that of Marion), as well as the testimony of several other women with whom Blum had allegedly had relationships with.
O'Sullivan found Marion had been 'exploited' by Blum. She said she was 'convinced' that Blum 'does indeed know more' but did not recommend charges against him.
The magistrate recommended the NSW police commissioner ensure the investigation of Barter's disappearance is referred to or remains within the state crime command 'unsolved homicide team' for ongoing investigation.
'I have to keep going'
In spite of the toll the investigation has taken on Sally, she is committed to providing a 'voice' for her mother, and other missing persons.
'I feel like I didn't really want to leave that burden of searching for her for my children,' Sally explains.
'I've got three children and that's their grandmother. They never met her. She'd already disappeared by the time I had babies. I'm actually 52 now, and the coroner has deemed that at the time she passed, Mum was 52 as well.
'My eldest daughter Ella is 23, about to turn 24, and I was 23, turning 24 when Mum disappeared. So in our world, we've actually come full circle in life again. Ella is the same age as I was, and I'm the same age as mum was, and we still don't know what's happened to her. And so I'll keep going.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Man dies after alleged Footscray assault, as police consider upgrading charges
Police will consider alternate charges against a former high court immigration detainee, after the victim of an alleged assault in Melbourne's inner west died in hospital. Dominic O'Brien, 62, died on Saturday morning, almost a week after he was allegedly attacked at the intersection of Nicholson and Paisley streets in Footscray on the morning of June 15. Police arrested 43-year-old man Lominja Friday Yokoju on the same day as the alleged assault and initially charged him with intentionally causing serious injury. He is accused of approaching Mr O'Brien, engaging in a brief conversation, then striking him and stomping on his head as he lay on the ground. In light of Mr O'Brien's death, police are expected to review the charges. 'Investigators will consider alternate charges following the results of a post-mortem,' Victoria police said in a statement. Mr Yokoju was part of a group of more than 200 immigration detainees, known as the NZYQ cohort, who were released from long-term detention after the High Court ruled their ongoing detention was unconstitutional where there was no reasonable prospect of removing them to another country. At the time of his arrest, Mr Yokoju was understood to be on a bridging visa.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Grandfather's eerie last moments before horror murder caught on CCTV
It's the most disturbing crime I've seen since 1993 when two 11-year-olds abducted, tortured and killed toddler James Bulger – with sickening similarities. In April, a 14-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were convicted of manslaughter. Earlier this month, they were given sentences so paltry, I felt my blood boil. The boy beat to death a retired factory worker and granddad, Bhim Kohli, 80, in an unprovoked attack, hurling racist abuse at him as he did. The girl filmed the assault, cheered him on and laughed in the dying pensioner's face. Later, both bragged about it. He received seven years in jail. She wasn't jailed at all – for fear it'd impact her 'education and mental health.' She received a three-year rehabilitation order, a six-month curfew, and community service. They remain anonymous. A judge ruled last month their welfare outweighed the public interest in open justice and unrestricted reporting. Outside court late last week, Bhim's daughter Susan Kohli choked back tears as she read the family's statement. 'We feel anger and disgust towards the teenagers who took dad away from us. They humiliated him, an 80 year-old-man, assaulted him, filmed it and laughed at him.' Referring to their sentences and anonymity, she said: 'They have taken a life – and as a result our lives have been changed forever. When they're released they still have their full lives ahead of them. They can rebuild their lives. We can't.' How on earth could this happen? When I read the details, a chill ran through me. Then I saw where it happened: Leicester. I lived and worked there as a council-funded youth worker. I know one of the key ways in which this horror might've been prevented. Multiple grim factors coalesced to cause this: toxic teen phone culture, a desire for online 'fame', male violence, government cuts, policing failures and a breakdown of a famous multicultural society which recent politicians have savaged as 'woke,' leading to the normalisation of disgusting racist attacks. Trigger warning: the details I'll share now are distressing. But they're important to understand how a once-great multicultural society, in a city I was proud to call home, can break down to the point something unthinkable like this occurs. A 'very mild, gentle man' who loved his family and dog Bhim Kohli loved gardening in his small allotment. His neighbour, Marie Chatterton, described him as 'very mild and gentle.' His grandson, Simranjit Kohli, said 'My granddad is the main reason I am who I am. Now we'll never get to see if he is proud.' He was metres from his home, walking his beloved dog, Rocky, in a nearby park. The last words he heard as he cowered on his knees and his distraught dog watched helplessly were those of vile racist taunts, abuse, and laughter. When his daughter found him lying on the ground in agony, he told her his attackers had called him a 'P***' (a hateful racist slur) during the attack. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Sinski called the case one of the most shocking of his career. The boy, he said, had a thirst for social media notoriety. Two weeks earlier, Bhim had intervened when two white boys aged 12 and 13 racially abused a man of colour near the same park. They threw a rock and a fence post at him and shouted 'go back to your village.' Bhim, his daughter, and a neighbour reported it. That man, who remains anonymous, last week said: 'If police had increased patrols after that, maybe Bhim would still be alive.' Bhim's daughter Susan echoed these sentiments. He added that he was shocked by 'this level of anger and vitriol … the racist language, the violence … from such a young age group'. But police deterring the act is a Band-Aid – we need to address the root cause. We need to look at a deeper rot in a city that once rightly boasted itself as Britain's most successful multicultural city. Elderly man suffers broken neck, three broken ribs In court, we learned the boy, who 'revelled in his hard, violent reputation' didn't know Bhim. He 'wanted to impress' his friend. She'd pointed Bhim out, encouraged the attack, and filmed it. In the weeks previously, she'd bullied and harassed Bhim; she'd thrown apples at him. She also filmed another Asian man being racially abused and mocked. She had a 'grudge' against Bhim because of an earlier verbal altercation involving a friend. He'd told them to get off his neighbour's garage roof. In response, stones were thrown at him, he was spat at and was racially abused by the children. Her phone contained a photo of Bhim taken a week before the attack. She'd deliberately arrived at the park at the time she knew he walked his dog. 'This girl was obsessed with violence – she filmed and encouraged it,' said DCI Sinski. 'Her actions were cynical and calculated.' When arrested, she was 'not in any way intimidated by the gravity of the charge.' He added: 'She was very sure of herself … and unnecessarily cocky and confident during her evidence.' The boy wore a balaclava and knocked Bhim to the ground then hit him with his shoe as he was trying to get up. The judge said he was 'showing off' as he knew he was being filmed. He slapped him and called him a racial slur so hateful, British newspapers won't print it. He stomped on Bhim so forcefully, it broke his neck. As the 80-year-old lay on the ground defenceless and in agony, then motionless, the teen repeatedly kicked him so hard, he broke three of his ribs as the girl filmed, laughed and later bragged. When police reviewed her phone, they found numerous clips of her filming and encouraging attacks. Bhim's daughter described finding her father. 'He screamed, 'My neck, my neck.' I'd never heard him in that kind of pain before.' He died the following day in hospital. 'Lock up the council workers who let this happen' One reader commented: 'Also lock up the police and council who failed to deal with the anti-social behaviour going on for ages.' I previously worked for Leicestershire County Council as a youth worker, helping kids just like Bhim's attackers. I loved Leicester, Britain's first city where white people were a minority. It's home to a large Indian and Pakistani community. We celebrated Diwali, revelled in the delicious food, and proved multiculturalism worked. We ran programs for disadvantaged kids to keep them out of trouble and off the streets – including those expelled, or at risk of arrest. It was a haven for self-expression, but we also taught them respect. My male manager and I were particularly keen to act as positive role models for the boys who came from complex backgrounds. That centre was demolished in 2012 due to Tory austerity. Between 2010 and 2023, the Conservatives closed over 1,200 youth centres and more than a third of children's centres. Meanwhile, figures like Nigel Farage – Britain's Pauline Hanson – have become alarming political icons for Britain's youth. Farage has 1.3 million TikTok followers, more than all other MPs combined. He spews anti-Immigration rhetoric. The death of 80-year-old Bhim Kohli in Leicestershire only makes three of today’s front pages. As we reported yesterday, the Telegraph writes that Mr Kohli had previously complained to police about anti-social behaviour by young kids where he lived. — Darshna Soni (@darshnasoni) September 4, 2024 Bhim was killed just a month after the UK race riots. Misinformation claimed the Southport stabbing suspect was an immigrant. He wasn't. Far-right activist Tommy Robinson led the lie – and shortly afterwards, asylum hotels were set on fire. My old youth centre promoted harmony and diversity. Many like it are gone – bulldozed, not just closed. Adolescence The chilling parallels to Netflix's Adolescence are undeniable. The show prompted UK PM Keir Starmer to meet its creators. Writer Jack Thorne called for smartphone bans in schools and a digital age of consent, naming Australia's world-leading example as one the UK should follow. In the show, 13-year-old Jamie kills a girl after being radicalised online. He lies, denies responsibility, then shows threadbare remorse. So did this boy. He falsely claimed Bhim had a knife. Then said the pensioner just 'fell.' Eventually, he admitted to the killing, saying he 'just needed to get his anger out.' The judge called his remorse 'diluted,' adding: 'You say it wasn't your fault. The sooner you realise otherwise, the better.' In leaked Snapchats after the attack, he wrote: 'Feds know it's me,' with a laughing emoji. He bragged about his 'punching power.' How this could've been avoided Could a youth centre have kept this violent boy off the streets and out of trouble? Maybe not. Could a youth phone ban have stopped the desire for viral infamy? Maybe not. Could more visible policing following reports of racist hate incidents have made a difference? Maybe not. Could braver political leadership on multiculturalism have countered anti-immigration propaganda? Maybe not. But if all of these things had been in place, as was perfectly possible? A beloved, hardworking granddad might still be alive today. He might not have spent his final moments in agony, being ridiculed and facing the ugliest collapse of the society he loved – at the hands of children.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Minns NSW Government to introduce suite of DV reforms to close loopholes
The NSW government is set to introduce groundbreaking reforms aimed at bolstering support for victims of sexual violence across the state and closing a loophole that left a shocking crime unpunished in some cases. The Minns Labor Government is set to introduce a suite of reforms to parliament next week, bringing NSW into line with relevant Commonwealth offences and increasing protections from sexual exploitation. A new provision to the Crimes Act 1900 will ensure sexual offenders who either sexually assault someone or indecently interfere with their body after death are unable to escape prosecution when the time of death is unknown, making which specific crime occurred unclear. The new provision means when it is clear 'beyond a reasonable doubt 'that one of these two crimes occurred, but it is uncertain due to the timing of death which one, the accused will be sentenced with whichever offence has the lesser maximum penalty. Previously they would have been unpunished. The government says the reform is in 'direct response' to issues that arose in the inquest of Mona Lisa and Jacinta Rose 'Cindy' Smith in 2024, and the tireless advocacy of their families for reform. The penalty for indecently assaulting a deceased person will also be increased and criminalising female genital mutilation will also be strengthened. Other amendments to the act will redefine the age threshold for child abuse material offences, raising it from 16 to 18 years, aligning with Commonwealth standards. These reforms are designed to close existing legislative gaps and ensure the safety and wellbeing of children. The Crimes Act will also be amended to 'make it easier to prosecute people who commit sexual acts in the presence of children', the Minns government said in a statement. Changes to the act will also be made to ensure female genital mutilation is considered a crime regardless of the reason or motivation or age of the victim, while ensuring medically necessary practices are protected. The legislation, to be introduced in Parliament the day after the Minns Labor Government hands down the 2025-2026 NSW budget, comes after changes around domestic violence offences. These changes included making it harder for alleged domestic violence offenders to get bail, and introducing electronic monitoring for alleged serious domestic violence offenders. It also strengthened laws to protect against repeated breaches of ADVOs, and made changes to bail courts across NSW to ensure bail decisions are made by magistrates and judges – not registrars. Attorney-General Michael Daley said the Minns Labor Government stands with victim-survivors. 'We are ensuring that women and children are better protected from sexual abuse and exploitation,' he said. 'Our Government is closing loopholes and strengthening the law to make it easier to prosecute those who commit acts of sexual violence. 'I thank the families of Mona Lisa and Jacinta Rose 'Cindy' Smith for their bravery and advocacy in the face of tragedy to strengthen New South Wales laws to better protect victims.' Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Jodie Harrison said the government is 'working to build a safer New South Wales for women and children'. 'Sexual and abuse and exploitation is unacceptable, at the same time as we are investing in support services for victim survivors, we are ensuring that perpetrators are held to account,' she said. 'We will continue to work with experts, advocates and victim survivors to address the impact of domestic and sexual violence across our state.'
