<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Dedicated" NSW school teacher and loving mum </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/marion-barter-disappearance-missing-school-teachers-case-referred-to-homicide-unit/bb949b04-2aee-497c-9c06-6b0c149880a8" rel="" target="_blank" title="Marion Barter"><span>Marion Barter</span></a><span> boarded a flight from Australia to Britain and vanished without a trace in 1997.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her daughter Sally Leydon, haunted by her mother's disappearance, has been searching for the truth for nearly 30 years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The baffling cold case has now reached a crucial new milestone after police announced they had </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/marion-barter-cold-case-police-offer-250k-reward-for-information-disappeared-from-queensland-bus-stop/29488ab3-22b4-444e-8c57-c9489268e8da" rel="" target="_blank" title="doubled a reward for information to $1 million."><span>doubled a reward for information to $1 million.</span></a></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>EXCLUSIVE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/mcdonalds-dan-murphys-development-cowes-phillip-island/4eb0323d-ad53-4edb-a757-f833c0d615fc" rel="" target="_blank" title="Residents of seaside Victorian town braced for Macca's battle"><strong><span>Residents of seaside Victorian town braced for Macca's battle</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>NATIONAL:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/60-minutes/eastern-paralysis-tick-mammalian-meat-allergy-jeremy-webb/f30b2db5-5467-406b-9e05-ec8a58b3d3ac" target="_blank"><strong><span>Teen's camping trip with mates ends in tragedy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This is because, as Leydon explained, "someone knows something".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is kind of like my last bite at the cherry to see if we can actually find somebody who knows something," Leydon told Nine.com.au.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/missing-woman-marion-barter-million-dollar-reward-for-nsw-cold-case/5b242574-36c1-4435-96a9-cb09e76eec0e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm 100 per cent confident that people know... they just need to speak up."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mother-of-two Barter, then aged 51, was last seen at a bus depot on Scarborough Street, near Railway Street, at Southport in Queensland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It is believed she took a bus to the airport, before leaving for a trip to the United Kingdom on June 22, 1997.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barter travelled abroad under the name Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, which she had changed by deed poll a month before leaving the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police believe Barter then re-entered Australia under her new name on August 2.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her incoming passenger card stated she was married and lived in Luxembourg.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Barter has not been seen or heard from since then.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She was reported missing by family in October, and around the same time an unknown person appears to have accessed a bank account belonging to Barter in Byron Bay.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An exhaustive investigation pursued leads both in Australia and overseas, but detectives are yet to find out what happened to Barter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2024, the NSW State Coroner found that Barter died on or after October 15, 1997.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cause or nature of her death was unable to be confirmed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You lose your keys, you lose your mobile phone, and your whole world falls apart. But imagine losing your mum, and what that feels like," Leydon added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's a tragic thing to have to experience.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And the ambiguity of living in this space can eat you up."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police today announced an increased reward of $1 million leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for Barter's disappearance or death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A $250,000 and $500,000 reward for information has already been offered regarding the cold case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Leydon said it is a great show of faith that detectives believe that Barter's disappearance can be solved.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>NATIONAL:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/60-minutes/eastern-paralysis-tick-mammalian-meat-allergy-jeremy-webb/f30b2db5-5467-406b-9e05-ec8a58b3d3ac" target="_blank"><strong><span>Teen's camping trip with mates ends in tragedy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/man-arrested-three-people-killed-in-attack-sydney-rosemeadow/cf6c8972-f96c-46ae-b20d-e8cbe1c6924f" target="_blank"><strong><span>Mother, father and son killed in alleged triple murder</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Leydon does not believe that Barter wanted to leave her children behind. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She is concerned her mother became involved in a situation "she did not fully control".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My mum was a loving mother, a dedicated teacher and a woman who valued her relationships," Leydon told reporters during a police press conference today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She did not simply walk away from her life and she did not abandon her family.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She was an award-winning school teacher, a devoted mum to me and my brother Owen, a friend to many...</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She would have been an incredible grandmother, I know my children would have adored her... I miss her."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Leydon launched her own podcast, </span><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-missing-matter/id1812362613" rel="" target="_blank" title="Missing Matters"><span>Missing Matters</span></a><span>, where she followed her mum's footsteps to the UK and Europe in a pursuit for answers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She deserves to be found," she added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"For so long, her identity has been as a missing person."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said the increased reward offered some hope for Leydon and her family.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No family should have to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to a loved one," Catley said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That's why we are again asking anyone who may know something, no matter how small the detail, to speak up."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police have not given up on finding the truth and are pursuing "every possible avenue", Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Doueihi said the reward had been doubled partly because investigators did not have "enough evidence at this stage that would result in a successful prosecution."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're hoping that today's release will bring to light new information to the investigation team, which may allow us to progress the investigation," Doueihi said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>Anyone with information about this Marion's disappearance is urged to contact</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/" rel="" target="_blank" title="Crime Stoppers"><strong><em><span>Crime Stoppers</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>on 1800 333 000.</span></em></strong></div></div>