Marion Barter: Ric Blum changes story of how he met missing woman

The former lover of missing NSW woman Marion Barter has again changed his story about how they reunited before she vanished 25 years ago. Ms Barter’s daughter also made a raw statement about her grief over the mystery.

The former lover of missing NSW woman Marion Barter has again firmly denied knowing what happened to her when she vanished 25 years ago, while changing his story about how the pair met.

The Southport schoolteacher was 51 when she was last seen at a bus depot on Scarborough Street, near Railway Street at Southport on June 22, 1997.

Police suspect Ms Barter travelled to the United Kingdom the same day she was last seen under the new name Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel and may have returned to Australia in August that year.

But no-one has seen or heard from her since – with her daughter desperate for answers, and her son dying by suicide shortly before he was set to be married, and before he ever learned what happened to his mother.

Missing woman Marion Barter.

An inquest continued on Friday at Byron Bay Courthouse, where Ms Barter’s purported former lover Ric Blum once again denied knowing what happened to her 25 years ago.

“You were asked if you killed Marion Barter, your answer was ‘are you kidding’ – is that still your answer?” counsel asked Mr Blum.

“Yes … I have no idea, I would have said a long time ago if I knew, I wouldn’t have a clue,” Mr Blum responded.

Ric Blum enters Byron Bay Local Court. Picture: Tessa Flemming

Mr Blum was also pressed about the nature of his reunion with Ms Barter, which occurred when he responded to a lonely hearts ad she had placed in a newspaper – apparently not knowing it was the woman he had met decades prior while travelling in Switzerland.

“So, it’s an astonishing coincidence that (you had met up with a woman) you had an affair with 30 years ago in Switzerland, you say that wasn’t discussed,” counsel asked.

“Maybe, I can’t tell you what her words … what the conversation …” Mr Blum responded.

Counsel then asked if Mr Blum had hoped or longed for a relationship with his former flame.

“I thought she was my best friend, I didn’t have any … it was only platonic, I never … dreamt of or otherwise having a sexual relationship, I never did,” Mr Blum responded.

Missing woman Marion Barter.

The ad itself at the centre of Ms Barter and Mr Blum’s reconnection was the subject of yet more scrutiny during the inquest sitting on Thursday, as Mr Blum once again changed his story about the circumstances.

On Wednesday, Mr Blum had said he had placed a lonely hearts ad in a newspaper and Ms Barter had responded to him.

He conceded evidence he had given prior that he responded to an ad she had placed was false, because he was confused.

But on Thursday, Mr Blum changed the story once again, saying he was the one who responded to an ad placed by Ms Barter.

Marion Barter and her two children Sally and Owen.

“You accept you’ve given different accounts to police last year, to Her Honour in February, and to Her Honour yesterday, and the version Her Honour should accept is that you answered the advertisement that you came to learn was placed by Marion Barter – why are you certain of that today?” counsel queried.

“Because I was under pressure,” Mr Blum responded.

Before the inquest concluded for the day on Friday, Ms Barter’s daughter Sally Leydon gave a raw account of years of grief and pain at the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

She said neither NSW Police nor QLD Police had spoken to or sighted Ms Barter before declaring she was located.

Missing woman Marion Barter and her daughter Sally Leydon.

“By the time I was ready to be married in 1998 she had not been seen for a little over a year,” Ms Leydon said.

“I’d been told my mum didn’t want us to know where she was, or what she was doing, and she didn’t want to see me again even though she booked the chapel at her school for Chris and I to be married.”

Ms Leydon said she had no-one to talk to when she fell pregnant, could never share the joy of her children with her mother, and her mother’s disappearance had irrevocably damaged their family.

Ms Barter’s parents died without knowing what happened to her – while her son, Ms Leydon’s brother Owen, died by suicide shortly after her disappearance.

Sally Leydon in 2019 as investigators turned their attention back to her mother’s disappearance.

“Her son was left thinking his mother had left him again and he ended up taking his own life,” Ms Leydon told the court.

“He was engaged to be married, his life was starting to look up, but he made comments he felt abandoned by Mum.”

Ms Leydon said her mother had been missing for 9077 days – and she still needs to know what happened in order to find closure.

“I cannot get on with my life because in my fantasy she is alive and well, living in Venice, having a wonderful time,” Ms Leydon said.

“My heart aches with anxiety every time I talk about it, I need that pain to stop before it stops me.”

The coroner commended Ms Leydon’s dignity and grace as well as her relentless quest for her answers about Ms Barter.

The inquest will resume in Sydney on October 27.