My name is Sally Leydon and the last time I saw my mother was in 1997.

My mother, Marion Barter, told me that she was going on a long holiday to the UK, and we never saw her again. We knew something was wrong the moment she missed her son’s birthday – something she would never do.

We have since found out that soon after she left for her ‘long holiday’ to England, she or someone using her passport returned to Australia. Her name was changed to ‘Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel’ and over the course of several weeks her bank account was completely drained in daily increments of $5000 – the maximum amount you can take out without identifying yourself.

Finally, after years of fighting, she was placed on the NSW missing person’s list. But just four years later NSW police removed her from the list and nobody can tell me why. 

I believe NSW police have a lot to answer for: why did they remove my mother from the missing person list? Why is there no record of the police searching for her in her last known locations? Why do the police refuse to work with European authorities to find out if they might be able to track her whereabouts abroad?

This is not just about my mother's case – this is about the justice of due course and a proper investigation for every missing person and everyone who's lost someone they love. 

For so many years I felt like I had to fight this battle alone. Now, I’m turning to ordinary people like you to help me to find my mother, so that I can finally find her or find closure. 

Channel 7 have made a podcast about my missing mother’s case – you can listen to it by searching for The Lady Vanishes and find out more information. 

Thank you for your supporting me.