A billboard offering a $500,000 reward for information about the disappearance of Marion Barter has triggered the memory of a former Byron Bay bank manager.
Ms Barter was 51 when she was last seen at a bus stop in Southport on the Gold Coast more than 25 years ago.
The school teacher left Australia in 1997 for a trip to Europe.
Her family had no idea she had changed her name to Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel just before her departure, and they would never see her again.
Ms Barter initially kept in touch with her family and friends, but when she did not call to wish her son a happy birthday in October of that year, her daughter reported her concerns to the police in Byron Bay.
The suspected death of the mother of two has captured the attention of millions of Australians through the popular podcast The Lady Vanishes, and the NSW Coroner's Court is investigating the case.
New evidence as photo triggers memory
Today the court heard evidence from a former manager of the State Bank in Byron Bay, Joan Hazlett.
The court heard she was "90 per cent sure" the missing woman came into the bank with a flower behind her ear.
Ms Hazlett said her memory was triggered when she saw a picture of Ms Barter on a billboard near Grafton earlier this year.
"When I saw the picture of her, I remembered the lady with the white hibiscus," she said.
"I honestly thought she was a bit of a flip.
"She was calling herself a different name and said she was going to Bali to find herself.
"She was really quite happy about the whole thing."
Ms Hazlett told the court she thought the missing woman visited the bank in the spring of 1997.
"I vaguely remember it was around about springtime, maybe September or October. I'm just not sure of the month," she said.
"But it was in the warmer months with quite a lot of tourists around."
Ms Hazlett said she remembered the town being full because Silverchair was due to play at the Homebake Music Festival, although Counsel Assisting the Coroner told the court that actually happened in 1996.
But bank records show a number of withdrawals being made in Ms Barter's name in August of 1997.
Ms Hazlett said she personally checked the missing woman's identification because one of the withdrawals was large enough to trigger a suspicious transaction report.
"When I was bank manager, I was really strict about verification and identification," she said.
"The identification agreed with the forms she filled out."
The court is due to hear submissions from lawyers representing the family and NSW Police later this month.
NSW State Coroner, Teresa O'Sullivan, is expected to deliver her findings at the end of November.
