Marion Hodge

Marion Hodge vanished in 1984.

She was last seen when she was dropped off on the Whitesands in Dumfries on 6 July 1984.

She had lived with her husband and two children in West House, Balgray, near Lockerbie.

Her husband was charged over her death in December 2023. However, in February 2025 he was found unfit to plead and he died in May 2025, before he could be tried.

Marion Hodge's body was never found although she was declared legally dead by the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 1992.

Following his death the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service stated that the examination of facts proceedings were then at an end and that four decade police investigation was over and that the case was closed.

The general timeline of events was:

• 6 July 1984: Marion Hodge dissapears. Investigation into her dissapearnce carried out.
• 1991: Marion Hodge's family claim her husband killed her.
• 1992: Marion Hodge declared legally dead.
• 2006: Police re-open missing person investigation.
• March 2006: Police detain man in connection with her disappearance.
• March 2022: Police carry out investigation.
• September 2023: Police lodge report with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
• December 2023: Husband charged with murder.
• September 2024: Trial date.
• February 2025: Husband found unfit to plead.
• May 2025: Husband died.

Marion Hodge had been 5ft 4in tall with a slim build and dark brown, collar-length hair.

She married at the age of 18 and became a mother by 19.

On the day before her disappearnce, 5 July 1984, she left home at 8am to go to work at the Clydesdale Bank where she worked as a teller. It was heard that her demeanour was normal and likeable, that she appeared to be in good humour and didn't say that anything was wrong. Neither did she tender her resignation or suggest that that was likely. She then left as usual around 4.30pm and travelled back to her home.

What happened next was unclear, but it was known that Marion Hodge had been having an affair with a divorced man, and that the ex-wife of the man that she had been seeing called at West House and pleaded with Marion Hodge not to destroy her marriage too. There was said to have then been a furious row involving Marion Hodge, her husband and the ex-wife.

The ex-wife left the house at about 9pm after which Marion Hodge's husband said that he and his wife went to bed. Her husband said that after they went to bed that Marion Hodge asked him for a lift to the bus station in Dumfries 25 miles away and that he took her there the following morning at 7.30am. He said that he didn't know what bus he was going to take, or where she was going and that after dropping her off he returned home.

He later told the police that she had left him and that he was never going to see her alive again.

Marion Hodge didn't turn up for work that day and was never seen again. however, it was noted that three days after her disapearance that the bank that she worked at gor a call from a man that told them that Marion Hodge was well, but would not be back.

He said that he had driven her the 25 miles to the bus station and that she had had £1,000 in her suitcase.

However, it was determined that £100 was withdrawn from an automatic teller at 8am that morning in Dunfries. It was noted that it was not known whether anyone else knew her password.

When she vanished, she had been wearing a cream high collared blouse, grey skirt and black sandals and carrying a blue canvas suitcase and brown handbag.

Marion Hodge's dissapearance didn't come to light for a week however, when her lover told an off-duty policemasn that he knew that he was concerned after not hearing from Marion Hodgefor some time.

When she vanished her husband told friends and family that she had 'gone away', but it was noted that that was uncharateristic of her, it being noted that she would never turn he rback on her children. The day she vanished was her son's 15th birthday.

After that a full scale investigation began, with her photograph circulated nationally and her case also featuring on the Crimewatch program on the BBC.

It was noted that she wasn't seen at the bus station or the bank machine, or in any of the nearby streets.

Marion Hodge's husband later moved in with a lover and made an application to sell the house that had been in the name of both him and Marion Hodge.

When he tried to sell the house in 1991, Marion Hodge's family petitioned for the claim to be frozen whilst they raised funds to fight it, noting that Marion Hodge's share of the house should go into her estate, and that if Marion Hodge's husband was found to be responsible for her death that that would have consequences on his claims to her estate.

It was noted that under the Presumption of Death Scotland Act 1977, that once a person had been missing for seven years, that a judge could be asked to declare that person dead.

At that time, when asked to comment, the oplice said:

There were three investigations into her dissapearance and murder, the first in 1984, then in 2006 and again in March 2022.

However, in 1991 Marion Hodge's parents declared that they beleived her husband had killed her.

The police reopened Marion Hodge's missing persons case in 2066 and in March 2006 detained a man in connection with her murder. However, no further action was taken.

By September 2023 the police lodged their report with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and her husband was served with a murder indictment in December 2023, it being alleged that he murdered murder Marion Hodge by means unknown and then had disposed of her body, which has never been found.

The trial was set for September 2024 at Glasgow High Court, however, he was found unfit to stand trial in February 2025, and so it was thought the best way to proceed would be an examination of the facts.

Her husband at that time had been in a care home in Bristol and already showing signs of dementia and he died in May 2025..