A new lead suggests the disappearance of a Gold Coast teacher 22 years ago may be linked to a sect in the northern NSW hinterland.

The Lady Vanishes podcast has now reached more than one million listeners in Australia and around the world, and the 7NEWS investigative team behind the podcast has been inundated with tips and information since launching two months ago.

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After her third marriage ended, Marion Barter disappeared in 1997 at the age of 51, having travelled to the United Kingdom for a year-long holiday.

Now a credible tip has been received, prompting an investigation into the group Hermes Far Eastern Shining, otherwise known as the Water People.

Several sources indicated they had information that Marion was lured into joining Hermes, which has its base at the semi-rural town of Tyalgum.

Marion’s bank account was drained over several weeks nearby at Byron Bay.

Although initially hostile about inquiries into Marion, one of the group’s leaders, Mobius Barnaby, or Moe as he prefers to be known, reluctantly agreed to speak in defence of Hermes following claims it had a track record of forcing its members to turn their back on their old lives and live with new identities.

“We make sure that everybody I’m related to … they take responsibility for their life,” Barnaby said.

“We’re not into people hiding their lives or being secretive.

"If people have those things going on, I would encourage them to deal with that. That’s not what we’re about.”

While preferring to not discuss how the group works, Barnaby said there were no leaders, just "individuals".

“Individual choice, that’s what it’s about,” he said.

“People make their own choices. I’m not in a position to tell people what to do and what not to do.

"My personal belief is that you’ve got to deal with your life. Deal with your family and deal with your friends.”

However, former Hermes member Anna Fitzgerald said she had little choice while she was there.

“Everybody lived communally in shared houses. There were several,” Fitzgerald said.

""I didn’t realise that I was in a cult.""

“Hermes owned several houses in the area and all the followers were in small groups in these houses.

"There was a great deal of moving from house to house. You rarely stayed very long in one household.

“You’d sort of be moved around, I don’t know why but, yes, people lived in households in these various dwellings that Hermes either rented or owned.”

“Your time isn’t your own. You’re told what to do with your time,” Fitzgerald said.

“I didn’t realise that I was in a cult.

"I thought that I was in a group where everyone was sacrificing everything in order to bring the divine into the world.

“So even though we worked very hard and things were very different, we all thought we were doing this wonderful thing together.”

Another source, who asked not be identified, said Barter’s photo looked familiar and that the group “basically run the town”.

The group was founded as Infinity Forms of Yellow Remember by Gerald Attril, a clinical psychologist from Queensland.

Attril changed his name to ‘Jessa O’ My Heart’ and led the group with absolute authority until his death in 2012 of a stroke, aged 72.

Fitzgerald claims she and other members were “treated like slaves” and the leadership required them to turn over any money and savings they had.

Find out more about the Tyalgum investigation in Episode 8 of The Lady Vanishes podcast.

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How to help

If you have information about Marion Barter’s whereabouts, you can email The Lady Vanishes: theladyvanishes@seven.com.au.