A Sydney teenage girl last seen leaving for school 40 years ago probably ran away and may still be alive , a coronial inquest has found . Marian Carole Rees was 13 when she disappeared from Hillsdale in southern Sydney in early April 1975 after telling a friend that she had forgotten something and jumped off her school bus . The teenager often talked of running away from home and had said goodbye to her brother on the morning she disappeared , Magistrate Sharon Freund said in findings handed down on Thursday . Marion Carole Rees ( pictured ) who went missing 40 years ago may still be alive , according to an inquest . Ms Freund said the disappearance did not appear suspicious and there was no evidence suggesting suicide . The teenager probably ran away with the intention of permanently cutting ties with family and friends , she said . 'It is likely nothing has changed in the intervening period . ' 'She may still want to avoid detection and not wish to make contact with her family . ' She said she was unconvinced , on the balance of probabilities , that Ms Rees is dead . Magistrate Freund said 'the ability to assume a new identity and new life would have been a lot easier forty years ago ' . Marion ( pictured with her family ) was reportedly fed up with taking care of her younger siblings , as her mother had a drinking problem . Marian had only been living in Australia for a year after emigrating when she went missing while on the bus to Matravill High School with her friend Tanya Davenport . The 13-year-old jumped up to say she had forgotten something and got off the bus . She has n't been seen since , however her mother 's boyfriend at the time came out to say he thought he spotted her at a bus stop in Kingsford just weeks after she disappeared . In a statement last year , Mrs Davenport told the Daily Telegraph that Marian was preoccupied during their bus journey and thought she may have seen something when she jumped off the bus . ' [ Marian ] was sitting next to me and from memory she looked a bit upset . During our conversation , she was looking out the window . I do n't know whether she saw something or what but she jumped out of her seat and said ' I 've forgotten something . I 've got to go and I 'll see you at school , ' Mrs Davenport said . Marian had spoke about running away on numerous occasions according to her aunt and grandmother . Ms Rees would now be 53 years old . It is believed that she may have been running away from her mother Margaret and her two siblings John and Joanne , who she often had to take care of due to her mother 's drinking . After her disappearance Marian 's relatives , including her grandmother and her aunt , told of how the teenager longed to run away from her normal life . The case has been referred back to the Missing Person 's Unit for further investigation as the Magistrate believes there were holes in the police investigation at the time .
A 13-year-old girl who vanished 13 may still be alive . Marian Carole Rees disappeared from Hillsdale in southern Sydney . She often talked about running away and an inquest has heard it was not suspicious . Magistrate Sharon Freund believes she may still want to avoid detection . She said she was unconvinced that Ms Rees is dead .