Melissa CADDICK
"Given the circumstances of the disappearance (and) the fact that
she left personal belongings behind, we've always considered the possibility
that she might have taken her own life," Mr Willing said.
Modelling by NSW Police marine rescue teams, taking tides and
drift patterns into account, has explored the possibility that Ms Caddick
entered the water in the Dover Heights area around November 12.
The modelling deemed it possible that her body could have drifted
to Bournda.
The shoe found at the beach was the running shoe Ms Caddick was
last seen wearing during to ASIC raid.
Mr Willing said the foot had "obviously" been in the water for
"some time", and the remains will help investigators determine when Ms Caddick
died.
Investigations are still ongoing.
Melissa Caddick’s father-in-law suggests she could still be alive and in hiding
The father-in-law of millionaire conwoman Melissa Caddick is not convinced she
is dead, despite her foot washing up on a NSW beach.
The father-in-law of alleged conwoman Melissa Caddick believes she could still
be alive, saying the discovery of the Sydney woman’s severed foot doesn’t prove
her death.
Ms Caddick went missing from her $7 million Dover Heights home to go for a
run on November 12, the morning after authorities raided her home over
claims she had duped investors out of more than $25 million.
On February 21, her decomposed severed foot was discovered in her Asics
trainer after it washed up on Bournda Beach on the NSW south coast.
Despite extensive searches, no more of Ms Caddick’s remains have since been
found.
The 49-year-old’s father-in-law, Rodo Koletti, is not convinced she is dead,
suggesting she could still be alive and in hiding.
“There are still too many unanswered questions. How much of the foot was in the
shoe? How was it severed from the rest of the body?” he told The
Daily Telegraph.
“Why did the forensic scientist say that the shoe did not appear to be more
deteriorated if it had been in the sea since November? Alive or dead, suicide or
murder … who knows? The proof will come out eventually.”
Mr Koletti isn’t the only person who thinks Ms Caddick could still be alive,
with an international aquatic forensics expert saying a key detail in her shoe
suggests she was alive well after she disappeared.
Earlier this week, Murdoch
University expert Dr Paola Magni told The
Daily Telegraph that the shoe would have had barnacles and marine growth on
it within two weeks of being in the water.
She said if the shoe had been in the water since November when Ms Caddick
disappeared then the lack of barnacles was odd.
“But if a shoe was underwater protected perhaps in a plastic bag or submerged in
a car there is less chance of barnacles maybe. Barnacles can attach on a shoe in
15 days in my experience,” she said.
Last month, Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Newcastle,
Dr Xanthe Mallett, also noted the discovery of Ms Caddick’s foot didn’t mean she
was dead, pointing
out “you can survive without your foot”.
She told Weekend
Today that if more remains were found then it would be confirmation of the
alleged conwoman’s death, but with just a foot she “would be sceptical”.
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller entertained the theory that Ms Caddick could
still be alive during an interview on 2GB on Monday.
“There’s always a chance she cut her foot off and is still alive, though it’s
pretty fanciful,” he said.
While Mr Fuller said he was “satisfied” Ms Caddick is dead, the case remains
wide open.
“We have 68 victims of fraud and we feel sorry for them,” he said.
“We’re still trying to recover funds and that investigation continues. But we
haven’t closed this case.”
While some believe Ms Caddick could still be alive, other experts have suggested
the discovery of her foot could mean foul play was involved.
Police have confirmed they haven’t ruled out foul play, but Mr Fuller said there
was a “slim chance” of that being the case.
Ms Caddick is accused of misappropriating investor funds through her finance
business Maliver Pty Ltd, with the majority of her alleged victims family
members and longstanding friends.
Criminal charges against missing Sydney woman Melissa Caddick
will be dropped by the corporate watchdog five
weeks after her badly-decomposed
foot washed up on a beach.
A warrant for the 49-year-old suspected con woman's arrest had
been issued on behalf of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC),
who had laid almost 40 charges against Ms Caddick.
The charges will be formally withdrawn in Sydney's Downing Centre
Local Court on Tuesday.
Ms Caddick went missing last November, a
day after ASIC executed a search warrant at her eastern Sydney mansion.
A report released last week into her financial affairs indicated
she had likely misappropriated about $25 million of investors' funds.
The only remains that have been found are her decomposing foot,
which campers found washed
up in a running shoe on a beach about 400km south of Sydney.
ASIC confirmed the charges would be withdrawn, as had the
warrant, to enable the civil proceeding to go ahead.
ASIC reserves its rights however to reinstate the charges at a
later date.
"It is not for ASIC to determine if, or speculate on whether, Ms
Caddick is alive. That is a matter for the NSW Police and – should it come to
that – a coroner," a spokeswoman for ASIC told AAP.
However, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has said he is
satisfied Ms Caddick is dead.
"There's always a chance she cut her foot off and is still alive
but that's pretty fanciful," he told 2GB radio in early March.
"We are still looking for her remains and we're still looking for
where the funds may be."
The commissioner said police were still investigating and hoped
to provide some justice to those aggrieved.
"We feel sorry for them but we are still looking at trying to
recover funds and that investigation continues," he said.
Other bones and remains found on surrounding beaches did not
belong to Ms Caddick.
Civil proceedings against Ms Caddick and her company Maliver
continue.