Melissa CADDICK

 

 

 

Melissa Caddick went missing from her Sydney home on November 12. Picture: Andy Baker

 

 

How campers discovered Melissa Caddick's foot on NSW beach

Ash Cant - Yahoo

New details have emerged about how a group of campers discovered the remains of missing millionaire Melissa Caddick.

On February 21, the group stumbled upon a running shoe containing human remains while walking along Bournda Beach, on the NSW south coast.

One of the campers picked up the shoe to to throw it out, only to find the foot still inside. 

Using DNA from the accused con artist's toothbrush, forensics were able to confirm on Thursday that the decomposing foot belonged to Ms Caddick.

Images of the sneakers were obtained by 7News and show the ASICS sneaker on the sand, with the contents inside the shoe blurred out.

Camper John McLaren told The South Coast News he saw a group of young people, three men and a woman, direct police to the shoe on the Sunday.

He said the group didn't appear to be shaken. He followed the police to where a group of people gathered at the end of a walking track at the beach.

The remainder of Ms Caddick's body is yet to be located.

Melissa Caddick missing since November

Ms Caddick vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC executed a search warrant at her luxury Dover Heights home on November 11.

Liquidators allege the self-styled financial adviser "meticulously and systematically" deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle.

On Friday, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing told reporters foul play has not been ruled out, though suicide is more likely.

"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.

MARCH 10, 20218:42AM

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.

 

 

Shocking new twist in case of missing woman Melissa Caddick

Australian Associated Press
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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.