Australians continue to speculate whether Melissa Caddick is alive and in hiding almost four years after the notorious scammer disappeared.
Caddick, 49, disappeared on November 12, 2020, after fleecing $30 million from investors, including her family and friends, while working as a financial advisor.
Police declared the case closed after a foot matching Caddick’s DNA turned up at Bournda Beach, 500 kilometers south of Sydney on the New South Wales south coast, in early 2021.
They believe Caddick took his own life by jumping from a cliff near his mansion in Dover Heights, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, just hours after agents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided his home.
Then in May 2023, New South Wales Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Ryan ruled that Caddick had died, but noted that there was insufficient evidence to determine how he had died.
He said Caddick had been in contact with his son, whom he loved dearly, since his disappearance.
Despite the coroner’s ruling, the question of what happened to Caddick remains on the minds of thousands of Australians, including criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro.
“The whole story is dubious in my opinion,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
Melissa Caddick, 49, disappeared on November 12, 2020 after fleecing $30 million from investors, including her family and friends, while working as a financial advisor.
Pictured is criminal psychologist Dr Tim Watson-Munro.
“I don’t know if she is alive or dead. A couple of years ago I commented that with that amount of money practically anything could be organized surgically.
But on all the beaches in the world, the shoe is washed with the foot inside. All of that seemed like a great coincidence to me.
“Ultimately, the degradation of the shoe was not very great, but several theories were put forward, one was that a crime may have been committed.”
The shoe may have been placed to show that she had died or had gone to sea.
‘Who knows? Most likely, he is deceased. That’s my opinion. How did he die? That is speculative, whether it was suicide or foul play.
Watson-Munro explained that missing criminals who were discovered to be still alive were usually found due to a simple mistake made by them or a third party.
“It’s a zip code, a stamp or a phone call that alerts authorities to the possibility that they are alive, as well as their exact geographic location,” he said.
‘You would have thought that she has a son, the son would be curious about her.
“But I would say, without being too brutal for someone who has passed away and for a family who has experienced immense loss and trauma, that their son did not seem to be at the forefront of their decision-making when he disappeared.
‘Obviously I haven’t spoken to the son, so I speak to him in general terms, not in specific terms. But when children lose their mothers or fathers under mysterious circumstances, there can never really be a foreclosure.’
Caddick is pictured with her husband, hairstylist and DJ, Anthony Koletti, in happier times
Caddick is believed to have left his home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs hours after an ASIC raid.
Watson-Munro said that while losing a foot may seem extreme to some people, it pales in comparison to serving a 10- to 15-year prison sentence.
“She could afford a good surgeon who could perhaps remove the foot and give her a prosthesis that would be suitable and comfortable,” he said.
“Now, to some that may seem pretty drastic, but when you’re faced with what she was facing in terms of probably decades in prison, certainly more than 10 to 15 years, which you would think for that amount of money, it’s an option.” softer.
‘She was the queen of the scam, the queen of the Ponzi scheme.
‘In terms of character, I haven’t examined her, but from what I have read and observed, there is no real remorse when you start scamming family members.
“And when you abandon a child at a very vulnerable age, you really have to question that whole issue of maternal bonding versus self-interest.”
Dozens of Australians have shared their own theories on specific forums, such as the popular ‘Melissa Caddick is alive and hidden’ Facebook page.
One theory read: “She is alive and lives abroad, she had money to organize a new ID.” She will see her son when she is 18 and old enough to travel alone without being detected by the public.
In May 2023, New South Wales Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Ryan ruled that Caddick (pictured with Koletti) had died, but that there was insufficient evidence to determine how he had died.
A second added: “With all the money he had and the kind of person he is, he would have had a plan B planned and could live anywhere with a totally new identity and a prosthetic foot.” Isn’t it really hard to imagine!?
A third said: “She’s definitely not dead, if she was smart enough to rob her family and friends without them knowing, she’s smart enough to escape undetected under the cover of darkness.”
‘When the years have passed and she is a memory, her partner and her son will go to where she is. She will have a new identity and probably money from investments abroad.
A fourth added: ‘Anyone can hop on a 40ft cruiser, walk past it and avoid customs. He had money to rent or buy a boat. It seems feasible.
“I think she’s alive, they removed her foot.” She is abroad and leads a quiet, non-exclusive life.
Another added: ‘Still rich but not flashy. New face and some surgery to integrate wherever you are. Her husband was just a pawn in the game of her life. She will call her son when he can travel abroad without an adult.
“But honestly, wherever he was, he was a horrible person.”