Man drops astonishing claim about Melissa Caddick… but not everyone’s convinced
Missing imposter Melissa Caddick could be hiding out in Canada, according to a fanciful claim about the footless fraudster’s whereabouts published on a Facebook group – but many have expressed doubts.
A man claims to have seen Caddick ‘limping’ at a wedding in the Quebec city of Gatineau, almost four years after she disappeared from Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
‘I was at my cousin’s wedding when a penniless woman appeared who didn’t seem to know anyone. She leaned over the table and ate as if she hadn’t eaten in days,” the man explained in the unverified report.
“She clearly had box bleached blonde hair, walked with a limp, perhaps due to a prosthesis, and obvious plastic surgery.
‘After I heard about Melissa Caddick and saw her photo, I immediately had a flashback. It was her. No matter how much plastic surgery you undergo, you cannot change the shape of your big head.
“I’m waiting for my cousin to send me candid wedding photos for reference, but he hasn’t contacted me yet.”
Caddick, who ran a fake financial services company, disappeared in November 2020, a day after ASIC investigators and Australian Federal Police officers raided her Dover Heights home.
The 49-year-old embezzled about $23 million from investors, mostly family and friends, and was pronounced dead by a coroner in May last year.
Missing imposter Melissa Caddick (pictured) could be hiding out in Canada, according to a fanciful claim about the footless fraudster’s whereabouts published on a Facebook group
A man claims to have seen Caddick “limping” at a wedding in Gatineau, Quebec. In the photo: a building in Gatineau
In February 2021, Caddick’s right foot – matched by DNA – was found in a shoe washed up on a beach south of Tathra, about 500km from where she was last seen alive.
Caddick’s possible sighting provoked a large number of comments on the Facebook page from users, most of whom dismissed the idea.
“Unless you have pictures to prove it, I will consider this post unverified,” one person said.
Another said: ‘Why do I feel like you are talking absolute rubbish.’
A third said: ‘I don’t think she would go without money or go hungry. She is a master manipulator and planner. She would have been very organized and planned things well in advance.”
However, others supported the idea.
‘That’s an amazing breakthrough. Thanks for letting us know. It doesn’t sound like she’s doing well.’
A second added: ‘I’m not surprised, can’t wait for the pictures.’
A third joked: “Did she try to sell you financial services?”
Caddick is pictured with her hairdresser and DJ husband Anthony Koletti in happier times
The photo shows criminal psychologist Dr. Tim Watson-Munro. He said it was unlikely that Caddick was still alive
Regardless of whether Caddick was spotted in Canada, many Australians continue to wonder whether she might still be alive and deliberately avoiding detection.
However, criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia it is more likely she is dead.
“The shoe may have been planted to prove that she had died or that she had gone to sea,” he said.
‘Who knows? It’s more likely that she died. That’s my opinion. How did she die? That’s speculative, whether it was suicide or foul play.”
Mr Watson-Munro said 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 might be able to remove the foot and have a prosthetic foot made that would fit and be comfortable,” he said.
“To some that might seem quite drastic, but when you’re faced with what she faced in terms of probably decades in prison, certainly more than 10 to 15 years, you would think that for that amount of money it would be a softer option. .
“She was the queen of scams, the queen of the Ponzi scheme.”