Melissa Caddick: New Idea magazine drops truly astonishing claim about notorious conwoman’s recent whereabouts… but not everyone’s convinced
Missing con artist Melissa Caddick may be hiding out as a tourist in Bali, according to a bizarre new theory about the footless con artist’s whereabouts published in New Idea.
The magazine reported that a Caddick lookalike has been spotted ‘limping’ through the popular holiday destination, almost four years after she disappeared from Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
One alleged sighting of the serial conman took place at a bar in Seminyak, on the south side of the island, and was shared on the Melissa Caddick Discussion Group’s Alive and in Hiding Facebook page.
One woman wrote that she was “hesitant” about repeating her traveling companion’s alleged encounter with Caddick in the restaurant, but did so anyway.
“She met a lady at the Potato Head Beach Club who looked exactly like her, but she was wearing a long sarong and walked with a limp,” the woman wrote.
“It seems to me that there is a good chance that it is MC?”
Caddick, who ran a fraudulent financial services company, disappeared in November 2020, a day after ASIC detectives and Australian Federal Police officers searched her Dover Heights home.
The 49-year-old embezzled about $23 million from investors, mostly family members and friends, and was declared dead by a coroner in May last year.
Missing con artist Melissa Caddick (above) could be hiding out as a tourist in Bali, according to a bizarre new theory about her whereabouts published in New Idea
In February 2021, Caddick’s right foot – which matched her DNA – was found in a shoe that washed up on a beach south of Tathra, about 500km from where she was last seen alive.
Caddick’s possible appearance prompted a flurry of responses on the Facebook page from users who either supported or disapproved of the idea.
“That could be, but how bad was her limp?” one participant asked. “Was it bad, like my foot was cut off, or not so bad, like I have a blister on my toe?”
Another user wondered how Caddick could possibly avoid being detected at Denpasar International Airport.
“Bali would be one of the easiest places to get to, she could get there by boat,” the person wrote.
But for one disappointed member of the group, the sighting was not news.
“I’ve seen her there many times… especially in Kuta,” the member wrote. “She was really… no doubt about it… a charming lady even though she scammed a few people.”
Other Facebook users were not convinced that Caddick would choose to start a new life in Bali if she were alive at all.
One alleged sighting of Caddick occurred at the Potato Head Beach Club (above) in Seminyak and was shared on the Melissa Caddick Discussion Group’s Alive and in Hiding Facebook page
‘I doubt she’d be stupid enough to go to Potato Head after her A-grade disappearing act,’ wrote one. ‘There are too many Aussies in Bali for Houdini Caddick to just drop in and take a dip.’
Another made a perhaps obvious suggestion: “I wish people would take pictures in an age where 99% of us have phones.”
Some users of the page, which has nearly 9,500 followers, wondered why the original, observant observer had not called police.
Have you alerted any authority or other body? [were you] “Too hesitant?” asked one.
New Idea gave its own assessment of the social media posts and Caddick’s fate.
“Whether or not Caddick has been spotted in Bali, it is clear the report reflects a broader sentiment among Australians who continue to speculate whether she is alive and in hiding,” the report said.