Australians continue to speculate over whether Melissa Caddick is still alive and in hiding, almost four years after the infamous fraudster disappeared.
Caddick, 49, disappeared on November 12, 2020, after taking $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 washed up on Bournda Beach, 500km south of Sydney on the NSW south coast, in early 2021.
They believe Caddick committed suicide by jumping from cliffs near her mansion in Dover Heights in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, just hours after Australian Securities and Investments Commission officers raided her home.
Subsequently, NSW Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Ryan ruled in May 2023 that Caddick had died, but noted there was not enough evidence to determine how she had died.
She said that in the time since her disappearance, Caddick is said to have contacted her son, whom she loved dearly.
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, in my opinion, unreliable,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
Melissa Caddick, 49, disappeared on November 12, 2020 after siphoning off $30 million from investors, including her family and friends, while working as a financial advisor
The photo shows criminal psychologist Dr. Tim Watson-Munro
‘I don’t know if she’s alive or dead. A few years ago I made the comment that with that kind of money you can organize almost anything surgically.
‘But of all the beaches in the world, the shoe washed up with her foot in it. It all seemed like a big coincidence to me.
‘All things considered, the shoe’s degradation was not major, but a number of theories have been put forward, including that she may have been involved in foul play.
‘The shoe may have been planted to prove that she had died or that she had gone to sea.
‘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 explained that missing criminals who were discovered to be alive were usually found because of a simple mistake they or a third party made.
“It’s a zip code, a stamp or a phone call that alerts authorities to the possibility that they are still alive, as well as their exact geographic location,” he said.
‘You would think: she has a son, that son would be curious about her.
“But I would say, without being too bold for someone who has passed away and for a family that has experienced tremendous loss and trauma, that her son did not appear to play a major role in her decision-making when she disappeared.
‘Obviously I haven’t spoken to the son so I’m speaking to him in general principles and not specific terms. But if children lose their mother or father under mysterious circumstances, there can never really be exclusion.’
Caddick is pictured with her hairdresser and DJ husband Anthony Koletti in happier times
Caddick is said to have left her home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs hours after an ASIC raid
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 confronted 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.
“Character-wise, I haven’t researched her, but from what I’ve read and observed, there’s no real remorse when you start taking away family members.
“And when you’ve abandoned a son at a very vulnerable age, you have to question the whole issue of maternal bond versus self-interest.”
Dozens of Australians have shared their own theories on dedicated forums such as the popular Facebook page ‘Melissa Caddick is Alive and in Hiding’.
One theory stated: ‘She is alive and living abroad, she had the money to get a new ID card. She will see her son when he is 18 and old enough to travel alone, unnoticed by the public.”
In May 2023, NSW Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Ryan ruled that Caddick (pictured with Koletti) had died, but there was not enough evidence to determine how she had died.
A second added: ‘With all the money she had and the type of person she is, she would have had plan B all planned out and could live anywhere with a totally new identity and a prosthetic foot. Not that hard to imagine actually!?’
A third said: ‘Definitely not dead. If she was smart enough to rob her family and friends without their knowledge, then she is smart enough to have escaped without detection under the cover of darkness.”
“When the years are over and she is a memory, her partner and son will go to where she is. She will get a new identity and probably money from foreign investments.’
A fourth added: ‘Anyone can just hop on a 40ft cruiser, sail past the heads and avoid customs. She had the money to rent or buy a boat. Seems feasible.
‘I think she’s still alive, her foot has been removed. She is abroad, living a quiet, non-exclusive life.”
Another added: ‘Still rich, but not flashy. New face and surgery to blend in wherever she is. Her husband was just a pawn in her game of life. She will call on her son if he can travel abroad without an adult.
“But honestly, wherever she was, she was a terrible person.”