Melissa Caddick’s fate finally revealed but questions still remain

Missing conwoman Melissa Caddick’s fate has finally been revealed after an inquest into her disappearance determined that the 49 year old is dead.

Caddick disappeared on November 12, 2020, after the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) launched an investigation into the financial advisor for allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme.

Several weeks later, in February 2021, Caddick’s decomposing foot washed up on a NSW south coast beach, close to her home.

Theories have swirled as to Caddick’s fate, however, on Thursday, May 25 Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan handed down her findings, concluding that the missing conwoman was dead.

However, Ryan was unable to provide any details regarding the time, location, or circumstances surrounding Caddick’s demise.

Despite no solid answer as to how she died, some have suggested that she may have taken her life at the cliffs near her home.

“It is certainly possible that she died in this manner,” Ryan said.

“Due to Ms Caddick’s likely personality structure, she could well have regarded suicide as her only escape from the personal and professional catastrophe which overtook her on 11 November 2020.”

However, Ryan reached the conclusion that the evidence presented at the inquest did not allow for such a determination to be made.

Ryan concluded the inquest by offering her sympathies to Caddick family.

“I will close by conveying to Ms Caddick’s family my sympathy for the loss of their mother, wife, daughter and sister,” she said.

“I regret that positive findings cannot be made as to the cause and manner of death.”

It has long been presumed that the 49 year old had died after the remains of her foot were discovered.

A previous hearing into her disappearance heard that an autopsy had determined that the severed foot did indeed belong to Caddick, however it could not determine how the foot came to be separated.

Following years of speculation, a top criminologist offered her take on the mysterious case with a theory on Caddick’s fate.

Dr Xanthe Mallett previously told The Daily Mail it’s difficult to determine whether Caddick is dead or alive given her severed foot is the only trace left of the conwoman.

“It’s possible, at the extreme end of what’s possible, in that what’s been recovered is a foot and medically you can survive without a foot,” she said.

“It wouldn’t be impossible to disappear when you have that much money. As an investigator, I couldn’t rule it out. But what’s possible and likely are two very different things.”