Despite rumors the mother fled Australia, the chief of police who supervised the investigation into Melissa Caddick’s disappearance still believes the scammer took her own life.
The 49-year-old was reported missing by her husband, Anthony Koletti, on November 13, 2020, two days after ASIC and Australian Federal Police agents searched her Dover Heights residence.
The police collected a mountain of CCTV video from nearby residences.
On February 15, 2021, at a “milestone meeting” with senior police officials, Detective Sergeant Michael Foscholo requested extra resources to analyze surveillance material in search of Caddick.
Six days later, Caddick’s rotting foot washed ashore in a running shoe on Bournda Beach on the south coast of New South Wales, some 350 kilometers from her home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Melissa Caddick (pictured), a Sydney con artist, vanished on November 12, 2020, after ASIC and Australian Federal Police officials searched her Dover Heights residence.
Since this dreadful finding, Australians have been debating what they believe happened to Caddick.
During a Tuesday inquest in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court, Mr. Koletti’s attorney Judy Swan posed this question to Detective Sergeant Foscholo, who assumed command of the inquiry ten days into its duration.
Det. Sgt. Foscholo provided his perspective after a quick chuckle in response to Ms. Swan’s original query, if he had ever heard the idiom “someone died of shame.”
He stated, “It seemed evident to me that Melissa Caddick’s fraudulent operations were one of the causes of her abduction and eventually the reason or purpose for her suicide.”
Det. Sgt. Foscholo stated that the finding of the foot prompted police to examine “particular sites” on the south shore, but that surveillance footage had previously been collected from Dover Heights coastal areas and Rose Bay marinas.
Approximately 20% of the film has been evaluated as of the February 15 meeting.
Det. Sgt. Foscholo believes Caddick leapt from the Rodney Reserve Cliffs, however there was no CCTV evidence of the fastest path from Caddick’s home to the Rodney Reserve Cliffs.
He stated, “(It is) the nearest site to her home, and there is open water there.”
‘It’s not a bay … Once you reach the open sea, there are several unknown variables.
Michael Foscholo (pictured) assumed responsibility for the investigation into Melissa Caddick’s disappearance in New South Wales.
Michael Foscholo, detective sergeant, believes the fraudster committed suicide by falling over Rodney Reserve Cliffs (
Eastern Suburbs Police Region Command Detective Inspector Gretchen Atkins stated that wounded or otherwise restricted officers from the area were assigned to check CCTV footage from the Dover Heights residence where Caddick was last seen as well as from airports and other departure points.
Det. Insp. Atkins told the inquiry on Tuesday, “We were severely understaffed at the time.”
Det. Sgt. Foscholo, who took over as officer-in-charge when Caddick’s disappearance gained public notice, desired further assistance.
He stated, “With the resources I had available, we were pushing through it.”
Additional resources would have been beneficial.
Det. Insp. Atkins, his boss, stated that she attempted to supply them.
She stated, “I gave him all I could at the time.”
It was laborious and time-consuming, and he was attempting to study it as soon as possible.
Caddick’s husband, Anthony Koletti (seen at the inquest on Tuesday), reported her missing two days after the raid on her residence.
Before disappearing, Caddick scammed relatives and friends of $20 million to $30 million in a Ponzi scheme
Det. Sgt. Foscholo told the investigation that his plan was to instantly “saturate” the area surrounding her residence, searching for any potentially valuable CCTV footage before it was erased or rewritten.
However, CCTV was only one component of a complicated inquiry that was beginning to garner considerable interest.
Det. Sgt. Foscholo stated, “It was evident to me that Melissa Caddick would not just turn herself in at a police station.”
Before her abduction, Caddick scammed relatives and friends of between $20 million and $30 million in a Ponzi scheme.
The investigation will continue in February.
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