Found Deceased Australia - Melissa Caddick, 49, Sydney, NSW, 12 Nov 2020 #7

[stormbird]

Whilst the financial reporting based on what is available has been exceptional on this thread (thank you) so so many questions remain. Questions that simply must have answers. Are those answers being withheld or are they unknown? Questions like, where is the rest of the money? What are the odds of her foot washing up on that particular beach. What are the chances of the foot being found?
It’s questions like these, with incomprehensible odds that make the whole suicide thing seem so illogical. let’s hope it all comes out in the fullness of time

I agree, there are lots of questions that haven't been answered. I'd like to know more about how the shoe was found. There are various short descriptions of the people who found it, but the descriptions vary so much I think it's possible the information came mostly from rumours. From what I remember: reportedly there were two teenagers, or three teenagers, or maybe they were men, who were campers, or surfers, or walkers, or people picking up rubbish. And I haven't seen any mention of police having interviewed them. The report below says the shoe was not suspected to be connected to Melissa until one day later, so presumably the South Coast police who responded on the day it was found (Sunday 21 Feb 2021) might have been asking only general questions about an object which they weren't even sure was suspicious.

Here's my transcription of a 9 News report from a link posted by @bearbear in an earlier thread: Remains of Melissa Caddick found on NSW South Coast, 9 News, 26 Feb 2021. See the video captioned "Shock discovery in Melissa Caddick disappearance" from about 3:25 mins:

Emma Partridge, reporter at the beach, to presenter in the studio, Georgie Gardner: "Yes, Georgie, it was incredible luck and incredible police work.
The teenager who found the shoe here on Bournda Beach, just behind me, was about to put it in the bin when he realised there were bones inside and called police on Sunday afternoon. Now this didn't originally raise any flags because [break in video] of the shoes Melissa Caddick was seen wearing by her family, so it wasn't until the Monday that the Missing Persons Registry performed its daily routine scan across all the police reports in the state that it linked the shoe found here to the shoe that Melissa was seen wearing in that search warrant footage you would have seen earlier. And Georgie, police will continue to search the beaches along the South Coast here and in Sydney in the coming days."

 

[stormbird]

I agree, there are lots of questions that haven't been answered. I'd like to know more about how the shoe was found. <snipped>

Adding: this news report does quote one of the people who found the shoe, but doesn't add much detail about the circumstances:

'A camper who discovered a decaying foot on a NSW beach has opened up about the gruesome find.
The man, who did not wish to be identified, was with friends picking up rubbish along Bournda Beach, south of Tathra, on February 21, when he noticed the grey sneaker in the sand.
"At the time we were all a bit in shock, we obviously didn't think it was real at first," he told 7NEWS.
"We were wondering whether someone had played a prank – put some chicken bones in a shoe or something."'
...
'The group of campers immediately called police once they realised what they had found. They waited for more than two hours in the scorching heat for the police to arrive.
"The weird thing is, while we were sitting there waiting for the cops, a few seagulls came and tried to take the shoe away."
The camper said officers had to send a photo of the bones to doctors to make sure they were human.
The group were stunned when they found out days later the foot belonged to Caddick.
"We were still just more in shock than anything. We couldn't really realise what had happened to us," the camper said."
...
'The picture of the footwear and its gruesome contents, obtained exclusively by 7NEWS, were taken by the man who found the shoe.'

- Camper details horrifying moment he found decomposing foot of missing Sydney businesswoman, 7NEWS and AAP, 27 and 28 Feb 2021 (linked by SouthAussie in a previous thread)

 

[stormbird]

Adding:
This probably doesn't make much difference, but I think it would be interesting to know if it affected anything:

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service page for Hobart Beach campground, near Bournda Beach, says:
- (on the "Overview" tab under "Please note") "There is no mobile phone coverage at the campground. It can be intermittent along the access road." and
- (on the "Visitor Info" tab under "Safety messages: Mobile safety") "Please note there is limited mobile phone reception in this park and you'll need mobile reception to call Triple Zero (000)."

How did the shoe-finders call police? Was there phone reception at the beach, or did they have to drive somewhere else first?

 

[Sophist]

Whilst the financial reporting based on what is available has been exceptional on this thread (thank you) so so many questions remain. Questions that simply must have answers. Are those answers being withheld or are they unknown? Questions like, where is the rest of the money? What are the odds of her foot washing up on that particular beach. What are the chances of the foot being found?
It’s questions like these, with incomprehensible odds that make the whole suicide thing seem so illogical. let’s hope it all comes out in the fullness of time

I agree many many questions. There hasn’t been any information that I know about the investigation into the condition of the foot and the shoe and if that helps determine cause or date of death, or even if it’s confirmation of death, if it had been in the water and for how long

 

[Estelle]

Guys he literally just walked out of his wife’s funeral...

I agree that he’s lost weight. Not surprising tbh.

Im surprised the son is still living there the majority of the time though. Maybe him and AK are moral support for each other. It also looks like Anthony Caddick may have been at the funeral with his wife? Would love to know what he’s thinking about the whole thing...

I do not agree that Anthony Caddick (MC's ex-husband) attended the funeral. The older grey-haired man is MC's father, Ted Grimley and the red-haired older lady is MC's mother, Barbara Grimley.

"There were Anthony Koleti, Ms Caddick’s parents, Barbara and Ted Grimley, her brother Adam Grimley and (two?) friends".

 

[Estelle]

I agree many many questions. There hasn’t been any information that I know about the investigation into the condition of the foot and the shoe and if that helps determine cause or date of death, or even if it’s confirmation of death, if it had been in the water and for how long

Yes I would really love to know if they can prove that the foot/shoe had been in the ocean and for how long. It looks as if we have to wait until the inquest.

 

[JLZ]

I do not agree that Anthony Caddick (MC's ex-husband) attended the funeral. The older grey-haired man is MC's father, Ted Grimley and the red-haired older lady is MC's mother, Barbara Grimley.

"There were Anthony Koleti, Ms Caddick’s parents, Barbara and Ted Grimley, her brother Adam Grimley and (two?) friends".

And the other two women? One with straight grey hair, the other dark, fuzzy? Friends, of whom?

 

[minime9]

I do not agree that Anthony Caddick (MC's ex-husband) attended the funeral. The older grey-haired man is MC's father, Ted Grimley and the red-haired older lady is MC's mother, Barbara Grimley.

"There were Anthony Koleti, Ms Caddick’s parents, Barbara and Ted Grimley, her brother Adam Grimley and (two?) friends".

If that’s not him then there’s nothing to say he wasn’t there elsewhere with the son who managed to avoid the cameras as well.

 

[Beans]

Re the foot, I'm still not convinced it really means anything.

Agreed. In any other case I might have accepted it and moved on but with this one I just can’t. The fact the foot was discovered is just too remarkable. The fact it was discovered in bits, from water that had been rough enough to separate it from her body, but still in a shoe identifiable as hers.

 

[kiwi50]

If that’s not him then there’s nothing to say he wasn’t there elsewhere with the son who managed to avoid the cameras as well.

Yes I’m sure he would have been there to support his son, most divorced couples I’ve known have gone to ex spouses funerals, to support their children.

 

[Eloise]

Agreed. In any other case I might have accepted it and moved on but with this one I just can’t. The fact the foot was discovered is just too remarkable. The fact it was discovered in bits, from water that had been rough enough to separate it from her body, but still in a shoe identifiable as hers.

Same. The fact nothing else has been discovered, and it was discovered in the condition it was... I don't know. I just want to see/know/hear more before I really believe she's confirmed deceased. Definitely still a case to watch, it's not over yet.

 

[JLZ]

Same. The fact nothing else has been discovered, and it was discovered in the condition it was... I don't know. I just want to see/know/hear more before I really believe she's confirmed deceased. Definitely still a case to watch, it's not over yet.

I wonder whether it's not actually Melissa's foot. In a court case, you wouldn't hear, "This blood [for example] came from the defendant"; it would be, "This blood is x times more likely to have come from the defendant than from a randomly selected person from y population". We haven't heard any technical detail about the level of confidence that the foot is Melissa's, or about the chance of laboratory error (eg contamination of samples). Clearly police and family are satisfied. But we noted before the foot was found that at least one senior police figure sounded impatient for the case to be closed.

 

[Sophist]

Agreed. In any other case I might have accepted it and moved on but with this one I just can’t. The fact the foot was discovered is just too remarkable. The fact it was discovered in bits, from water that had been rough enough to separate it from her body, but still in a shoe identifiable as hers.

Very remarkable indeed. It suggests it was washed ashore much earlier (if it came from the water and wasn’t planted on the beach) when the foot would have been more contained within the shoe before decomposition and then not brought back in by tides or disturbed by wildlife enough to remove it from the shoe.

 

[SouthAussie]

It is not unusual to find only one thing from someone who has died or been disposed of in the ocean.

Off the top of my head, I can recall the incident where a French backpacker (Erwan Ferrieux) went missing not far from Byron Bay and all that ever washed up was three bones.
Nothing at all ever washed up from his mate, Hugo Palmer, who went missing at the same time.

In another incident on the Gold Coast, a young girl's leg bone was found in the water (we were following Novy Chardon's case at the time) and that is all they ever found of the young girl.

 

[SouthAussie]

If that’s not him then there’s nothing to say he wasn’t there elsewhere with the son who managed to avoid the cameras as well.

Yes. Pretty sure the media would have afforded the son his privacy. They know enough not to take photos of minors. There is a press policy against it, which we have reviewed in other cases.
The only photos that are ever published of minors is with the consent of the appropriate adult.

The only (pixelated) photo we have ever seen of the son was not taken by the media. And he was only in the photo because it was a holiday photo showing Melissa and AK (and the son) enjoying a skiing holiday, likely on investors money.

We have never seen a photo of the ex. And that would not be because the media don't know who he is. If we know who he is, the media know who he is. Being a corporate lawyer, there is likely a very good reason why no pics are being published of him.

 

[SouthAussie]

I honestly cannot believe that Melissa would somehow hack off her foot, or have it hacked off by someone else, to fake her death. It would be much easier to have taken her keys/wallet with her and left them at a clifftop location - or leave her shoes or her car at a clifftop location - if she wanted to fake her death.

I cannot begin to imagine someone who cared about their appearance, as much as Melissa did, would be happy to walk around with one foot for the rest of her life.
It would be a give-away as to who she is, if she did. "Hmmm ... that person with the prosthetic foot looks an awful lot like Melissa Caddick. Didn't they find her foot?"

 

[kiwi50]

I honestly cannot believe that Melissa would somehow hack off her foot, or have it hacked off by someone else, to fake her death. It would be much easier to have taken her keys/wallet with her and left them at a clifftop location - or leave her shoes or her car at a clifftop location - if she wanted to fake her death.

I cannot begin to imagine someone who cared about their appearance, as much as Melissa did, would be happy to walk around with one foot for the rest of her life.
It would be a give-away as to who she is, if she did. "Hmmm ... that person with the prosthetic foot looks an awful lot like Melissa Caddick. Didn't they find her foot?"

Completely agree, I don’t see her as the type to cut off her foot, that would not suit her image, especially as she liked running. I believe she is dead.I think she would choose death over prison, and not having nice things anymore.She was all about image.

 

[stormbird]

<RSBM>... a French backpacker (Erwan Ferrieux) went missing not far from Byron Bay ...

This won't affect the point you were making, SouthAussie, but just so that no one is led astray: Erwan Ferrieux and Hugo Palmer went missing in Port Macquarie (NSW's Mid North Coast), about 400 kilometres or 250 miles from Byron Bay (North Coast or Far North Coast NSW).

 

[Marg944]

Completely agree, I don’t see her as the type to cut off her foot, that would not suit her image, especially as she liked running. I believe she is dead.I think she would choose death over prison, and not having nice things anymore.She was all about image.

I agree, was about image. I also feel there may have been a need to impress a younger husband?

 

[SouthAussie]

Completely agree, I don’t see her as the type to cut off her foot, that would not suit her image, especially as she liked running. I believe she is dead.I think she would choose death over prison, and not having nice things anymore.She was all about image.

I imagine it will end up as an open verdict, in Coroners Court, as I don't really see any proof of suicide or murder. Unless there is something that the media hasn't got hold of yet.

But at least there will be some kind of open-ended closure for Melissa's family, and now that they have had her funeral and once they get relocated, they may be able to move on with their lives.