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May 25, 2023 | 6:14 p.m
It’s the running shoe that sparked countless conspiracy theories.
When a shoe containing skeletal remains that were later matched via DNA to missing con artist Melissa Caddick washed up on a remote beach three months after her disappearance, some suspected she faked her own death.
However, a coroner ruled that it was unlikely that she severed her foot to go on the run. There is no evidence and she would have needed medical attention.
When delivering her coronary findings on Thursday morning, Assistant Medical Examiner Elizabeth Ryan said Ms Caddick was dead; However, it could not be determined how, when and where she died.
Ms Caddick’s husband, Anthony Koletti, and their son said at the inquest they heard the front door of their mansion in Dover Heights open and close around 5:30am on November 12, 2020.
Melissa Caddick has been pronounced dead by a coroner. Andy Baker
Mrs Caddick has not been seen since.
Just hours earlier, investigators from ASIC and AFP raided the property for an alleged $23 million Ponzi scheme, seizing luxury items including designer clothing and jewelry.
There is no indication that Mr. Koletti was involved in any wrongdoing.
Reports of Ms Caddick’s last known contact have not been supported by other evidence, with Ms Ryan noting that there was no CCTV footage of her walking out her door.
She is believed to have committed suicide by jumping off the cliffs near her home before her foot washed up on Bournda Beach on the NSW south coast on February 21, 2021.
Expert testimony provided at the inquiry found that while it was feasible that Ms Caddick walked into the waters off Sydney in November 2020 and her foot washed up some 450km to the south three months later, this cannot be established with certainty given the myriad variables involved could calculate his path.
According to the coroner, the DNA of the badly decomposed foot could match Ms Caddick “without a reasonable doubt”.
Pathologist Jennifer Pokorny said at the examination that amputation of the foot by itself would not constitute a fatal injury.
Caddick’s foot was found in a shoe that washed ashore. NCA NewsWire
Orthopedic surgeon David Lunz told the court it could not be determined whether the fractures found in the foot were sustained before or after her death.
“The foot was in very bad condition,” Ms Ryan said in her findings released Thursday.
“This, coupled with the lack of more complete remains, made it impossible to discern a pattern of fractures that might indicate their likely cause.”
The foot washed up on Bournda Beach on the south coast of New South Wales on February 21, 2021NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage
The grisly discovery of the running shoe sparked countless theories, including that she chopped off her foot to fake her own death
dr Lunz said it was “unlikely” that a person without medical training could amputate their own foot and survive.
“The person would lose a significant amount of blood and would need sterile bandages to stop the bleeding,” said Dr. Lunz in his report.
“There is a very high risk that the person will develop an open stump infection that could be fatal if left untreated.”
After the statement by Dr. Lunz was received by the inquest, investigators inquired with New South Wales-based prosthetics specialists whether a woman who matched Ms Caddick’s age group had asked for a prosthetic foot.
“Nobody had that,” Ms. Ryan said.
Ms Ryan concluded: “It is highly unlikely that Ms Caddick’s foot became detached from her body as a result of a deliberate act of detachment, performed either by herself or with the help of others.”
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