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Human torso and bones found in hunt for missing female fraudster after her rotting foot washed up on beach
A HUMAN torso and bones have been washed up on the coast of Australia as cops continue to probe the disappearance of a missing fraudster.
The new finds come after Melissa Caddick’s rotting foot was found washed up on a remote beach, three months following her disappearance from her Sydney mansion.
Melissa Caddick stole millions to fund a lavish lifestyle[/caption]
Her foot was found inside a running shoe[/caption]
Caddick used the cash she stole to fund a lavish lifestyle[/caption]
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says stole at least £7.3 million in invested funds from over 60 clients, including family and friends, but the figure has been put as high as £14 million.
The 49-year-old vanished early on 12 November last year, a day after cops raided her home in the wealthy suburb of Dover Heights.
On February 21 DNA testing matched the foot found at Bournda beach to Caddick
A large piece of torso flesh which included a belly button was found in the sand 100 miles away at Mollymook Beach on the same day, and two bones washed up on Turra Beach on Saturday.
Remains resembling human intestines were also found 125 miles north at Cunjurong Point.
Yesterday more remains found at Warrain Beach, near Culburra on the south coast and testing is underway to determine if they are human or animal.
Caddick had reportedly been living a lavish lifestyle, including taking overseas holidays and buying expensive clothes and jewellery with the cash she stole, including from friends and family.
Cops have hinted she may have been in hiding before her death[/caption]
The fraudster pictured on a family holiday[/caption]
The case gripped Australia and after Caddick disappeared there was speculation she may have been in hiding, which cops have now signalled is a possibility.
Superintendent Joe McNulty said the condition of her body made it appear she was on the run for weeks before her death.
“Something in the water for that long, say a bit of flotsam or jetsam that washes on to the shore, has got green growth on it,” he told Australia’s Daily Telegraph.
Body parts linked to the case were found at Mollymook beach[/caption]
Huma remains were also found a Cunjarong point[/caption]
“At first examination the shoe doesn’t appear to have been in the water for three months.
“The shoe needs extensive analysis to see how long it was in the water. It’s a vital clue where hopefully marine biology can provide some answers.”
He explained that dead bodies will float for a few days in the water, before the lungs, stomach and intestines fill with heavy salt water and sink for two or three days.
The bloated corpse then resurfaces in a state of decomposition, meaning it was very likely police would have seen Caddick’s inflated corpse in the ocean during intensive search operations.
Experts are mapping the tidal patterns to determine whether it’s possible the conwoman entered the ocean around her clifftop home
But police scoured the area following her disappearance and did not see a body while search teams would likely have spotted clothing in the ocean or buoyant jewellery.
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Though it is possible for a body to get caught in the East Australian Current and float along for 60 miles in a single day, investigators with decades of experience say it is unheard of.
Mr McNulty has worked in marine recovery for 30 years and said he has never heard of a case where a body that entered the water in Sydney could float over a hundred miles down the coast.
“That’s never happened in my time in the water police,” Mr McNulty said.
