'If I'm going to end it, it's going to be here': Inquest examines Melissa Caddick's disappearance

The inquest into the presumed death of accused conwoman Melissa Caddick has begun, with her family attending the state coroners court.

Melissa Caddick was last seen at a home on Wallangra Road, Dover Heights, after midnight on Thursday 12 November 2020. Source: Supplied

Key Points

• The purported investment broker disappeared in November 2020.
• Three months later the 49-year-old's decomposing foot, encased in a running shoe, was found on Bournda Beach.

This article contains references to suicide.

A day after fraudster Melissa Caddick vanished her husband was suspected of being involved in her mysterious disappearance, her inquest has been told.

Louise Coleman, junior counsel assisting the inquest, said on Monday that three police officers who took Anthony Koletti's missing person's report held concerns about the accounts he provided.

The inquest heard that Sergeant Trent Riley wrote in July 2021 that Mr Koletti told him "several lies, (and) that his story had changed multiple times".

But senior police in charge of the investigation later came to the conclusion there was "no evidence to support the theory" that Mr Koletti had any involvement in his wife's disappearance, the inquest was told.

Mr Koletti, who has not been charged with any offence concerning his wife's disappearance, is due to give evidence at the inquest and was present at the NSW Coroners Court in Lidcombe, along with her parents Barbara and Ted Grimley and brother Adam Grimley.

An expert report examining barnacles growth on Ms Caddick's washed-up shoe concluded it spent no more than one week, and no less than two-three days floating in the ocean, the inquest was told.

While Ms Caddick is suspected to be dead, a forensic pathologist could not determine whether her foot was separated due to blunt force, sharp force or decomposition before it washed ashore at Bournda Beach on the state's south coast.

But it is "very unlikely that Ms Caddick amputated her own foot", with or without the assistance of a non-medically trained individual, to stage her disappearance, Ms Coleman told Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan.

Other areas to be explored by the inquest include her diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder and some criticism of the NSW police investigation.

Melissa Caddick's husband Anthony Koletti arrives at the inquest in Sydney on Monday. Source: AAP / BIANCA DE MARCHI

A crime scene was not established until 19 days after she was reported missing.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided her Dover Heights home in Sydney's eastern suburbs on 11 November 2020.

That was the last verified sighting of Ms Caddick.

Some 28 hours after, Mr Koletti says his wife left the house to go for a walk or jog he reported her missing to police.

The inquest heard that attending officers found Mr Koletti on 13 November 2020 in what their opinion was a "composed, relaxed and seemingly uncaring persona ... unlike any other person I had taken a missing person report from previously".

Melissa Caddick's mother Barbara Grimley was among the family members to attend court on the first day of the inquest. Source: AAP / BIANCA DE MARCHI

Ms Caddick's mother says her daughter was not offered food or drink during the full duration of the search warrant and holds ASIC responsible for her suspected death, the inquest was told.

But this has been disputed as Ms Caddick at the time was not under arrest, allowed to walk freely and leave if she wished, not observed to be showing any signs of mental ill-health, and did make herself a protein shake in the morning.

The court heard she had been listed as a missing person in 2012 when her marriage to Tony Caddick dissolved following her affair with Mr Koletti, who was her hairdresser.

Jason Downing SC, counsel assisting Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan said Ms Caddick referred to a Sydney suicide spot when telling her brother Adam around this time: "If it all gets too much for me you'll find me at The Gap".

By late 2020, her friends said she was under extreme financial pressure, and on one occasion, walked to the Dover Heights cliffs, he told the court.

Melissa Caddick's father Ted Grimley leaves the first day of the inquest. Source: AAP / BIANCA DE MARCHI

"If I'm going to end it, it's going to be here," her friend recalled Ms Caddick telling her.

Ms Caddick's victims, mostly family and friends, lost $20 million to $30 million through her Ponzi scheme used to fund her lavish lifestyle and excessive spending on expensive jewellery, designer clothing, overseas getaways and multi-million dollar homes.

Whether Ms Caddick knew about the ASIC investigation will also be scrutinised, as she booked shredding services in September 2020, three months before she vanished.

The inquest continues.

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