First a foot, now more washes up

More human remains have washed ashore in Australia after a foot belonging to alleged fraudster Melissa Caddick was found on a beach by three teen campers.

Forensic investigators attended the site near Mollymook Beach on New South Wales’ south coast about 6.30pm on Friday after part of a human torso was found.

DNA testing will be required to determine whether the remains belong to Caddick, whose foot was discovered more than three months after she vanished from her Sydney mansion.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said it was one of the most high-profile missing person cases he had worked on in his 30 years on the force as dozens of investigators worked to find the missing woman.

Caddick, 49, was accused of conning her friends and family out of more than A$20 million ($21.3m) through her fraudulent investment business Maliver Pty Ltd.

Caddick disappeared from her Dover Heights home in the early morning of November 12, hours after investigators from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) raided her house and told her she would need to hand in her passports the next morning.

The massive investigation into where Caddick might be came to an end after three teenage boys came across a shoe at a beach on NSW’s south coast last Sunday afternoon.

One of the campers went to dispose of the Asics sneaker in a bin, only to make the horrifying discovery that there were bones inside, and alerted authorities.

On Friday police confirmed the remains matched DNA of the missing woman.

“[The foot] had been in the water for some time. Scientists were able to extract DNA from the foot and match it to a sample of DNA that we had already obtained from a toothbrush belonging to Melissa from her relatives,” Assistant Commissioner Willing told reporters.

“Police have always kept an open mind in relation to what the circumstances were for her disappearance, including the fact that Melissa may have taken her own life.”