Businesswoman Confirmed Dead in Australian Beach

Businesswoman, Melissa Caddick, who disappeared after corporate watchdog ASIC, executed a search warrant at her eastern Sydney home, was confirmed dead by Australian Police after her foot was found on a beach.

New South Wales Police on Friday said that DNA testing confirmed that the human remains found inside a running shoe discovered by a group of people on Bournda Beach, some 420 kilometres south of Sydney, last Sunday, belonged to the missing woman.

Caddick, 49, was last seen at her luxury Dover Heights home the evening of Nov. 11 and was reported missing two days later.

Before disappearing, Caddick’s home was raided by ASIC investigators, who alleged that she misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds through her financial services company, Maliver, to fund her extravagant lifestyle, according to local reports.

The corporate watchdog also alleges she was operating without a valid licence.

“Exactly how Melissa came to enter the water is still a mystery and will be subject of ongoing investigations,’’ NSW Police Assistant Commissioner, Michael Willing, told journalists on Friday.

“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,’’ Willing said.

The officer added that the cause of death will be a matter for the coroner.

NSW Police said that inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death will continue and that there will be further searches carried out along the New South Wales coastline.