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Caddick data pin pointed to Sydney airport

Melissa Caddick vanished in November 2020, three months before her right foot washed up on a beach.

Melissa Caddick vanished in November 2020, three months before her right foot washed up on a beach. Photo: AAP

The officer in charge of investigating Melissa Caddick’s disappearance said data taken from her phone indicated it was potentially at Sydney airport the day after she went missing.

Detective Sergeant Michael Foscholo told an inquest on Friday that he took over the case more than a week after she was reported missing.

He discussed lines of inquiry with his team to follow-up that included obtaining Ms Caddick’s toothbrush for a DNA profile, and some data checks on her phone.

Apple data had raised questions as to whether someone was trying to externally access her account, he said.

They were also “following up on a potential pin data point at Sydney airport” on November 13, at 12.45am found on her Uber account.

It is not yet known what NSW police officers found after investigating this data point.

Det Sgt Foscholo replaced Detective Sergeant Michael Kyneur on November 23, as the investigation “might benefit from a fresh set of eyes”, Detective Inspector Gretchen Atkins said of her decision.

The last verified sighting of Ms Caddick was when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Australian Federal Police raided her Dover Heights mansion on November 11, 2020.

The next morning she was purportedly heard leaving in the early hours to go for a run. Ms Caddick’s husband Anthony Koletti informed police she never returned about 30 hours later.

Her Ponzi scheme victims, mostly family and friends, lost $20 million to $30 million she used to fund her lavish lifestyle.

Many of the people scammed by the conwoman were only made aware she was missing following a media appeal on November 20, “or that their nest eggs may be in peril”, barrister Lachlan Gyles SC said.

Senior crime scene officer Ellen Konza was brought in to forensically inspect the eastern suburbs home 19 days after Ms Caddick disappeared.

“I saw nothing indicating any sign of blood, or clean up of blood, nothing of particular interest,” she said.

And her subsequent search of the luxury sports cars indicated they were also untouched.

“Your observation of the vehicles looked like they hadn’t been cleaned for a period of time … for the 19 days most likely,” Jason Downing SC counsel assisting the coroner said.

“Yes,” she said.

Following Friday’s hearing, the two-week inquest will break before Mr Koletti is due to give evidence on September 26. However, the current list of witnesses is running overtime.

– AAP

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