Hello and welcome to This Week in True Crime
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This week we'll look into the search for a missing fraud suspect in Australia that has seen a member of the public discovering body parts washed up on the coast
We will explore a teenager's prize-winning fake cosmetic shop
And finally we will take a look at a middle school student who has been arrested for selling stun guns to her classmates
Before we delve into this episode I first have to thank this episode's sponsor CrimeConUK
I've had a huge interest in true crime since before I can remember and I believe we all have this deeply rooted curiosity into the morbid
We know how we are brought into this world and we know what happens during life but we have no idea what exactly happens after death
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I've been very lucky on this channel to be partnered with some amazing companies over the past two years and this one is no different
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Now back to today's episode
The mysterious disappearance of 49 year old Melissa Caddick has held a large question mark
Over the entirety of Australia due to the suspicious circumstances in which she disappeared
Melissa Caddick was a successful high-flying businesswoman who was the sole director of Maliver Pty Ltd
A wealth management company based in Sydney, Australia
But little did her investors know they would never see any profit on their investments
In November 2020 Melissa was accused of defrauding her family, friends and investors out of 25 million Australian dollars
On the 10th of November 2020 the Australian securities and investment commission froze Melissa's bank accounts and properties
And banned her from leaving the country after these fraud claims came to light
According to the ASIC Melissa used investors funds to prop up her lavish lifestyle which included her extravagant holidays and designer items
She always flew first class and never wasted a dime on her expensive and lavish lifestyle
Her victims were mostly wealthy friends some of whom invested their life savings with Melissa believing they were making returns on their investments
When the police spoke to Melissa's 'toy boy' husbands about her disappearance
he handed them five separate passports issued in Melissa's name and saw that he had nothing to do with the con
The next day on the 11th of November 2020 officers raided Melissa's 6.1 million Australian dollar home and took her computers and other things of value
Including over one million Australian dollars in designer clothing, handbags, shoes and jewelry
This was all in an attempt to return funds to the people who had invested their money with Melissa
On the 12th of November at 5:30am Melissa's son has the front door of their home open and closed again
Which he assumes was his mother leaving for a jog before the day became too hot as this was something she regularly did
Later that day Melissa's son realized that she hadn't returned home
And that when she left she didn't take any personal belongings with her such as her mobile phone
For months there was no sign of Melissa and there were many questions as to whether she was evading the police or if she had met a fatal end
That was until the 21st of February 2021
The shoe that washed up on this remote beach is still under the microscope yet to solve the mystery of what happened to one of Australia's most wanted
That doesn't confirm she's deceased the likelihood is she is deceased however it's not proof of death
So I think the investigators have certainly got a lot more work to do
A shoe with a human foot still inside was found washed up on the shore by a group of campers
This limb was confirmed via DNA testing to have belonged to Melissa
Initially in 2020 police believes that Melissa might have taken her own life
As she could have reached some cliff tops which were 300 meters from her home without being tracked by CCTV cameras
This gave her an easy place to run to from her home without ever being seen and the cliffs were a large drop into the ocean which would likely have killed you if you jumped off
Experts have been mapping the tidal patterns to determine whether it was possible that Melissa entered the ocean near her clifftop home in the Sydney suburbs
But it would seem highly unlikely that her body traveled that far down the coast to where her washed up foot would later be discovered
Though this theory is not to be ruled out as it could explain why it taken three months for Melissa's foot to arrive on that beach
there have been a few different body parts turning up on the beaches around the area
Including bones, skin and what police believe to be a stomach
All these have been tested to see if they are linked to Melissa's death
Part of a human stomach was subsequently found on Mollymook beach though it's possible those remains may belong to a missing swimmer
All are undergoing forensic analysis
I think the coincidence of the human remains being found you know just a few days ago and then obviously Melissa's foot last week
Is potentially just a coincidence
On the 2nd of March these other body parts found were declared to not have been Melissa Caddick's
Meaning that the only body parts of Melissa's to be found is her foot In the shoe
Melissa's foots being found on the beach miles away from her home
Makes it seem like she could have died near her home three months ago like the police initially assumed
The body that entered the water around the Davis Heights area could drift as far south as the Bermagui area
That was the strongest police theory on Friday and supported by ocean currents for November
Which indicates the 49 year old would have first drifted North potentially towards a shark breeding ground before then heading South
That explains that three-month kind of delay otherwise if she entered the water just North of Tathra it would only take a matter of a week to get get down there
Adding to the speculation that Melissa had died three months ago as suggested in the clip shown
The foot found in the shoe would have decomposed differently to how it has
Some investigators believe that Melissa died more recently which suggests that she had been on the run from the police in the months leading up to this discovery
There are many people though who are still convinced that Melissa isn't dead as you can survive without a foot
Which as we know is the only body part which has been positively identified to be that of Melissa Caddick
Police are still investigating this case and are treating the investigation as suspicious
police can't be certain she took her own life and given the shoe was in relatively good condition
Detectives are now investigating the possibility the business woman was on the run for weeks after her disappearance
Is she missing? did she commit suicide or has something more sinister happened
And they won't rule any of those out until there's evidence to do so
Evidence that may never eventuate
I only hope that the people who entrusted their money with Melissa and her company can get some of their savings back
And that closure for Melissa's family is found soon
The second case we'll be taking a look at is a Polish high schoolers prize winning fake cosmetics shop
17 year old Krystyna Paszko launched a fake online shop on Facebook
Which was actually a front for people who are dealing with domestic abuse to find help without it being obvious that they are searching for it
Krystyna launched the page in April of 2020 after learning about the increase in domestic abuse cases during the pandemic
Domestic violence has seen a 40% increase during the pandemic
With people being unable to leave their homes and having to be constantly around the people they live with
The shop 'Chamomiles and Pansies' allows people to shop for cosmetics while actually speaking directly to specialists who are professionally trained to help
When someone writes asking to buy a cream a psychologist responds instead of a salesperson
And asks how long the skin problems have been going on for or how the affected skin reacts to alcohol
This gives the people in the abusive situation the ability to discreetly ask for help
If someone places an order and leaves an address it is actually a code for asking for help from the authorities
And asking for them to visit the home as they are in desperate need of assistance
To maintain the facade of the fake shop they regularly post pictures of the various branded creams and balms that they pretend to sell
And monitor the comments and messages they receive
This idea started out as a Facebook post that Krystyna made on her own profile asking her friend if the shop idea would be something they think people would use
This post then gains huge traction on Facebook
With a substantial amount of shares and many people volunteering to help when the shop went live
After this massive surge in interest Krystyna contacted the Women's Rights Center a Polish NGO asking for assistance
When the NGO looked into the idea they became instantly interested in the initiative
And partnered up with Krystyna to provide psychologists and lawyers to work with the fake shop to give professional help to those who need it
Since the launch of the sites more than 350 people have contacted the page asking for help
With most of the victims being young under 40 and about 10% of them being male
As more people have been finding this fake shop there has been an influx in reviews left on the site and for the products
Some of the reviews written on the product photos reads
"ideal for concealing shadows and redness" and one visitor wrote "I recommend it"
This outstanding initiative that Krystyna has taken has now been publicly recognized as one of the 23 projects to receive the EU's Civil Solidarity prize just the other day
The one-off contest offered €10,000 to reward civil society organizations tackling the consequences of COVID-19
When Krystyna was asked about her interest in human rights she said
An absolutely incredible idea that will no doubtedly save hundreds of lives
The last case we'll be discussing is the middle school student who has been arrested for selling stun guns to her classmates
A 12 year old Florida middle school student was arrested on friday the 26th of February
The teenage girl was charged with possession of a weapon on school property
Earlier that day the school administrators were told by a member of staff that a child had been wandering around the school with a stun gun
When the school resource officer spoke with her she told him that she'd bought five stun guns online
She explained that she'd been carrying one of these stun guns for her own protection
But she decided to bring the rest of them to school to sell to her fellow classmates
The girl told investigators that she had already sold three of these stun guns the previous day
But she didn't remember who she had sold them to so she only had two stun guns on her person when the resource officer spoke with her
The police haven't reported how much she had sold the weapons for but the type she had were available for purchase on Amazon for $9.99
The police have said that no threats against the school their students or staff were made
But the students are being questioned in connection to the girls fear that resulted in her bringing these weapons into the school
The school is also working with the students and their parents to find and retrieve the other three stun guns that were already sold
And this story brings us to the end of this episode of This Week in True Crime
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