There’s already a true crime podcast about vanished Australian millionaire Melissa Craddick (called Liar Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions) but now the incredible story is coming to the small screen too. 

ITV announced it will make a new documentary about the conwoman who went missing in 2020, sparking one of Australia’s most high-profile missing person cases ever. The broadcaster has also acquired rights to an Aussie drama series about Caddick’s scandalous life and death too. 

First up the documentary, Life and Limb: The Missing Millionairess. This will delve into the life of  Melissa Caddick who went for a morning run, leaving her lavish home in Sydney, Australia in November 2020 and never returning home. 

Produced by Naked (a Fremantle label), the new documentary will explore “the extraordinary disappearance of this committed fraudster, which has spawned countless competing theories amongst web sleuthing communities and generated thousands of news articles.”

The documentary will give a voice to Caddick’s victims too, and it promises to bring closure to the “modern-day tale of deceit, mystery and the still missing millions of dollars.” 

For those unfamiliar with the story, three months after Caddick went missing surfers on a beach 250 miles south of Sydney found a washed up trainer containing human remains. DNA testing proved the remains were Caddick’s.

Caddick’s was a story that gripped Australia and will likely hook UK audiences too with theories about happened to her and even if she is still alive swirling online.

From the outside, Caddick looked like a successful businesswoman who had it all – a happy family, a luxury penthouse in a swanky area and a designer wardrobe. In fact, Casddick, who worked as a financial advisor, was operating a Ponzi scheme. She stole from 74 victims, including her friends and family, cheating them out of $23 million Australian dollars (around £13 million pounds). Caddick’s disappeared came after she was confronted by authorities for her alleged multi-million dollar swindling.

Fatima Salaria, managing director of Naked and Life and Limb executive producer said: “At the heart of this missing persons case is a handful of victims and many, many missing millions. Potentially finding out what happened to Melissa and drawing attention to her case globally, it could bring an important chance for closure for so many of the people involved.”

Jo Clinton-Davis, ITV Controller of Factual, said: “We have had demonstrable success coupling the real story to dramas based on true events. The real story of Melissa Caddick is inherently full of drama and intrigue and with a sharp focus on the victims as well as unpicking each strand of the mystery we are sure this will be a compelling and extraordinary feature documentary.”

As well as a documentary, a three-part drama about Caddick and her life and mysterious disappearance is also coming to ITV. A statement from ITV confirms it has also acquired Vanishing Act from distributor DCD Rights, a Screentime Banijay Production drama. 

“The three-part series portrays Australia in the grip of the mystery as theories abound about Melissa’s fate following the discovery of her disembodied foot inside her running shoe. Vanishing Act tells the story of this charismatic con-artist, as well as those who suddenly found themselves grieving for a lost friend and daughter, while coming to terms with a monumental betrayal. Her life was lost, but theirs would never be the same again.”

The cast for the drama include Kate Atkinson as Melissa Caddick, Colin Friels as George K, Jerome Velinsky as Melissa’s husband Anthony Koletti and Maya Stange as Angie Beyersdorf. 

Nicky Davies Williams, CEO at DCD Rights, said: “We’re delighted that Vanishing Act has been picked up for ITV and ITVX. It is a captivating, real-life mystery crime drama which will appeal to ITV viewers, as it has to audiences in Australia.”

Both Life and Limb: The Missing Millionairess and Vanishing Act will be shown on ITV and ITVX. 

Images: Photo of Anthony Koletti by Don Arnold/Getty Images, photo of Melissa Caddick via NSW Police Force