Vanishing Act | Preview (ITVX)

A new ITV documentary, The Real Vanishing Act: The Missing Millionairess, produced by Naked (a Fremantle label), follows Melissa’s disappearance and the events that followed, with access to the inquest, never before seen home video footage from her husband and the financial ruin of the victims.

Melissa Caddick went for a morning run in Sydney in November 2020 and never returned home. Three months later, surfers on a beach 250 miles south of Sydney made a grisly discovery - a human foot within a washed up trainer.

On the surface, she was a successful businesswoman who had everything - a family, a high-flying career that afforded her all of life’s luxuries, an exclusive penthouse overlooking Sydney skylines, a designer wardrobe and five-star holidays.

But what no one knew was that Melissa, a financial advisor, had allegedly cheated 74 victims out of $AUD23 million. To make matters worse, most of the victims were her own friends and family. Three months after her fraud was uncovered surfers discovered the remains in the trainer, which were DNA matched to Melissa.

But what had happened to her? With access to the inquest that followed, and personal testimony from those closest to the story, the documentary explores the aftermath of Melissa’s disappearance; from the financial ruin of the victims to the heartbreak of her husband, and the liquidators left to investigate the money trail. Ultimately, it asks the question, what really happened to Melissa Caddick?

ITVX will also be streaming Vanishing Act, acquired from distributor DCD Rights, a Screentime Banijay Production drama, which tells the story of Melissa Caddick’s disappearance after being confronted by authorities for her alleged multi-million dollar swindling.

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. Starring Kate Atkinson, Colin Friels, Jerome Velinsky and Maya Strange.