A group of startled campers at a southern NSW beach have stumbled upon the decomposed foot of Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick, more than 400km from where police hypothesise she entered the water.
Ms Caddick vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC executed a search warrant at her luxury Dover Heights home on November 11.
Liquidators allege the self-styled financial adviser "meticulously and systematically" deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle.
Ms Caddick's foot was on February 21 found by campers at Bournda Beach south of Tathra, with DNA testing confirming the match on Thursday.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing told reporters on Friday that foul play against Ms Caddick was possible, but suicide was more likely.
The remainder of her body is yet to be located.
"Given the circumstances of the disappearance (and) the fact that she left personal belongings behind, we've always considered the possibility that she might have taken her own life," Mr Willing said.
Modelling by NSW Police marine rescue teams, taking tides and drift patterns into account, has explored the possibility that Ms Caddick entered the water in the Dover Heights area around November 12.
The modelling deemed it possible that her body could have drifted to Bournda.
Analysis of the foot - found inside a running shoe which Ms Caddick was seen wearing during the ASIC raid - will help investigators determine when she died.
"Obviously it had been in the water for some time," Mr Willing said.
Court-appointed liquidators dealing with Ms Caddick's business affairs told reporters on Wednesday they were unable to find a single example of a legitimate investment in the name of the investor.
Instead, the 49-year-old - who fraudulently positioned herself as a successful financial planner - mixed "many, many millions" of investors' funds in company bank accounts and her own personal accounts.
She then used the money to fund an "extravagant lifestyle" and property purchases, according to provisional liquidator Bruce Gleeson.
Ms Caddick provided investors with documents on Commonwealth Bank and CommSec letterheads suggesting their investments were doing well.
But liquidators say the account numbers on the documents either did not exist or were not associated with the actual investor.
Investors were deceived from the very start, as her company Maliver Pty Ltd did not hold a financial services licence as claimed. Ms Caddick was also never listed on ASIC's Financial Adviser Register.
The matter is back in the Federal Court in April, when liquidators will seek the authority to begin realising Maliver's "limited" assets.
Ms Caddick's husband and teenage son from Friday won't be able to access her assets for their living and legal expenses.
Financial Planning Association of Australia chief executive Dante De Gori in a statement on Friday extended his sympathies to Ms Caddick's family but confirmed she had never been an accredited financial planner.
Cheryl Kraft Reid, a victim of Ms Caddick's fraud who lost "millions", acknowledged she would likely never see her family's money again.
"That's a sad tragic outcome for her son but it's also a sad, tragic outcome for us because we just don't get closure," Ms Kraft Reid told 2GB Radio.
"It's not just about getting the money back, it's about seeing consequences for what's happened to us and the many years we've worked for zero return because she decided to live an entitled and frivolous life.
"I think she was a bit of a sociopath who was a bit smarter than everyone else and thought she could get away with it ... she had for so many years."
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Australian Associated Press
