Anthony Koletti, the husband of missing scam artist Melissa Caddick, has opened up about life since she vanished in 2021, including how he knew she was dead.
In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Koletti said he knew his wife of ten years was dead when police told him they had found her severed foot in March 2021.
“In your heart, you know if someone is no longer on the Earth,” he said.
“When I spoke with police that day, I knew she was gone. I felt it inside my heart.
“And as sad as it is, maybe not knowing what happened to her is more of a blessing in disguise. Do I feel like I’ll ever get answers? No, I don’t.”
While the past two years had been difficult, Koletti said the realisation that he would never see his wife again was probably his darkest moment.
Now, Koletti said he wants to restart his life but doesn’t believe he will find love again.
“I still love Melissa, and I always will,” he said.
“I highly doubt I’ll find someone else, but that’s OK.”
Koletti told the outlet that he had struggled to find work in the two years since Caddick’s disappearance, with the constant scrutiny deterring employers from hiring him to avoid bad press.
Despite the difficulties, including being described as a “failed DJ” and Caddick’s “boytoy”, the 40-year-old has returned to hairdressing and now looks after his wife’s teenage son.
“It’s an honour to raise her son,” he said, adding that they hadn’t talked about Caddick’s $23 million theft from clients or her disappearance because “we don’t need to”.
“We both had a terrible time, that’s for sure, but we understand it because we lived it so there are no questions we have to ask each other,” Koletti said.
“It takes a lot more care to look after a child who’s been through that – a lot more care than is otherwise required.
“Maybe that’s the reason he’s chosen to stay with me full time, he knows I can cater to that.”
As for reports that claimed he relied on Caddick’s money to fund his lifestyle, Koletti said they were incorrect and that he had been working as a hairdresser four days a week throughout their marriage.
But, Koletti stopped working when their life became the subject of headlines, instead taking on freelance clients and cutting their hair in their homes.
While most of the claims were “water off a duck’s back”, he said he struggled with the “impact it’s had on my life in general”.
His new boss, Deborah Bradshaw of The Hair Angel in Balmain, said she was warned against hiring Koletti but made her decision based on what she felt was right.
“He’s done nothing wrong. He deserves to get a job and earn money,” Ms Bradshaw said.
“Of course I’ve read the news and I know the situation, but he’s a good hairdresser and, when he came in, I realised he was really talented and really lovely and my clients love him.
“His work is excellent, and that’s what I’m judging him on.”
Image: 7News
This article first appeared on OverSixty.