So how does someone just vanish in 2020? For a wealthy businesswoman like Melissa Caddick, 'disappearing' and starting a new life is easier than you would think

No one knows for sure what exactly happened when businesswoman Melissa Caddick disappeared from her cliffside mansion last month.  

But detectives are taking claims that the mother-of-one, 49, may have run off and doesn't want to be found seriously.

At least two sources interviewed by police believe it's a credible scenario, although Daily Mail Australia has established that her passport is in detectives' hands. 

Ms Caddick vanished two days after she had been raided by authorities over claims she swindled investors in her wealth management company of up to $40 million.  

Kate Tejano, a close friend of Ms Caddick's husband Anthony Koletti, has publicly suggested she chose to disappear 'for a couple of weeks while she figures out what's going on.'

Ms Tejano admitted it was 'just an assumption' - and the idea Ms Caddick 'pulled a runner' remains just a theory. 

Someone could have harmed her, she could have harmed herself, or something else could have occurred.

But if a person did choose to deliberately vanish in 2020, how could they go about it? Is it even possible, with phones tracked and cameras watching everywhere?

Where has she gone? Melissa Caddick curls up on the lounge during a luxury Fijian getaway with her husband Anthony Koletti and her family's personal chef a few years ago

Ms Caddick, wearing a $250,000 Stefano Canturi necklace, with her husband Mr Koletti on her birthday this year. He is not suggested to have played any role in her disappearance. On right, Ms Caddick is seen during a helicopter ride - apparently during the family's Fijian getaway about three years ago

Retired Victorian homicide squad detective Charlie Bezzina

Retired homicide detective Charlie Bezzina, who spent 38 years with Victoria Police, has a simple answer: yes, disappearing is possible. 

'If the person has the means it would be quite easy - especially if they planned it,' Mr Bezzina said. 

The grizzled cop is wary about giving tips to 'the bad guys', himself having personally investigated more than 300 cases involving missing and often slain people.

But he notes it's not a crime to take off, disguise yourself, go bush, adopt a new identity and establish a new life under a different guise.

A considerable amount of planning would have to be put into it to meet a person's basic needs.  

Speaking hypothetically, he said bank accounts can be set up under assumed names if tellers accept dodgy identification documents. Not everyone asks questions. 

All a missing person needs then is food and shelter, he said. Passports, too, can be falsified - but your average 'John Citizen' isn't likely to go about doing that, he said.

(There's no evidence that Ms Caddick has done any of this.)

One person who has managed to 'disappear herself' is Ghislaine Maxwell who, allegedly, kept herself off the radar of authorities for several months.

Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of facilitating billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's exploitation of underage girls, allegedly managed to disappear from public life for months 

Maxwell hid away on a 156-acre estate in Bradford, New Hampshire, which was surrounded by a ring of forest

US prosecutors recently detailed the alleged 'intentional efforts to avoid detection' Maxwell made prior to her arrest. 

Maxwell allegedly purchased an isolated New Hampshire home surrounded by acres of forest via a 'carefully anonymised business.' She registered a new phone number under the fake name 'G-Max' and adopted a new email address, a court was told.

She made purchases online but allegedly had them delivered to her home under different names. Meanwhile, she's accused of using 15 different local and overseas bank accounts to shuffle around funds. 

Her whereabouts weren't known for months, until the FBI tracked her down in July.

That said, police have no shortage of surveillance technologies available to solve mysteries like that of Ms Caddick.

One expert said the prevalence of security cameras and digital clues such as bank records and social media use, 'absolutely' makes it trickier to pull off such a feat.  

Vehicle and phone use 'can be a dead giveaway' said Dr Claire Ferguson, a senior lecturer in forensic criminology at the Queensland University of Technology. 

Eight years ago, shopfront CCTV footage and hi-tech techniques led detectives to the body of Melbourne ABC employee Jill Meagher, and the arrest of her killer.

More recently, Borce Ristevski's mobile 'pinging' off phone towers and footage of his car's movements firmed him up as a suspect in his wife's death. 

Borce Ristevski's black Mercedes Coupe was spotted by CCTV cameras en route to Mount Macedon to dump his wife Karen's body in the bush

But Dr Ferguson said boots-on-the-ground detective work can often be more helpful in finding where people went. 

Woman of mystery: Melissa Caddick

'People will tell people what their plans are,' she said. 

Some 38,000 Australians go missing each an every year, according to the Federal Police. 

The catch is, most of them are found within a week. 

Sometimes people just want to get away for a few days, Dr Ferguson said.

But as of this past Thursday, Melissa Caddick has been missing for four weeks. 

Security camera footage is yet to provide an answer. 

She hasn't been seen 'jogging' around her local area so far. 

Police were told she may have gone for her usual run on Thursday, November 12. 

The camera at the front of her home likewise wasn't working that day, as its hard-drive had been confiscated by the AFP earlier in the week.

She has yet to appear on CCTV along her jogging route and NSW Police have launched air, land and sea searches - her home being metres away from the cliff's edge. 

The mystery has teenage boy without a mother and a husband without a wife. For the rest of us - detectives, investors, neighbours, journalists - there are just many unanswered questions. 

Do you know more? Contact tips@dailymail.com