A senior NSW detective has conceded official rules on when to contact the homicide squad were not totally clear when con-woman Melissa Caddick vanished in 2020, an inquest has heard.

The long-running coronial probe is examining the circumstances leading to the 49-year-old Sydney fraudster’s disappearance in November 2020 and her mindset at the time.

The inquest is hearing testimony from Detective Chief Inspector Glen Browne, who was manager of the NSW missing persons registry when Caddick vanished.

Det Ch Insp Browne also fronted the inquiry last year where he explained many of the people who go missing on the NSW coast are never recovered.

On Friday, counsel assisting Jason Downing quizzed him over official standard operating procedures in place when Caddick went missing, which set out when homicide detectives should be called in.

Det Ch Insp Browne conceded the definition of suspicious circumstances in the SOPs “wasn’t completely clear” but said later versions had been altered.

Still, he said under new SOPs “I don’t think this would change what happened at all”.

He said he did not have “sufficient detail” to judge whether, in the week of November 13 to 20, 2020, there was some suspicion Caddick may have been murdered, but testified there was little harm in contacting the homicide squad for advice.

Det Ch Insp Browne agreed he did not have enough involvement to comment on the Caddick investigation, saying he had never read a statement or interview transcript related to it.

In every missing person case in NSW there was the possibility that the vanished person may have been murdered, he said.

Earlier, the inquest was briefly told of an autopsy report detailing fractures in Caddick’s foot that might indicate injury.

Caddick’s decomposing severed foot washed up on a beach on the south coast of NSW three months after her disappearance, leading authorities to presume her dead.

On November 11, 2020, police and investigators from corporate regulator ASIC raided Caddick’s Dover Heights home, two days after she was reported missing by her husband Anthony Koletti.

The inquest has previously heard from a number of key witnesses including Mr Koletti, police officers and psychologists.

The officer-in-charge of the investigation into her disappearance, Detective Sergeant Michael Foscholo, told the inquiry last year he believed the fraudster took her own life.

Caddick, a self-styled financial adviser, stole millions through an investment scam, using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, before disappearing.

Last month, her eastern suburbs mansion was sold for close to $10 million.

A collection of jewellery, once owned by the fraudster, has also attracted large sums, with a recent auction garnering $800,000 that will go towards paying back victims.

– AAP