Murder of Daniel Morcombe

Eight years later, Brett Peter Cowan (born 18 September 1969), a former Sunshine Coast resident, was charged with Morcombe's murder.

Daniel James Morcombe (19 December 1989 – 7 December 2003) was an Australian boy who was abducted from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, on 7 December 2003 when he was 13 years old.

Morcombe was abducted from an unofficial bus stop under the Kiel Mountain Road overpass in the Woombye district of the Sunshine Coast approximately 2 km north of the Big Pineapple on Sunday, 7 December 2003.

Witnesses reported seeing Morcombe at approximately 2:10 pm under the overpass.

Morcombe planned to catch the 1:35 pm bus to the Sunshine Plaza Shopping Centre for a haircut and to buy Christmas presents, but the bus had broken down.

When a replacement bus eventually arrived, it did not stop, because it was behind schedule and the stop was unofficial.

The driver radioed the depot for another bus to go and pick up Morcombe.

The driver and other witnesses later reported seeing two men near Morcombe.

When the second bus arrived three minutes later, Morcombe and the men were gone.

Morcombe's disappearance was one of the most extensively investigated crimes in Queensland's history.

In 2006, Cowan had been interviewed over the Morcombe case and had admitted to police that he travelled along Kiel Mountain Road on his way to purchase marijuana from a drug dealer on the day of the disappearance.

Cowan confessed to having seen and approached Morcombe to offer him a lift to the shopping centre, having parked his car in a nearby car-park of the church he attended.

Around this time, a white Mitsubishi Pajero was seized from a property on Russell Island.

The vehicle was believed to have been involved in Morcombe's abduction after a witness at the coronial inquest reported seeing a vehicle of similar description parked 100 m north of the site where Morcombe was last seen.

By 12 December 2008, rewards of A$250,000 from the Government and A$750,000 donated privately had been offered.

The private reward expired at midnight on 31 May 2009.

That day, the Seven Network reported that a known paedophile, Douglas Jackway, could be of interest to the police.

Jackway had been released from prison one month before Morcombe's disappearance.

The Queensland Government came under criticism over Jackway's release; independent Queensland MP Peter Wellington claimed the Supreme Court had presented clear evidence of Jackway's risk of reoffending.

This publicity prompted civil liberties groups to call for laws banning media outlets from naming people linked to criminal cases.

Earlier in the month, a full-size clay model of the man believed to be involved in Morcombe's abduction was placed at the spot where he disappeared.

Within a few days more than 300 tips were received.

In July 2009, Morcombe's parents called for a coronial inquest into his disappearance.

Of particular interest to the family were several criminals who had told police they knew who killed Morcombe.

A coronial inquest was held between October 2010 and April 2011.

The inquest called as witnesses the bus driver who had failed to stop for Morcombe at the overpass, a woman who had seen a man loitering near Morcombe, and several persons of interest.

On 13 August 2011, after an extensive Mr. Big police operation, police took Brett Peter Cowan into custody and charged him with Morcombe's murder, child stealing, deprivation of liberty, indecent treatment of a child under 16, interfering with a corpse, and other offences after having led undercover detectives to Morcombe's remains.

On 21 August 2011, two shoes and three human bones were found at a search site at Glass House Mountains.

The shoes were similar to the ones that Morcombe was wearing when he disappeared.

Underpants and a belt were also found.

However, Morcombe also owned a distinctive fob style pocket watch with "Dan" engraved on it, which has not been found.

By the end of the investigation, seventeen bones had been found, including a rib, hip, leg, arm, and vertebrae.

They were all confirmed as belonging to Morcombe using DNA from his toothbrush to make the match.

As a result of the find, Morcombe's funeral was held at Siena Catholic College on 7 December 2012.

More than 2,000 people attended it.

In the same month, DNA tests confirmed bones in the Glass House Mountains were Morcombe's. On 13 March 2014, Cowan was found guilty of the murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, indecently dealing with a child, and interference with a corpse.

On 7 February 2014, Cowan was ordered to stand trial.

He was charged with murder, indecently dealing with a child under the age of 16, and improperly dealing with a corpse.

The trial, at the Supreme Court of Queensland, began on 10 February 2014 under Justice Roslyn Atkinson.

The prosecution closed its case on 7 March.