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11 months ago
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THE grieving dad of a teen murdered just days before Christmas two decades ago has told how having grandchildren has brought joy back to the day.
Daniel Morcombe, 13, went out to buy gifts for his family close to his home in Queensland, Australia, when he was abducted by a paedophile and killed.
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ABC NewsBut it wasn’t for another eight years after he was murdered on December 7, 2003, that his heartbroken family had answers and were finally able to lay him to rest.
Daniel, who was due to turn 14 with his twin Bradley, now 34, within days on December 19, was waiting for a bus when he was abducted by callous Brett Peter Cowan.
With Christmas and his birthday looming, he had decided to head to the Sunshine Plaza shopping centre to buy presents for his beloved family and get a haircut.
Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise, had been at a work Christmas lunch and after returning home around 4pm went out twice to see if he was waiting for either final buses back so they could pick him up.
When he didn’t show up, they became concerned.
Bruce, 64, told The Sun: “That was when we started to wonder what was going on.
“But we didn’t think ‘he’s been abducted’, we thought he’d probably forgotten his bus ticket or met some friends and hadn’t had a chance to call home yet.”
The couple jumped in the car and went to look for Daniel, but after drawing a blank and calling his pals, who said they hadn’t seen him, they decided to go to the local police station at 7.30pm.
It led to a sleepless night for Bruce and Denise, 63, and his brothers Bradley and Dean, 36, who were beside themselves as Daniel failed to return home.
Bruce added: “We were somewhat disappointed some years later on to learn that the initial response was inadequate.
“In missing person cases 20 years ago the general thing with police was to give it 24 hours and before they’d take it seriously.
“But time, in this case, was of the essence.
“It was a horrendous time for Denise and I. We did a couple of private searches on our acreage property looking in stables, that sort of thing, not knowing where he was at all.
“It was a terrible, sleepless night. We got up at the crack of dawn, which is around 4am, and started searching again.”
What followed was another eight years of pain as the police investigation stalled and made little progress despite best efforts.
Bruce said: “It was a real frustration for the family. The community wanted an answer and wanted to know what happened to Daniel and who was responsible.”
The devastated parents decided to contact the state coroner – who after a meeting called for a coronial inquest.
Bruce added: “We were frightened the police investigation might grind to a halt and it would become a cold case.
“We didn’t want that. We needed an answer, and the public deserved an answer.
“The priority for the family was to find Daniel, we just wanted him home – whether he was deceased or by some miracle alive.”
The hearing saw dozens of witnesses and persons of interest called into court between October 2010 and April 2011.
Witnesses told how they had seen a boy in a red t-shirt waiting for a bus on the day of Daniel’s disappearance.
Bruce said: “The bus he had been waiting to catch broke down and two replacement buses were sent.
“The first driver was told to take the passengers from that one where they wanted to go, and to not pick up any new passengers.
“A second bus was then sent behind to pick up new passengers.
“The first bus drove past Daniel and witnesses saw him in his red t-shirt hailing the bus – but the driver had been told not to stop, so it continued.”
But when the second bus pulled by just three minutes later, Daniel had vanished.
Bruce said: “What was observed by witnesses on the first bus was not only the boy in the red t-shirt, but also a shadowy, gaunt-faced unkept person standing about five metres behind.
“They said he didn’t look like he wanted to get the bus – Daniel raised his arm but he just stood there motionless.”
Convicted sex offender Brett Peter Cowan – who cops had long suspected – was grilled for a day and a half during the inquest.
With no real evidence against him, cops had failed to pin Daniel’s murder on Cowan despite their suspicions.
But in 2011, they launched an extensive sting operation dubbed Mr Big.
An undercover officer befriended Cowan on his five-hour flight back to Perth and convinced him he was involved in a criminal gang.
He eventually gained Cowan’s trust and introduced his “friends” posing as gang members.
Within months, Cowan confided in one of them he had indeed kidnapped and killed little Daniel – a chilling confession that was caught on camera.
Cowan was immediately arrested, and he admitted he had picked Daniel up from the bus stop.
The vile monster said he took the teen back to a secluded house and attempted to rape him.
But when Daniel fought back, Cowan said he “panicked and grabbed him around the throat”, strangling him to death.
Cowan showed police where he had buried Daniel in the Glass House Mountains.
Bruce said: “They found 17 bones and bone fragments.
“Not a huge amount – but I cannot express in words how much those 17 bones and bone fragments meant to us. That was Daniel.”
On December 7, 2012 – almost a decade on from his murder – Daniel’s family were finally able to lay him to rest.
Bruce added: “The funeral was almost a community event, there were thousands of people where who had taken Daniel into their hearts.
“He was a great kid who loved the outdoors.”
Bruce said following Daniel’s disappearance, December became a “month of sorrow” for his family as they marked Daniel’s death, his birthday and Christmas without him.
But the dad said the arrival of three grandchildren in recent years has brought light back to the festive season.
He said: “For 13 or 14 years it was a sad occasion, which it shouldn’t be.
“We truly missed Daniel. We still had a family gathering and a lunch, but not too much laughter.
“We always have a toast to Daniel on Christmas Day.
“He’s never forgotten, but what has changed in the last seven years in grandchildren.
“When they started coming along, they became the focus and they bring us so much joy.
“That has changed the make up of our family and provided us with a lot of strength.”
Warped Cowan was charged with murder, indecently dealing with a child under the age of 16 and improperly dealing with a corpse.
He pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty of all charges in March 2014.
Cowan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
Since Daniel’s murder, Bruce and Denise have set up the Daniel Morcombe Foundation in their son’s memory.
Their aim to to provide children and young people with “education, protection and support to be safe from abuse and risk of harm”.
The couple and the community also rally together for a Day for Daniel every year on the last Friday of October.
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