10 years later, the life and death of Daniel Morcombe
IT'S been 10 years since Daniel Morcombe disappeared while waiting for a bus on the Sunshine Coast. Here is his story.
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DANIEL Morcombe, 13, went missing while waiting for a bus in 2003. It was almost eight years before his remains were found. Next year, a man will face trial charged with his murder.
In that time his name would become synonymous with the community's efforts to protect children from harm. This is how his story unfolded.
December 7, 2003 - Daniel James Morcombe walked less than a kilometre from his Woombye-Palmwoods Road home to the Nambour Connection Road to catch the 1.35pm bus to the Sunshine Plaza shopping centre from beneath the Kiel Mountain overpass bridge.
The regular 1.35pm bus had broken down near Woombye, a couple of kilometres north of the underpass. A replacement was sent to pick up the stranded passengers and it eventually went past Daniel's bus stop about 2.10pm.
The 13-year-old tried to flag down the bus but because the driver was running late he had radioed back to a following bus to pick up any remaining passengers. When the second bus arrived, two or three minutes later, the bus stop area was deserted. Pictured is the bus stop, which for many years after the incident carried appeals for information.
December 8, 2003 - The first pictures of Daniel released to the media as police, up to 50 State Emergency Service volunteers and the Energex rescue helicopter search and door-knock the area where the missing boy was last seen. They were unsuccessful. Many more pictures of Daniel were to be released in the years ahead.
December 9 and 10, 2003 - DANIEL'S parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, appear on camera to appeal for any information that could help bring their son home. Police were anxious to speak to a man allegedly seen standing at the bus stop with Daniel at the time he disappeared.
December 12, 2003 - Forty police recruits from the Oxley Academy assist the search while police divers continued to search waterways and dams. Meanwhile, a mass was held at Daniel's school, Siena Catholic College, to support his family. Daniel's twin brother, Bradley, older brother, Dean, 16, and their parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe joined about 400 friends and supporters at the mass, holding vigil for the missing boy.
December 19, 2003 - Daniel's 14th birthday. For the first time, the Morcombes said they believed their son had been abducted.
December 21, 2003 - Daniel has been missing the 14 days. Police investigating the case re-enact the circumstances of the boy's disappearance, hoping for help from motorists. Elsewhere, officers search through cane fields and waterways at Bli Bli following a report a suspicious car was in the area on the day he went missing. Police divers also combed through tidal waters in the area.
February 1, 2004 - Police, business owners and Sunshine Coast residents organise a "Daniel Day" to raise funds to print posters of the missing 13-year-old.
March 19, 2004 - The publicity drive begins to take effect. More than 3000 calls about the missing teenager have been logged by Crime Stoppers, more than any other case in its history. It is just the beginning of a massive community response.
April 20, 2004 - The first Day for Daniel service was held in Brisbane's Queens Park. There had been more than 4000 calls to Crime Stoppers by this time. Pictured are Bruce and Denise Morcombe launching 1000 red balloons to raise the profile of their bid to find their missing son.
June 2004 - Motorcyclists and bike enthusiasts participate in the first "Ride for Daniel" fundraising appeal. The event would grow in popularity each year.
August 19, 2004 - More than 50 printing companies rally to produce 1.7 million leaflets calling for information about Daniel.
October 5, 2004 - The State Government announces the biggest reward in Queensland's history, of $250,000, and possible indemnity from prosecution to help solve the baffling disappearance of Daniel Morcombe. Crime Stoppers had now received more than 8000 calls from the public.
November 6, 2004 - The search for Daniel was ramped up briefly with Sunshine Coast State Emergency Service volunteers called in to scour a small area near the Big Pineapple tourist attraction. Similar hopes would arise regularly over coming years.
November 22, 2004 - Police release sketches of a man allegedly seen at the bus stop with Daniel before he disappeared.
December 7, 2004 - On the one year anniversary of Daniel's disappearance, a memorial is unveiled at the bus stop where he vanished.
May 2005 - The Daniel Morcombe Foundation established.
October 20, 2006 - Bruce and Denise Morcombe launch a child safety DVD at Australia Zoo during the launch of Queensland Childrens Week.
December 2007 - The Morcombes sell their Palmwoods home and move to a smaller property in the district. They find the courage to finally pack up Daniel's belongings, which Denise had previously left untouched, having placed them in a storage shed. More than 16,500 job logs have been recorded by Crime Stoppers at this time.
June 2008 - More than 18,000 job logs have been recorded by Crime Stoppers into Daniel's disappearance, but the lack of a breakthrough in the case has many people fearing there will be no resolution.
December 2008 - The State Government lifts the reward for information about Daniel Morcombe's disappearance to $1 million. Picture: Megan Slade
May 31, 2009 - THE $1 million reward for information expires unclaimed but the $250,000 government reward remained on offer. Picture: Megan Slade
July 5, 2009 - The Morcombes call for a Coronial Inquest in the hope they will find answers to their son's unsolved abduction and murder.
October 6, 2009 - Bradley Morcombe, Daniel's twin, broke his six-year silence in an interview with New Idea magazine to talk about losing his brother.
April 16, 2010 - Thousands of pages of investigation into the disappearance of Daniel Morcombe were delivered to the State Coroner. In the months that followed, Denise and Bruce Morcombe scoured the police files of 'Operation Vista'. The Coronial Inquest they had sought was announced mid-year.
October 11, 2010 - The Coronial Inquest into Daniel's suspected abduction and murder begins in the Maroochydore District Court. The first day of the inquest heard that Daniel disappeared in a 90-second period between witnesses passing the scene. In following days the inquest heard that if Daniel had been reported as a missing person the day he vanished, the file would have gone to "an empty office" because in 2003, the Missing Persons Bureau "did not work Sundays".
December 19, 2010 - The 21st birthday of twins Daniel and Bradley Morcombe.
January 20, 2011 - More than seven years after Daniel's disappearance, a new taskforce is set up at police headquarters in Brisbane to review evidence related to his suspected abduction.
March 28, 2011 - The inquest into Daniel's disappearance resumes in Brisbane. Persons of interest give evidence for another week before proceedings closed.
August 13, 2011 - A man is charged with the abduction and murder of Daniel Morcombe. He was arrested at 4pm and charged three hours later with murder, deprivation of liberty, child stealing, indecent treatment of a child under 16 and interfering with a corpse.
August 14, 2011 - Police and SES volunteers scour rugged Sunshine Coast bushland seeking Daniel's remains. Excitement builds about an imminent possible breakthrough.
August 17, 2011 - Police announce that a shoe was found at the site where they believe Daniel Morcombe was murdered and buried. Picture: Megan Slade
August 19, 2011 - A Second shoe, believed to match another found earlier, was unearthed at the Beerwah site, reinvigorating weary police and SES volunteers.
August 21, 2011 - The news all Queenslanders had both hoped for and long feared - bones are found at the primary search site for Daniel Morcombe in the Glass House Mountains.
August 28, 2011 - Commissioner Bob Atkinson and Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett announce that DNA tests on the bones confirm Daniel's remains have been found. A laboratory known worldwide for its research into prehistoric bones was responsible for providing the DNA analysis.
September 1, 2011 - Denise and Bruce Morcombe accept a Queensland Child Protection award as part of Child Protection Week 2011. Picture: Annette Dew
September 4, 2011 - It's announced that Queensland students will be taught how to ward off predators under plans to introduce the Daniel Morcombe safety message into the state school curriculum.
September 12, 2011 - Polce find more human remains at the Sunshine Coast hinterland site where they believe Daniel Morcombe was killed. The search would continue daily, hampered by bad weather, until October 7, when police flagged their intention to wind down the effort.
October 14, 2011 - Daniel Morcombe's family hold a private ceremony at the site where the schoolboy's remains were found. Bruce Morcombe said he, wife Denise and sons Dean, 23, and Bradley, 21, visited the "significant spot'' in the Glass House Mountains with a priest.
November 26 2012 - Committal hearing into the death of Daniel Morcombe begins. Brett Peter Cowan charged with murder, child stealing, deprivation of liberty, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse.
December 7 2012 - Daniel Morcombe is finally laid to rest in emotional service at Catherine of Siena Church at Sippy Downs on the Sunshine Coast. Nine years to day after he vanished.
February 2013 - Committal hearing told Daniel disappeared in a 90-second window while waiting for a bus at the Kiel Mountain Rd overpass on December 7, 2003. The new information was revealed through transcripts of conversations Cowan had with two undercover officers in August, 2011, in which he spoke of luring Daniel to his car before driving him to a secret location where he was killed.
October 2013 - Date set for trial of Brett Peter Cowan, 43, It is scheduled for February 10, 2014.
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