Where is Daniel Morcombe? | 8. Daniel

Summary

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Podcast Summary

The Binge Cases: Where is Daniel Morcombe?

Episode 8: Daniel
Host: Matt Angel (Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media)
Release Date: November 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

Episode eight, titled simply "Daniel," is the emotional conclusion to the series investigating the disappearance and murder of 13-year-old Daniel Morcombe. The episode interweaves harrowing memories of the search and discovery of Daniel’s remains, the Morcombe family's quest for justice and healing, and scrutiny of the police investigation. It explores the legacy of Daniel’s case—how his family’s grief has transformed into Australia’s most influential child safety movement. The narrative alternates between firsthand recollections from family and investigators and host Matt Angel’s own reflections, culminating in the powerful annual “Dance for Daniel” event and the ongoing impact of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Search and the Discovery of Daniel's Remains

• Pat McShane’s First-Hand Account:
  • On September 4, 2011, state emergency volunteer Pat McShane joined the major search for Daniel, describing a somber, rain-soaked morning marked by community solidarity.
  • Vivid descriptions of volunteers ("Orange Angels") painstakingly searching, and the nearly spiritual atmosphere as Daniel’s presence was felt in the landscape.
  • Discovery: Pat unearths bone fragments, leading to the realization they've found “the most known child in Australia.”
  • Notable Quote (Pat McShane, 04:08):

    “Daniel's spirit was in the air. His spirit was in the birds, in the trees, in the breeze.”

2. The Morcombe Family’s Ordeal: Waiting and Advocacy

• Family’s Reaction & Continued Foundation Work:
  • After Daniel’s remains are found, Bruce and Denise are denied a funeral until all legal appeals are exhausted—a wait of over 15 months.
  • Despite personal anguish, they press forward with tours up the Queensland coast, presenting child safety programs developed by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.
  • Denise Morcombe on Advocacy (12:58):

    “You need to compose yourself... But you had to flick that tear away and say, I'm here to make their life better and safer. And that's what we did.”

  • Delayed Farewell:
    • Recount of finally receiving Daniel’s remains, the intimate and painful funeral (14:00–17:56).
    • Thousands attend the funeral, with red, Daniel’s color, uniting a nation in mourning.

3. The Aftermath: Trials, Justice, and Turning Points

• The Arrest and Conviction of Brett Peter Cowan (20:31–21:01):
  • Details on the trial, Cowan’s life sentence, and the Morcombe family's dignified response in court.
  • Denise Morcombe on Facing Cowan (21:01):

    “We turned our back to Cowan and we gave each other a hug... We were not gonna give Cowan any satisfaction and disgrace ourselves in court.”

4. Investigative Failures & Inquest

• Detective Testimonies and Missing Evidence:
  • Dennis Martin and Ken King recount being ignored when advocating to focus on Cowan early in the investigation.
  • Allegations of reports and evidence (including job logs, criminal histories, and a notebook) mysteriously going missing or being redacted.
  • Ken King Recounts Dismissal by Lead Detective (23:19):

    “I had the infamous conversation with the lead detective... I said, 'Cowan'", and exact words were just 'fuck off. What would you know?'”

  • Ongoing Legacy: Changes are implemented, including independent reviews for unsolved homicide/missing persons cases.

5. The Ripple Effect: Daniel’s Legacy

a. The Annual Dance for Daniel

• 20th Annual Event (38:54):
  • Host Matt Angel attends, observing the massive reach of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and the nation’s red-lit solidarity.
  • Over 2 million participate in “Day for Daniel” events, and the Foundation becomes Australia’s lead on child safety education.

b. Nationwide and Global Impact

• Testament from Investigators and Foundation Allies:
  • John Rouse, former head of Task Force Argos, credits Daniel’s case and the Morcombes’ advocacy for propelling global child protection operations—resulting in major operations with Europol, Interpol, FBI, and others.
  • John Rouse on the Foundation’s Legacy (43:32):

    “Your legacy is the foundation... You can't measure how many children who heard your message that then were safeguarded because they acted on it, we'll never know.”

c. Personal Grief and Family Bonds

• Bruce and Denise on Loss and Life (46:31–47:26):
  • They reflect on the permanent “fork in the road” the crime imposed on their family, mourning Daniel and the grandchildren lost never to be.
  • Bruce and Denise emphasize the importance of appreciating life’s small, everyday moments.

d. Moving Forward: Dean Morcombe's Perspective (47:41–49:11)

• Daniel's older brother Dean shares how the family finds healing in routine, cherishing each other and honoring Daniel's memory, while the Foundation continues its vital work.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker/Context | Quote/Description | |-----------|----------------|------------------| | 04:08 | Pat McShane | “Daniel's spirit was in the air. His spirit was in the birds, in the trees, in the breeze.” | | 12:58 | Denise Morcombe | “You need to compose yourself... But you had to flick that tear away and say, I'm here to make their life better and safer. And that's what we did.” | | 17:39 | Bruce Morcombe | “On Daniel's coffin, we put a beautiful photo... and a couple of Christmas presents... Daniel hadn’t opened.” | | 21:01 | Denise Morcombe | “We turned our back to Cowan and we gave each other a hug... We were not gonna give Cowan any satisfaction and disgrace ourselves in court.” | | 23:19 | Ken King | “I said, 'Cowan... you should focus on him.' The exact words were just 'fuck off. What would you know?'” | | 24:33 | Ken King | “He was just a fellow that had a very bad disposition on life... just an asshole on life.” | | 29:54 | Ken King | “Here was the original report... it was quite lengthy and had everything that Ken and I had always said it had on it.” | | 32:44 | Grant Linwood | “There's a few steps that had been missed... but in an ideal world, there's a few things that should have been done.” | | 36:08 | Grant Linwood | “There's no one hero to any part of it, but many, many people played a critical role...” | | 43:32 | John Rouse | “Your legacy is the foundation... You can't measure how many children who heard your message that then were safeguarded because they acted on it, we'll never know.” | | 45:53 | Dennis Martin | “It’s the ripple effect. You know, the way people touch you and then you carry that forward with other people.” | | 46:02 | Matt Angel | “That's a big fucking ripple.” | | 46:31 | Bruce Morcombe | “Everyone's life changes.” | | 47:02 | Denise Morcombe | “Not only do you lose that child, but you lose that child who would have been a parent... You lose the grandchildren from Daniel.” | | 49:13 | Dean Morcombe | “Everyone would probably know them as Daniel's mum and dad, but my parents just seem like regular people... We had a great childhood really. And then December 7th happened and I guess everyone's life's changed, but to me, they're still just my parents.” |

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:43 – Pat McShane’s search and first-person account
• 06:41 – Matt Angel travels Daniel’s last path; discovery confirmed
• 09:16–12:06 – The Morcombe family’s response, the Foundation’s mission
• 13:53–16:00 – Negotiating for Daniel’s remains; funeral and public farewell
• 20:31–21:37 – Conviction of Brett Peter Cowan; courtroom response
• 23:19–29:29 – Inquest reveals investigative failures, missing evidence, detective testimonies
• 32:44–33:40 – Detectives reflect on missed opportunities, speculation on alternate outcomes
• 36:08–36:53 – Recognition of collaborative efforts in solving the case
• 38:54–44:44 – 20th Dance for Daniel and the global reach of the Foundation
• 46:31–47:26 – Family’s ongoing grief and legacy of loss
• 47:41–49:11 – Dean Morcombe on family, healing, and everyday life

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Conclusion

"Daniel" delivers a powerful, multi-layered conclusion that goes far beyond the tragic criminal act. This episode is a testament to the unbreakable will of Bruce and Denise Morcombe, who transformed unspeakable loss into one of the world’s foremost child safety campaigns—impacting not only their own country, but the world at large. The episode examines institutional shortcomings, acknowledges the emotional toll on everyone involved, and ultimately pays tribute to the immense “ripple effect” Daniel’s story created. With honest voices, emotional storytelling, and stark moments of reflection, the series closes with hope, warning, and profound appreciation for small actions that can change countless lives.

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Transcript

[Jonathan Van Ness]

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[Matt Angel]

All episodes of Where Is Daniel Morecambe? Ad free right now by subscribing to the binge. Visit the binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page or visit getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen the binge feed your true crime obsession the binge.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Campsite Media.

[Pat McShane]

On the day I'd wake up at 5am had my uniform on. Never worn it before. It was orange overalls, black boots, gloves, and a hat. So the only part of us showing really was our face.

[Matt Angel]

It's September 4, 2011, Father's Day, with three children of his own. The first Sunday of every September has always been special for Pat McShane. But this one was different.

[Pat McShane]

I said to my wife and kids that we'll give our Father's Day to a man who if it needs it more, then when I get home, I'll have our Father's Day.

[Matt Angel]

This morning, he's headed off to his first assignment as a state emergency service volunteer known locally as the Orange Angels.

[Pat McShane]

As I put my boots on that day, I felt something was gonna happen. As we drove down, approaching the search site, all the houses had red balloons, red hearts, and red streamers. And there was residents waving vigorously to us. Here's this army of people going in to search for Daniel, and that lifted me. It's a long road. It Goes for quite a few kilometres and we go a bit further and houses stop and the bitumen stops and then left and right is plantation. It started becoming less formed and more of a track and. And you could have imagined how Daniel felt. Where is this guy taking me? You know what's happening.

[Matt Angel]

Pat's car continues down the dirt road, flanked by pines. Suddenly, the road spills into a large slab of farmland with macadamia trees. Base camp, the actual search site is further away, in the overgrown scrub of an old deserted sand quarry.

[Pat McShane]

It had been raining. It was a bit misty. There was incredible silence.

[Matt Angel]

Pat joins the line of nearly 40 individuals stretched out across the bush. They're on their knees, heads down, shoulder to shoulder, inching forward slowly.

[Pat McShane]

I could hear some of the girls were crying. Daniel's spirit was in the air. His spirit was in the birds, in the trees, in the breeze. And as I was searching, just removing the material, going through every morsel and then placing it behind me, all I could picture was the images of Daniel that have been published. That's all I saw. We kept on going at the rate of about 1 meter per hour is all we were searching.

[Matt Angel]

Then Pat notices something.

[Pat McShane]

I unearthed an item that was round. It was about 4cm in diameter. It was like the side of a tennis ball, a curvature. And it was brown in colour, it was porous in texture and it had calcium leaching out the side. I called the team leader and she picked it up and she said, that's a yip and it was human. I said, that's a bone fragment and that's not an entire piece and there's more and we want you to continue searching. So I had about five police over my shoulder and I continued searching and then I found another piece and that was like half a chisel. I dug again. Another piece just rolled out in front of me and that was like half a bow tie and I was shaking, basically. We exhumed a human who was the most known child in Australia. And I had this feeling. I can't describe it. I felt as I held him. I felt the love that Daniel had for his mother. And it was a love that I could describe as even when he went to school, he missed his mother.

[Matt Angel]

I'm Matt angel and from Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media, this is where is Daniel Morcom? Episode 8 Daniel. It's an uncomfortable request to make, but I knew I had to try. After seven years of knowing Daniel's story, of at times obsessing over it, I felt I needed to retrace his steps from December 7, 2003, from that dream home in Palm woods to the Hail and Ride bus stop beneath the Keel Mountain Road overpass. From the church parking lot to Coochin Creek, from the macadamia farm to the old sand quarry. Initially, Bruce and Denise weren't so sure. But somehow, one Sunday, I found myself in their car. I got out at each stop. I think I just wanted to feel close to the person who has had such an impact on so many, myself included. Bruce and Denise stayed in the car. Once we got to the quarry, and with some directions from Bruce, I walked off around a locked gate and down a trail. It's actually hard to believe that I'm standing here. You see it a certain way in your head for almost seven years, and then, you know, you see the real place. I trudged across the landscape to the edge of an embankment and stared into the trees. I was standing where the Morcom family had stood silently embracing each other nearly 14 years prior. They wore blue forensic overalls, gloves, surgical masks, covered from head to toe so as not to contaminate the search area with their DNA. Because no more than 50 meters from the edge of that embankment, investigators believed they had found Daniel within the week. DNA tests confirmed it.

[Dennis Martin]

As I think Bob Atkinson said, it's a sad answer, but it's an answer.

[Matt Angel]

Deputy Commissioner Ross Barnett greenlit Brett Peter Cowan's arrest because he believed that Cowan's recorded confession to undercover operatives would be enough to secure a conviction. But the idea that any corroborating evidence might still exist to support that confession. It had been almost eight years. It was a heavily wooded area rife with wild animals. The vegetation was dense. Floods had hammered the terrain.

[Dennis Martin]

We had no real expectation of finding anything.

[Ken King]

And the fact we did was, you.

[Dennis Martin]

Know, a small miracle.

[Matt Angel]

And there were more miracles to come. One of the things Brett Cowan had confessed to the undercover operatives was that after he stripped Daniel's clothes from his body, he tossed them off a nearby bridge into a fast flowing creek tied.

[Dennis Martin]

Around some mangrove roots in very shallow water. In the creek, we found the band of the underpants that Daniel had been wearing. And they found, buried under a couple of inches of silt and sand under the water, the remains of some of the other clothes that he'd been wearing that day. They were still there, right where he said they'd be eight years later. Now, we had no right to be able to recover those items in those circumstances after all that time. You know, he'd had all the luck for about eight years, and then all of a sudden, when we ended up starting to have the luck.

[Matt Angel]

In all, just 17 bones were found.

[Bruce Morcom]

We didn't find much of Daniel. I was told that what was found of Daniel would probably fit in a cigarette.

[Denise Morcom]

BO.

[Matt Angel]

The day after Brett Peter Cowan's arrest, Bruce and Denise faced a swarm of media outside their home. One journalist asked if they planned to continue the Daniel Morcom Foundation.

[Bruce Morcom]

We said, yeah, we've worked too hard for so many years. We're going to continue and have this foundation grow.

[Matt Angel]

Even after the first of Daniel's remains were found, the Morecambes didn't stop.

[Bruce Morcom]

We set up the foundation for the search for Daniel, but we also set it up to educate children on child safety.

[Matt Angel]

For months, they had been organizing a tour up the Queensland coast. Bruce and Denise would visit schools and present the foundation's latest child safety curriculum.

[Bruce Morcom]

People were saying, oh, you shouldn't go, you don't need to go, and that we said, no, we're going. What could Bruce and I do? We couldn't sit in a chair at home doing nothing because that's not part of us.

[Matt Angel]

They had made a commitment and they honored it for Daniel.

[Bruce Morcom]

We had our big trailer and we just drove off and I think it was about 2,000, 3,000 kilometre trip up there and then another couple thousand coming.

[Matt Angel]

Home from one town to the next. They were greeted by crowds wearing red and brandishing handmade signs showing their support.

[Denise Morcom]

We love you, Morecambes. We won't forget Daniel. Balloons for 2,000 kilometers. It was extraordinary.

[Matt Angel]

They were astounded by the outpouring of love.

[Bruce Morcom]

Like, we'd get to the service station and buy petrol and we'd get there at the counter and the person before us had already paid for it. And then we got to Cairns and there was, I'm not kidding you, there would have been 2,000 people waiting for us in the park there.

[Matt Angel]

But it was a difficult journey for the couple.

[Denise Morcom]

Periodically, the police commissioner would ring Denise or myself and he'd say, look, just letting you know before the media get hold of it. There'd been another find of Daniel's remains, another bone, whatever it may have been. Sometimes we were within 30 minutes of walking into a school. You need to compose yourself. You're going to meet teachers, school principals, mums and dads and of course, kids that you've never met in your life. So you've got to do your best. But you had to flick that tear away and say, I'm here to make their life better and safer. And that's what we did.

[Matt Angel]

When they returned from the tour, all Bruce and Denise wanted was to collect their son's remains, to finally separate him from the investigation, to take him home.

[Bruce Morcom]

And we asked them, can we please have a funeral for Daniel?

[Denise Morcom]

Ramay said, you will not receive Daniel's remains until all avenues of appeal have been extinguished. And we just felt it was so unjust. It just seemed a play for power, that play by our rules as we go through the court processes or for some foreseeable future, you won't get Daniel's remains. It seemed almost a ransom.

[Matt Angel]

They waited 15 months.

[Bruce Morcom]

I know we're in Brisbane and we had a newspaper article that was being written and it was going to be printed on the Friday morning. It was going to be the front page news, talking about how the police, the DPP and the coroner wouldn't release Daniel's remains. The coroner phoned bruce up about four or five o'clock on that Thursday afternoon and said, Daniel's remains are going to be released.

[Matt Angel]

Maybe the impending front page news story in no way influenced the sudden release of Daniel's remains after those 15 long months. Or maybe it did. But only one thing mattered to the.

[Bruce Morcom]

Morcams and we were able to start working on Daniel's funeral that evening. And we had it.

[Denise Morcom]

A week later we went to the funeral parlour. Probably one of the most difficult times in your life. A private room. Within that room was a small white coffin with a gold cross and gold handles. A beautiful coffin really. The undertaker there said, would you like me to open the coffin so you can reflect? We declined. I didn't want to see Daniel as he is. I wanted to see and remember Daniel as he was. So I didn't want to look at his remains, those few bones that were in there. So we left the coffin closed and Denise and I walked out knowing tomorrow's the day.

[Matt Angel]

Daniel Morcom was laid to rest. On December 7, 2012. It was the nine year anniversary of his death.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Sunshine Co's parents, Bruce and Denise Morcom, have waited nine long years to bring their son home. And today they will finally give him the farewell he deserves.

[Matt Angel]

Will you tell me about the funeral?

[Bruce Morcom]

No, don't want to.

[Pat McShane]

No.

[Matt Angel]

My heart broke. I watched those soulful blue eyes fill with a pain that can't be put into words. And then.

[Bruce Morcom]

I was at St. Catherine's of Siena. One of the girls from the foundation had organised to sort of send not invites, but sort of let people know that the funeral would be on. And a lot of people wanted to have specific seating and parts of the church.

[Denise Morcom]

There were thousands of people there, quite a few people that you knew from school teachers.

[Matt Angel]

They're asking everyone to wear red, which is the colour that he was wearing the day he disappeared.

[Denise Morcom]

We did allow TV cameras into the church. It was our way of thanking because they wanted to be there as well. So while there were perhaps two or three thousand people at the church, inside the church, some outside, it was live broadcast around Australia really has touched the.

[Matt Angel]

Hearts and affected everyone, not just here in Queensland, but right throughout the country.

[Bruce Morcom]

On Daniel's coffin, we put a beautiful photo that Daniel had in a crystal photo frame. And it also had a couple of Christmas presents that we'd had in the cupboard that Daniel hadn't opened. So we put those on top of his coffin as well.

[Denise Morcom]

You do your best, you shed a tear, you say goodbye, you walk outside. And the motorcade slowly takes off. Denise's mum's in tears. Denise is in tears. Not great. And we head off to the cemetery where it was a quiet, private service. That's it.

[Bruce Morcom]

Once we'd had Daniel's funeral and he was in the cemetery and we were able to go and say hello to him, it got a lot easier. Dean and Brad, we noticed they seem to have been quite different. They were more relaxed, just in a better, happier place. I think knowing that Daniel was now laid to rest.

[Denise Morcom]

To a mum and a dad, it's the toughest day of your life, saying goodbye to your kids. But the next day, Very uplifting. You know that chapter's finished.

[Matt Angel]

Bruce and Denise had done it finally. They had brought their boy home.

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[Matt Angel]

Saved free speech.

[Pat McShane]

He created so many different great things.

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[Matt Angel]

2014, Brett Peter Cowan was found guilty of the murder of Daniel Markham. The next day, he received his sentence.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

It took more than 10 years to.

[Matt Angel]

Convict Brett Peter Cowan. It took less than an hour to.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Lock him away for life.

[Dennis Martin]

The judge told Cowan he was beyond.

[Matt Angel]

Rehabilitation and should never be released.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

They face a lifetime of grief.

[Matt Angel]

But for now, the Morecambe family can take comfort. Justice for their son and brother has been won.

[Denise Morcom]

It would have been so easy to stand up. As human nature would say, that's what you're going to do. You're going to say, I hope you rot in hell, you animal, whatever. You're going to give him a spray. But what the family did, we turned our back to Cowan and we gave each other a hug. A few of us were in tears, but that moment, we were not gonna give Cowan any satisfaction and disgrace ourselves in court. You want to give that person a piece of your mind? But we didn't say anything. We just turned our back and that was dat.

[Matt Angel]

Cowan's legal team contested the ruling on appeal twice, and twice they failed. Today, nearly 22 years after taking Daniel's life, Bret Peter Cowan is serving his life sentence at the Woolston Correctional Center, a high security prison in Brisbane. He's unlikely to ever see the light of day. And yet, somehow, this isn't where the story ends. The mystery of what happened to Daniel had been solved. But the coronial inquest into Daniel's disappearance and murder always had another aim to assess the investigation. In December of 2016, the proceedings resumed with a new coroner by the name of Terry Ryan. The question at the heart of the matter had police missed an opportunity to catch Brett Peter Cowan sooner? These final two days of the inquiry laid bare just how much politics inside the investigation and beyond it had shaped, shaped the case from the very start. You might recall Task force Argos detectives Dennis Martin and Ken King. The two men had been the first to interview Cowan just two weeks after Daniel had vanished. They had retraced Cowan's alleged movements and identified a 45 minute gap in his alibi. They had prepared a report and Ken King had briefed the Major incident room. On December 22, 2000, both Ken King and Dennis Martin were called to give evidence at the inquest in 2016. While on the stand, Dennis Martin recalled the conversation that took place in the immediate aftermath of King's Mir brief.

[Ken King]

I had the infamous conversation with the lead detective in the hallway. He was going past and I said, look, Cowan, Shiman, I think you should focus on him. And the exact words were similar to that was just fuck off. What would you know? And so that was the end of that conversation.

[Matt Angel]

You know, what was his name?

[Ken King]

Condon.

[Matt Angel]

Condon, as in Mike Condon, the detective inspector at the time and the man in charge of the case from beginning to end. Mike Condon was a decorated officer and respected by many. But my conversations with people suggested a reputation that was more complicated. Some said he was a competent and dedicated investigator. Others said he was difficult, prickly, and even a dictator. But it was never these descriptions of Condon that struck me most. It was the change I witnessed in some people when he was brought up. The energy of the interview would just shift, as if they suddenly remembered they were being recorded. That wasn't so much the case with Dennis Martin, though. He had no problem sharing his feelings about Condon on the record.

[Ken King]

He was just a fellow that had a very bad disposition on life. I don't know whether he liked life or hated life, but he's just one of those sort of people, just an asshole on life. You know, that's the way he was and that's the way he is.

[Matt Angel]

When Condon took the stand during this final part of the inquest, he denied the conversation with Martin ever happened, and the coroner concluded there was insufficient evidence to find that it took place. Regardless, some people I spoke with still side with Martin on this one. One detective said, if you asked 100 people who knew Mike Condon if they thought he said that to Martin that day, 100 people would tell you he said did. And Ken King certainly believed his partner.

[Dennis Martin]

I trust Dennis anyway, partly because he just not have a reason to lie because he's not worried about, like he doesn't have some agenda. It's just not in his style to even bother.

[Matt Angel]

We reached out to Mike Condon several times, but he declined to be interviewed for this podcast. He said that he doesn't make comment on operational matters in retirement. But to understand Condon's alleged reaction is to understand where many were at this early point in the investigation. Douglas Jackway was a prime suspect. He had a criminal history as dark as Cowan's, a familiarity with the area, opportunity and a shifting alibi. Plus, he had been driving a blue car, one that perfectly matched the blue car so many eyewitnesses had seen near the underpass. The problem? Hindsight. We now know that Douglas Jackoway had nothing to do with the crime. It was Bret Peter Cowan. An argument that Dennis Martin and Ken King made in King's brief to the Mir that Cowan was an equally compelling suspect who demanded attention. King and Martin also claimed that their report on Cowan was nothing short of extensive.

[Dennis Martin]

All of the information in the two.

[Matt Angel]

Job logs, plus attachments, photos of Cowan, his car and the car's tire treads, printouts of his criminal history and the recordings from their interactions with him. But something curious happened in 2011 following Bret Peter Cowen's arrest. In preparation for court proceedings proceedings, an investigator followed up with Ken King about those early interactions.

[Dennis Martin]

And I said, well, the reports are a good starting point. And he said, what report?

[Ken King]

They said there was no report. The report had gone missing.

[Matt Angel]

It wasn't the only thing that would end up going missing. The recordings disappeared too, as did Ken King's notebook. Ken had left the Queensland police service in 2008. As was standard protocol, he checked in any notebooks he had used on investigations over the years. Please keep these things stored should they ever be needed for future matters. One of those notebooks that Ken turned over contained his notes from his days on Operation Bravo Vista. In 2013, he was called to give evidence at Cowan's pre trial.

[Dennis Martin]

So I asked for my notebook in case I needed to refresh my memory during the pretrial hearing and I was told it was missing.

[Matt Angel]

Apparently it had been misplaced after being signed out by someone on an unrelated matter.

[Dennis Martin]

I made it really clear to a few people that I wouldn't be stopping whatever ruckus I needed to cause until my notebook was found and my notebook was produced. At the pre trial hearing, it was found.

[Matt Angel]

Ken made clear that given the notebook was found, the court proceedings were in no way impacted. Still, he doesn't understand why it ever went missing in the first place. Then at the 2016 inquest, King and Martin learned that their original report had been found as well. But what officers presented was not the extensive report that the detectives swear they turned a over to their superiors.

[Ken King]

The report they produced in the court was a redacted report from some of the facts from that report.

[Matt Angel]

It was just over two pages and notably absent the attachments, including the printouts of Cowan's criminal history, which Ken King insists were included. He recognized some aspects of the text as their own, but he was adamant that those pages were not nothing more than a summary of the comprehensive report that they had submitted. After discussing all of this with Ken, I put a question to him, knowing what you know, today the report goes missing, the recordings go missing, your notebook for a period of time goes missing. Do you believe this was by coincidence?

[Dennis Martin]

No.

[Matt Angel]

The inquiry found no evidence to suggest a more extensive report beyond that of the three page document ever existed. But a few years ago, Dennis Martin was doing a cleanup of his old computer files. He came across a hard drive he didn't recognize with a USB stick attached.

[Ken King]

I was transferring everything on my computer because it's about 30 years old. I opened up the big hard drive and in the bottom was a USB stick, and it said, please, I don't know what's on here, put on there. It came up with a few things and came up with the operation for Daniel Morcom. And here was the original report had not been changed or touched since 2003. So that was the original report, which was quite lengthy and had everything that Ken and I had always said it had on it.

[Matt Angel]

The police always maintained that Brett Cowan was a primary suspect throughout the case. But police actions, or lack of actions here, might speak louder than words. When detectives seized Cowan's vehicle in the days following King and Martin's brief, materials were collected for testing. But that material wasn't submitted to forensics for five months, where it remained untested for four more years. Dennis Martin recalls submitting suggestions to seize Cowan's computers and phone records, but that wouldn't be done for 18 months. Cowan's wife at the time, she wasn't officially interviewed by investigators for 18 months. He was never one of the four suspects displayed on the Major Incident Room's photo board. Here's what I think. I think that all of this points to something major being missed by the police. There's one more story worth mentioning here, a story that has bothered me since the moment I heard it. In the lead up to Brett Peter Cowan's confession, Detective Grant Linwood and one of the Covert's controllers were chatting in Perth.

[Grant Linwood]

We joked, oh, we'll never have to buy a beer again if we can pull this off and come back. And the reality was quite different, which surprised me. I got the distinct impression that, as weird as it sounds, not everyone's happy sometimes when something like this happens.

[Matt Angel]

The question I keep asking myself is, were the police so determined to tie the blue car to Douglas Jackway and charge him with Daniel's murder that they refused to listen to some of their own detectives regarding Bret Peter Cowan? And as it became clear that Cowan might be guilty, were attempts made to cover malfeasance? Did they care so much about being right that they disregarded doing what was right? The inquest itself did not conclude that investigators had acted inappropriately or made improper decisions. Some questions were referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission, but the CCC too, found no evidence of misconduct. But the inquest did agree that, yes, more could have been done to focus On Brett Peter Cowan or early on, Detective Linwood feels the same.

[Grant Linwood]

If you want to write something off properly, as we say, to really run it out, there's a way to do it. And there was a few steps that had been missed, but. And I do know the same people that had to investigate him were probably doing 10 other pois, so I won't be critical of that. But in an ideal world, there's a few things that should have been done.

[Matt Angel]

But the coroner also said that he didn't believe it was necessary or helpful to retroactively evaluate every element of the QPS investigation. He concluded that even if Cowan had been pressed harder, it was speculative to suggest that the investigation would have drawn to its conclusion any sooner. Linwood also agrees with this finding.

[Grant Linwood]

I don't know if it ever would have been solved. In a weird way, it's the passage of time and it's that sequence of events that led to him perhaps being comfortable enough to one day admit it. I don't know, it's just one of those very interesting, convoluted stories that perhaps had to happen the way it did. Does that make sense?

[Matt Angel]

It does to me. I try my best to believe that things happen for a reason. In this case, everything led to the Mr. Big sting. And if it hadn't been for that high stakes operation, Cowan may have never confessed to the COVID operatives or led investigators to Daniel's remains. Daniel may never have been found. Still, one of the primary purposes of an inquest is to bring change. It's why Ken King was willing to sit down with me. He harbors no illusion that he is the victim in this story. But if his speaking out can help improve the system even a little bit.

[Dennis Martin]

Because this is kind of the point we're making, is how much better can we do things so that next time an offender like this is investigated, you know, we've somehow, you know, incrementally advanced our society to improve things a bit.

[Matt Angel]

As a result of Daniel's coronial inquest, the Queensland Police Service now requires a mandatory independent review at the 12 month mark of any homicide or suspicious high risk missing person case. For better or worse, this investigation had a massive impact on the lives of those involved. Julie Elliot, the police liaison who grew close with the family as they faced their darkest days. For years, she struggled with the effects the case had on her emotionally. Ken King and Dennis Martin ended up leaving the police force. And Grant Linwood saw his days in the homicide division come to an end. And the COVID operatives, without whom none of this would have been possible. I tried to reach them through various avenues, but they declined any requests for interviews. Grant Linwood still speaks to some of them, though, and he has seen firsthand the toll it's taken.

[Grant Linwood]

Oh, they're all absolutely destroyed by it. They're quite sensitive about it and don't, you know, they'll talk openly to me about it, but only in hushed whispers somewhere quiet. They're very. Yeah, you can see it's had an effect on them. I couldn't do it. I think they're brilliant.

[Matt Angel]

Every single detective I spoke with went out of their way to make one thing perfectly clear. In the end, all that matters is that the case was solved, that Brett Cowan is off the street and that the Morcoms got the answers they deserved.

[Grant Linwood]

There's no one hero to any part of it, but many, many people played a critical role in the very strange sequence of events that led to this ending. Were it not for the extraordinary amount of work that so many police did, fruitlessly chasing every useless red herring across the state to get rid of that, it wouldn't have been where it was. So that should be recognised. Like, a lot of it went nowhere, but, geez, they were trying. Were it not for then, you know, the assistance of, you know, the coronial process, Peter Boyce, the wonderful staff at Coroner's office, all of that getting involved, the Western Australia Police, the bits we did, the COVID operatives, it all led to one huge sequence that, you know, so it always needs to be recognised, the part everyone played.

[Matt Angel]

Which brings us back to Bruce and Denise. They are, after all, the beating heart of this story. The two people who faced the worst pain, who fought harder than anyone, who refused to give up, who never stopped pushing for answers, regardless of the challenges they faced. Perhaps if they hadn't gone through this, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing today.

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[Matt Angel]

I'm walking through downtown Brisbane with lee Parker. It's March 15, 2025, and I'm on my way to city hall for the 20th dance for Daniel. That other guy, Lee Parker, that's my best friend. He was Daniel's age and living on the Sunshine coast when the abduction occurred. I wouldn't be telling this story if it weren't for Lee. He told me about Daniel and then he introduced me to Bruce and Denise. We went and bought our red ties. The entire exterior of the building is lit red for the dance. It's pretty incredible. And there are just hundreds of people in formal attire zigzagging through lines in front to be let in. This is incredible. As we were checking in, I took a quick look at the guest list. I see Julie's here. Pat McShane. How are you?

[Dennis Martin]

I heard my name.

[Matt Angel]

We just saw your name.

[Pat McShane]

Oh, okay.

[Matt Angel]

We were like, oh, my God, that's Pat. We're at table 58. 58. Okay. Thank you, Pat. Peter Boyce, Ross Barnett, Tim Ryan. Everyone was here. All right, now we're walking into the main. The main event. Denise Morcom told me to look up at the ceiling. Oh, wow. There's a giant projection on it. It's all red lights and it has the logo the Daniel Morcom foundation established 2005 t shirt and a special banner. 20 years of keeping kids safe. And then Denise, Bruce and Dean walked onto the stage dressed to the nines. They carried themselves like the celebrities I'd always been told they were.

[Bruce Morcom]

Ladies, gentlemen, I'm back. On behalf of the management committee, I welcome everyone to our 20th dance for Daniel. Tonight promises to be a very special night.

[Matt Angel]

The event was mind blowing. Never in a million years could I have imagined how massive the Daniel Morcombe foundation really is. Its scope and the impact it has had on an entire country was on full display that night. The foundation has made a astonishing accomplishments in the last 20 years since its inception around the Morecambe's Kitchen table. It has grown into Australia's leading voice for child safety. Something like 90 people joined Bruce and Denise on the first walk for Daniel last year. The 20th day for Daniel began with that walk. An estimated 2 million people wore red and took part. Across the nation, the curriculum they've developed has been adopted nationally. Free counseling and assistance is provided for young victims of crime. The list goes on and on because Bruce and Denise Morcom have dedicated their lives to this cause, to making sure that whatever happened to their little boy never happens to any other child. John Rouse was also at the dance for Daniel that night. He's the one who, at the turn of the century, was brought in to launch the Internet division at Task Force Argos, the division which played a pivotal role in the earliest days of Daniel's case. Back then, John was adamant that the general public needed to be made more aware of the dangers of the Internet. So he started organizing public presentations which led to a chance encounter.

[Dennis Martin]

It was in a hotel somewhere in the city. I can't even remember what the nature of the actual event was, but I was speaking probably for about an hour on Argos and what we do and all of that kind of thing. I remember saying that, you know, the reason we do what we do and we're pushing so hard is to never let what happened to the Morcom family happen again to another family. And that was kind of how I concluded. And I was packing up my laptop and most people had gone, and then one of the organisers came up to me and said, oh, this lady wants.

[Denise Morcom]

To talk to you.

[Dennis Martin]

And I was like, okay, yeah, sure. And I didn't recognise her, but she was visibly shaken, distressed, but she didn't say anything. Can I help you? Nice to meet you. And she just. She took my hand and shook it and then she left. Look, you trigger people sometimes when you talk about this, you know, it happens. But I didn't realise that it was Denise Morcom that I'd just spoken to.

[Matt Angel]

And I'll never forget that Daniel's case and Bruce and Denise's perseverance over the years shaped the course of John Rouse's career.

[Dennis Martin]

I saw the trauma that they were going through and I just went, I'm gonna do everything I can to never let another family go through this. So, like, at the dance the other night, they got us to record messages and the message for me to them was very simply that, you know, your legacy is the foundation. You know, you can't measure how many children who heard your message that then were safeguarded because they acted on it, we'll never know. But I did say that one of the legacies too, actually is also like the beating heart of Tarsus Argos, because your legacy was what drove that team to just do everything it could, you know, we went from a very small team of three dealing with Internet crimes against children to a team of nearly 40. And by the time we finished, we were leading global operations involving pretty much the biggest agencies in the world.

[Matt Angel]

Europol, Interpol, FBI, hsi, rcmp. The network of intelligence and law enforcement agencies that have come together to share information and resources in the global fight to protect children. It's enormous, a pretty amazing achievement for.

[Dennis Martin]

A small, relatively small team that are focused on the jurisdiction of the state of Queensland to be on a daily basis identifying child victims globally and sending leads globally.

[Matt Angel]

From the moment I first heard their story, it was clear to me that Bruce and Denise's work had impacted a nation. But my time with John Rouse made me realize something. This average couple who met on a Beach in 1980, who had three boys and settled down in a small town, who worked together on weekdays and planted fruit trees with their children on weekends, who lost a son in the worst way imaginable and then led the charge to find answers. Their actions inspired a man in his pursuit to save children around the world. A pursuit that over the last two decades has succeeded in ways nobody can quantify. Which means that Daniel's story and Bruce and Denise's work hasn't just changed Australia, it's changed the world.

[Dennis Martin]

It's the ripple effect. You know, the way people touch you and then you carry that forward with other people.

[Matt Angel]

That's a big fucking ripple.

[Dennis Martin]

Yeah, no, it is.

[Pat McShane]

Yeah.

[Matt Angel]

But for all the good that has come, the epicenter of this tragic story still haunts me. Bruce and Denise Morcom lost their son. And that pain, the pain of losing a child, as a father, myself, it's hard to even think about, but I've seen the effects of, of that loss in people like Bruce and Denise. And it never leaves you.

[Bruce Morcom]

Everyone's life changes.

[Denise Morcom]

Yeah, it was a fork in the road moment, like we have many of those, everyone does in their life. But a life changing event like losing a son, particularly in a criminal act and in the public arena over years and years, is a significant fork in the road.

[Bruce Morcom]

You know, you sort of wonder what would have happened if Daniel had was still around. He might be a vet, he might have his own business, might be married with kids. You know, just different things like that.

[Matt Angel]

They think about that last Part a lot.

[Denise Morcom]

Not only do you lose that child, but you lose that child who would have been a parent. And you don't.

[Bruce Morcom]

Maybe their children and your grandchildren.

[Denise Morcom]

You lose the grandchildren from Daniel, so, you know, that's often not spoken about and thought about. He was very caring, very trusting, and he would have been an enormous parent in his own right, but all gone.

[Matt Angel]

But the loss of Daniel hasn't taken away from their relationships with their other two sons or their children. There was one last stop I had to make before I headed home to la.

[Dean Morcom]

G', day, Owen.

[Matt Angel]

Hey, come on. How are you? Oh, my God, this place is magical. Frogs hopping everywhere.

[Dean Morcom]

There's wallabies everywhere.

[Matt Angel]

What are wallabies? Oh, like little kangaroos.

[Dean Morcom]

They're like everywhere here. So you got koalas next door? Pretty cool. My name's Dean Morcom. I'm Daniel's older brother. I'm 37. I have my own business, I'm married, and I have two beautiful young girls.

[Matt Angel]

Dean runs his own successful tree cutting business, following in his father's footsteps. He dedicates time to the foundation. But it's clear to me that what matters most to Dean is family.

[Dean Morcom]

Most weekends we kind of like to go take the girls down to Mooloolaba, down to the beach. There's a path where he gets the juices for the girls. I'll get a coffee and that's kind of what the girls like doing. So it's a pretty nice part of the world down there.

[Matt Angel]

He told me his wife loves riding horses, that his oldest loves drawing, and that his youngest, well, she loves eating.

[Dean Morcom]

She just eats constantly. And they're just. They're just growing up so fast. Before you know it, they're 30 years old with a husband and kids and time's just gone. So I guess you just gotta appreciate the moments and enjoy the time, really. They definitely love their nana and pa. And we try to go see them nearly every weekend. Make an effort to do the family thing as much as you kind of can.

[Matt Angel]

Tell me about your mum and dad.

[Dean Morcom]

Everyone would probably know them as Daniel's mum and dad, but my parents just seem like regular people. You don't really know anything different. We had a good childhood growing up. I had motorbikes, brothers had ponies. We had everything you could kind of want. Looking back, we had had a great childhood, really. And then the December 7th happened and I guess everyone's life's changed, but to me, they're still just my parents. And now they're the grandparents to my kids and they'll do anything that they can to help them out as well. Kind of gives you a reason and a purpose to kind of to keep going to enjoy the next kind of moment. Whether you're taking the swimming lessons or just doing some drawing or a puzzle or just the simple moments is probably what it's kind of all about.

[Matt Angel]

Unlock all episodes of Where Is Daniel Morecambe? Ad free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel, not only will you immediately unlock all episodes of the show, but you'll get binge access to an entire network of other great true crime and investigative podcasts. All ad free. Plus, on the first of every month, subscribers get a binge drop of a brand new series that's all episodes all at once. Search for the binge on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page, not on apple. Head to getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. If you'd like to make a donation to the Daniel Morcam foundation, please visit danielmorkam.com. Where Is Daniel Morcom is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media. It was hosted, reported and co written by me, Matt Angel. Joe Barrett is the managing producer and co writer. Grace Valerie Lynn is the associate producer. Additional production support from Tiffany Dimac. The series was sound, designed, composed and mixed by Garrett Tiedemann. Our studio engineer is Trino Madriz. Fact Checked by Tracy Lofgren Lee. A special thanks to Ashley Ann Krigbaum and Doug Slaywin and our operations team, Ashley Warren, Sabina Mara and Destiny Dinkel. Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Vanessa Gregoriadis and Matt Sher. Sony's executive producer is Jonathan Hirsch. For Pacesetter Productions. The executive producer is Jessica Rhodes. Allison Momassi and Brian Daly are the associate producers. For Mad Jimmy Productions. The executive producers are me, Matt angel and Suzanne Coote. Consulting producers are Dan Angel, Lee Parker and Andrew Fairbank. If you enjoyed Where Is Daniel Morcom? Please rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Nicole Ernest Pate was 21 years old when a predator assaulted her in her own home. Is kind of the boogeyman in the.

[Denise Morcom]

Night that you are truly afraid of.

[Matt Angel]

She went straight to the cops. She said this sounds like some sort of movie plot. No one believed her until one day. The man who helped put the Golden State Killer behind bars helped figure out the serial predator's pattern. This is a serious offender. He'd been hiding in plain sight. But even when the attacker was unmasked Nicole still had questions. The why? The what? The why me? She wanted to meet him from Sony Music Entertainment and Perfect Cadence. This is Hunting the Boogeyman, available now on the binge search for Hunting the Boogeyman.

[Grant Linwood]

Wherever you get your podcasts to start listening today.