Queensland police have announced bones found at a crime scene in Sunshine Coast bushland belong to missing teenager Daniel Morcombe.
Further details have been confirmed in relation to human remains in the form of three bones that were found at the site which police and SES have been searching in Beerwah.
DNA testing has confirmed these human remains to be Daniel Morcombe.
The Morcombe family has been advised of these results, and the Queensland Police Service extends its condolences to them during this difficult time.
The bones were located near where two shoes were found in the primary search site off Kings Road.
Forensic testing of the shoes is ongoing. The search of the site continues.
Three bones and a pair of shoes were found at the site in the Beerburrum State Forest near Beerwah, which police have been combing through since the arrest of a suspect in Daniel’s murder case.
Daniel was 13 when he disappeared on his way to buy Christmas presents at Woombye in 2003, sparking the largest missing persons case in Queensland’s history.
His parents Bruce and Denise Morcombe have been notified of the development and in a statement read out by Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson, they say it is “an expected shock we have all been waiting for”.
They will not be making any further media statements.
Since Daniel’s disappearance, the Mocombes have worked tirelessly to keep the case in the national consciousness.
Police have named the man charged with Daniel’s suspected murder and abduction as 41-year-old Brett Peter Cowan.
Cowan has signalled he will fight the charges levelled against him.
