
Daniel Morcombe's twin brother recalls the tragic day the schoolboy was abducted from a bus stop and murdered by a paedophile
Daniel Morcombe's twin brother has recalled the day the 13-year-old was abducted and murdered while waiting for a bus to go and buy his family Christmas presents.
Brad, 35, has fondly remembered Daniel as his 'best mate' over two decades after the schoolboy disappeared from a bus stop on Sunday December 7, 2003.
'On that hot Sunday afternoon, trouble found Daniel,' he told a new documentary into his brother's disappearance, Don't Waste It: The Daniel Morcombe Story.
'He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We never saw him again.'
The family were finally reunited with Daniel eight years later when his remains were discovered in the Glass House Mountains in the Gold Coast hinterland in 2011.
Daniel's killer, Brett Peter Cowan, was arrested the same year and is serving a life sentence at a Brisbane correctional centre.
'When the truth finally came it was worse than we ever imagined,' Brad said.
'After eight years, Daniel wasn't coming home.'
Daniel's father, Bruce, described the arrest as 'an incredible shock and surprise, a moment not of joy - a moment you think, "Wow Daniel's not coming home".'
Brad cherishes the happy childhood memories he shared with his twin.
'He was only 13-years-old when he was abducted, just a few days before our birthday,' he said.
'He was my best mate. He loved horses and we both loved motorbikes.
'We grew up doing everything together - school, motorbikes, horses. Basically what he did, I did and vice versa.
'To outsiders he would seem like he was quiet but to us he was very boisterous, a little joker, a little mate. Just a nice kid.'
Brad said waiting to get answers into his brother's disappearance before he was found was 'torture'.
'Every phone call, every knock on the door brought a flicker of hope, that quickly faded,' he said.
The documentary was shared on Tuesday, May 6, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.
Originally established by Daniel's parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, as a way to help find their son, the foundation has become one of the largest child safety operations in Australia.
Its symbol, a red t-shirt, has become a well-recognised symbol for child safety and pays tribute to the shirt Daniel wore on the day of his abduction.
Bruce explained the evolution of the foundation's mission was a way for him and his wife to cope with their grief and help other victims.
'We weren't sitting there in our sorrow,' he said.
'I can't change what's happened to Daniel but I can influence and change the future.
'I want everyone to stand tall and accept the challenge… Today is the day I tell my story. You are incredibly important in helping others. Don't waste your pain, you will help somebody else.'
The Daniel Morcombe Foundation provides child safety education, prevention, and community engagement across Australia with Bruce and Denise often conducting sessions themselves.
Over the years, the organisation has distributed more than two-million child safety resources and raised over $20million to ensure the continuation of its free programs.
With more plans for books and resources in the pipeline, the Morcombe family are determined to continue their advocacy for many years to come.
Don't Waste It: The Daniel Morcombe Story is available to watch on the Daniel Morcombe Foundation's YouTube page.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Missing woman killed by ex-lover at work and wheeled away in bin, court told
A missing woman who was found dead at a rural spot in Hampshire was allegedly killed by a work colleague and wheeled out of an office block in a wheelie bin, a court has heard. Cleaner Yajaira Castro Mendez, 46, had allegedly previously been in a relationship with married Juan Francisco Toledo, who is accused of her murder. She was reported missing to the Metropolitan Police on May 31, having left her home in Ilford, east London, on the morning of May 29. Following a police search, her body was found in the Bolderwood area of Hampshire on Saturday. At a hearing on Tuesday, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC alleged that Toledo had killed the Colombian national on the evening of May 29 at an office where they were working in central London's legal district. She told the court: 'The defendant was Ms Mendez's work colleague. They were both cleaning staff at an office building on Grays Inn Road and they had been in recent history in a relationship and on the day of her death they were both at work.' Ms Mendez arrived for work at 5pm and was fatally injured inside the office block, it was alleged. Mr Carberry claimed that just after 8.30pm, her body was removed from the office in a wheelie bin. The defendant allegedly then placed the body in his car and drove to Hampshire where the body was dumped. Ms Mendez's former flatmate had raised the alarm after she failed to move into new accommodation, the court was told. A post-mortem examination to determine the cause of her death was ongoing in Winchester. Venezuelan national Toledo, 51, of Crystal Palace, south London, was arrested on June 4 and subsequently charged with murder. On Tuesday, the defendant appeared at the Old Bailey before Judge Mark Lucraft KC for a preliminary hearing. A plea hearing was set for September 1 with a provisional trial from April 20 2026. The defendant, who was assisted by a Spanish interpreter, was remanded into custody. Ms Mendez's disappearance was initially treated as a missing person investigation led by local officers but the investigation was transferred to the Met's Specialist Crime Command on June 5, after a range of extensive further inquiries suggested she had come to harm.


Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Court shown footage of alleged Hainault sword attacker unboxing samurai weapon
Police have released video footage of the alleged killer of a 14-year-old boy unboxing a samurai sword and calling the weapon "freaking sexy". Marcus Monzo, 37, denies murdering teenager Daniel Anjorin and attempting to kill four others during a 20-minute rampage in Hainault, east London, on 30 April last year. Jurors at the Old Bailey have been shown a four-minute video clip from 4 April, which was recovered from his iPhone after his arrest. The Spanish-Brazilian national, from Newham in east London, appears to be reviewing a sword he says was "handmade in Japan" and "took more than a month to reach me". Dressed in a yellow hoodie, black shorts, toe socks and flipflops, and wearing headphones, he is standing on black mats next to a ginger cat he calls the "Wizard". A martial arts-style punching bag and another sword on a skateboard can be seen in the background. "This just came through… Ninja stuff," he says before opening a long box containing a sword. "So I'm sort of obliged to do some ninja stuff with the Wizard." Monzo also says "freaking sexy" and "ooh" as he lunges and makes different moves with the sheathed sword. The court has previously heard Monzo was a "talented martial artist". Prosecutors said he "killed and skinned" his cat before driving his grey Ford Transit van at speed into pedestrian Donato Iwule. He then struck him in the neck with the same weapon used to kill Daniel, who suffered "essentially a near-decapitation", the jury was earlier told. PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield was also repeatedly struck with the 60cm blade, before Monzo entered a nearby house and attacked a couple inside, then struck another police officer, it is alleged. Monzo has pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing an offensive weapon - a katana sword and a tanto katana sword. He denies charges of murder, attempted murder, wounding with intent, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article. The jury has been told there is no issue about who carried out the attacks and that Monzo was under the influence of cannabis at the time. But prosecutors say his psychotic state was self-induced and does not meet the threshold for diminished responsibility.


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Heartbreaking new detail emerges about the TV presenter allegedly gunned down with his lover by his cop ex-boyfriend: 'Dream come true'
The TV presenter who was allegedly murdered with his partner by his cop ex-lover had just landed his 'dream job' in the days before he died. Former NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 29, is accused of shooting dead Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, 29, at Paddington in Sydney 's eastern suburbs in February 2024. But Daily Mail Australia can now reveal Jesse had just accepted a new role as producer on reality series The Real Housewives of Sydney ahead of its third season, and was due to start in March last year. 'He had just signed on in January,' said Jesse's friend and former colleague, showbiz reporter Craig Bennett. 'He was ever so excited about it because he loved the show.' Jesse had previously worked worked as a presenter and reporter on Network 10's Studio 10, Totally Wild and Gamify, and was an AFL goal umpire. 'He'd been let go by Network 10 when Studio 10 was axed in November 2023,' Craig said. 'But Jesse was great on camera, but also an accomplished producer, and he was immeasurably excited about this new frontier on Housewives. 'He never got to see that dream realised. He would have gone a long way in reality television.' Jesse had produced Studio 10 segments involving Craig and TV doyenne Denise Drysdale - and Craig joked that after wrangling 'two divas like us', a cast of Sydney housewives would have been a walk in the park. 'Denise is not morning person, but when she was working with Jesse she just melted,' he recalled. 'He would have taken to Real Housewives life like a duck to water.' This comes as Daily Mail Australia reported Lamarre-Condon has offered to reveal new details about the case to investigators and prosecutors. The 29-year-old has not entered pleas to two counts of murder but says he has information about a second person he claims helped dump Mr Davies and Mr Baird's remains, according to a source close to Lamarre-Condon. 'Lamarre-Condon wants to do the right thing for the families and is happy to assist investigators with information about who else played a part in the incident,' the source claimed. 'So far both the DPP and the officer in charge have failed to reply to the offer made by Lamarre's legal team for assistance.' The source claimed that a witness had told investigators they had waited at the fence line of the Bungonia property where the bodies were first dumped for 15 to 20 minutes. Phone records indicated Lamarre-Condon and the witness were at the farm for almost two hours, the source claimed. Police also located two sets of white overalls at the scene where bodies were located which indicates it was a two-person job,' the source said. A NSW Police spokeswoman said: 'As this matter is before the court, we are unable to comment.' A spokeswoman for the DPP said the same thing. Lamarre-Condon has spent more than a year in prison since the shootings, which were allegedly the result of a months-long campaign of 'predatory behaviour' targeting Mr Baird. The onetime celebrity chaser reportedly briefly dated Mr Baird before the TV presenter began a relationship with Mr Davies. Suspicions of foul play were raised after possessions belonging to the dead men were found in a skip bin in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla, leading police to Mr Baird's blood-smeared terrace. The case returned to Downing Centre Local Court last month after confidential discussions between prosecutors and the alleged killer's Legal Aid lawyer Alex Curnick. Both sides agreed 'things are progressing,' magistrate Megan Greenwood was told. A forensic psychiatrist's report was also tendered after Lamarre-Condon was assessed in previous weeks. Lamarre-Condon has not entered pleas to two counts of domestic violence-related murder, and one count of break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence. He was sacked by the NSW Police Force in March 2024. Lamarre-Condon joined the force in 2019 and previously ran a celebrity blog, posing in photos with dozens of A-listers including Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles.