Footage reveals moment man was arrested in connection with teenager who vanished forever while waiting for bus
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: ABC
Warning: this article contains discussion of sexual assault of a minor that some may find distressing
Chilling footage shows the moment police cracked an eight-year-old case and arrested a man who had murdered a teenager.
Back on December 7, 2003, Daniel Morcombe, then 13, had planned a solo day out where he planned to have a haircut before buying Christmas presents for his family.
The Australian teen had reportedly made the trip to the Sunshine Plaza shopping center in Queensland ‘more than a dozen times before’, according to a report on the case from the Coroners Court of Queensland obtained by PEOPLE, and would do so via bus.
Advert
The bus stop was less than a mile from where the teen lived, so there really was no concern from his parents, Bruce and Denise.
But they became worried when Morcombe hadn’t returned from his expedition up the Sunshine Coast, so they got local authorities involved.
The teen was declared a missing person after an initial search, and his disappearance later turned into a murder investigation.
As part of the search, police spoke to 33 individuals who had been identified as a person of interest, including then 29-year-old Brett Peter Cowan.
Police footage captured the moment Cowan was detained on August 13, 2011, which began with officers telling him to remain where he was after initially confronting him.
As per ABC News, Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Blanchfield said: "We are investigating the abduction and murder of Daniel Morcombe."
Cowan then decided to go on his mobile phone, where he was seemingly talking to someone on the other end. He subsequently asked the officers if he was under arrest.
Trying to pretend the officers weren't even there, Cowan was arrested for the murder of Morcombe, all while he remained calm and uttered: "Yep, cool."
"I'm under arrest for Daniel's, Daniel Morcombe's murder," he then said into his phone.
Cowan was seen driving in video footage taken near where the child disappeared, while waiting for his bus at about 2pm, officials stated.
While Cowan was initially cleared of any wrongdoing due to lack of evidence, a successful undercover operation saw Cowan admitting to abducting and assaulting Morcombe.
The man told a covert officer that he’d parked in a parking lot at the Christian Outreach Center and walked down to speak to Morcombe.
A filing states he took the child to an abandoned house, before the boy was killed within an hour.
Cowan is said to have sexually assaulted him and choked the teen when he tried to escape.
He disposed of Morcombe's remains in ‘an old sand mining site’ before discarding his clothes and shoes.
In March 2014, Cowan was sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum of 20 years without parole.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org