THE eight-year manhunt in missing schoolboy Daniel Morcombe’s case ended last night with the arrest of a 41-year-old former tow truck driver.
Police will now launch a fresh search in bushland for the 13-year-old’s body after charging the man with a number of gruesome offences, including murder, deprivation of liberty, child stealing, indecent treatment of a child under 16 and interfering with a corpse.
The heartbroken parents welcomed the breakthrough after almost a decade of torment since their boy disappeared from a roadside bus stop on the Sunshine Coast just weeks before Christmas in 2003.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh last night praised police in a case that has gripped the nation.
“As a parent I can only imagine the heartbreak and devastation Bruce and Denise Morcombe have endured since Daniel’s disappearance,” Ms Bligh said.
A 41-year-old tow-truck driver, arrested by police yesterday, was remanded in custody to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow, charged not only with murder, but several other offences including child stealing and interfering with a corpse.
The dramatic breakthrough comes seven years after the fun-loving 13-year-old was abducted from a bus stop in December 2003, a short stroll from his Palmwoods home on the Sunshine Coast.
His parents, who likened the pain as “living in constant hell” were visibly shaken last night.
The couple had tirelessly pursued answers in the disappearance, keeping a lid on their emotions, saying: “We’ll just see how things pan out.
The disappearance of Daniel has been Queensland’s largest missing persons investigations with Crime Stoppers alone receiving almost 20,000 leads from the public.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson told a news conference a man had been charged with murder, deprivation of liberty, child stealing, indecent treatment of a child under 16, and interfering with a corpse.
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