The parents of Daniel Morcombe have welcomed a beautiful grandchild on the same day as Day for Daniel, which honours the memory of the murdered schoolboy. This Friday marked 17 years since Queensland teenager Daniel Morcombe was abducted and murdered on the Sunshine Coast.
Bruce and Denise Morcombe announced the bittersweet news on the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s Facebook page, alongside a beautiful picture of the pair cradling their newborn granddaughter, Elise May.
“Welcome Elsie May Morcombe born yesterday on Day for Daniel 7lb 13oz Congratulations to Alice and Dean all doing well,” they captioned the post. “Love Nana and Pa xxx.”
https://www.facebook.com/DanielMorcombeFoundation/posts/3746517322027276
Followers of the page were quick to comment on the post and congratulate the grandparents on the happy news, with one writing: “Beautiful news on a special day.”
Another added: “What a fabulous day to be born Elsie May. Uncle Daniel must have been looking over you! Xoxo congrats to the whole family.”
While a third wrote: “What a very special gift on a very special day. Daniel was definitely watching from above and has given that day some happy memories for you now. Congratulations to you all.”
“Congratulations to the entire family,” another commenter wrote. “The new lives entering your incredible family are just what you need after all you’ve been through. The whole of Australia celebrates with you.”
Daniel’s disappearance captured nation-wide attention in 2003 and sparked one of the biggest police investigations in Queensland history. On the day he went missing, the teenager had been planning to catch a bus to his local shopping centre to buy Christmas presents for his family. However, Daniel’s bus passed him without stopping and in a cruel twist of fate, Brett Cowan soon pulled up alongside him and offered him a lift. He then took the young boy back to his home where he attempted to expose himself. When Daniel panicked and tried to flee, Cowan took him by the neck and suffocated him to death.
Cowan was finally brought to justice for his brutal crime in 2014, when he was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.