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The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Ride for Daniel


This is the sad story of the disappearance of a 13 year
old boy and the love that his family have displayed over
the last three and a half years in their search for their
son and in honoring his memory.

Daniel James Morcombe was last seen at his residence at Palmwoods on
7 December 2003. He intended on walking to a bus stop on the Nambour
connection Road near his home.
Daniel has not been seen since that day.
Bruce & Denise Morcombe have arranged Australia wide advertising campaigns
seeking help in solving the mystery of their sons disappearance to help fund this
ongoing effort they have used many fund raising ideas, one of the most successful
has been the annual “Ride for Daniel” motor bike rally.


They are seen here before the start of the 2007 rally in which 4,800 motor
bikes and trikes took part

Dressed in a motorcycle jacket and wearing a bandana the same colour as the red
t-shirt Daniel was wearing when he was abducted in December 2003, Denise
Morcombe rode tandem on the lead motorcycle.

"It was an honour," she said. "The only downside was not seeing what was going
on behind us."

What she would have seen if she had been at the opposite end of the
4800-strong pack was a line of motorcycles and trikes which stretched
more than 20km down the highway.


A small section of the riders on the road and their machines parked while a service for Daniel was held.

I'm going to dedicate this to some of the "Bikers" that I know as well as to the memory of Daniel and his parents;

My nephew, John Gallagher, who is a dedicated rider.
Charles and Junie Kellum
Sandy and Jimmy.
Sharon and Scott Woods.
And You, if I've forgotten you.









22 comments:

Lee said...

They are an amazingly brave couple, the Morecombes. I don't know how they face life after losing their son that way. They are to be admired.

Puss-in-Boots said...

They are so to be admired, Denise and Bruce Morecombe. Just putting their own pain in the background to raise awareness of Daniel's disappearance. It's cost them an arm and a leg, both in money and emotion...and while they've had their own demons to fight, they've stuck together all the way.

Here's to you Denise and Bruce...

Val said...

I just can't imagine their pain. When I first started reading this post, I thought "It can't be THAT long since he disappeared". But although the time has slid by so quickly for most of us, those poor people have spent every waking minute grieving for their son. I can't imagine having their strength.

Anonymous said...

Peter a good post. These things happen all the time, all over the world. It's a shame.

Dave said...

Wow.... great post Peter.... *S*

kenju said...

I think if one of my children disappeared like that, I would just curl up in a ball and die. I don't know how they do it. What a handsome boy he is.

JunieRose2005 said...

Oh! What a sad story!
I don't know how parents live through something like that, but so many have had to find a way to do it!

Thanks, Peter.

June

Marcus said...

I hate hearing stories like this. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose Jordan or Paul in this sort of way. The older two too of course but at their age it's less likely.

The sadness must be unbearable.

Cliff said...

The story is sickening Peter. How could someone have done that? What a precious looking child.

Jim said...

Peter, these things are hard to think about, aren't they? We had a couple of kids lost for the longest in the states show up earlier this year, fairly close to their home. The parents had not given up hope.

Have a nice time visiting with Warren. He must be lost not having that long journey to write about any more. I sure did learn a lot reading them.
He worked hard do all that.
Tell him hello for me.
..

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Just keep on hopin', I guess.

Jack K. said...

A similar kidnapping took place in Missouri recently. This time the news was good. Within about three days they found the young man who had been abducted from the lane leading to his home. A school chum saw a pickup truck in the area at the same time. He told the police who found it in a nearby town. Upon confronting the owner of the truck they found the young man alive and well. Surprisingly, they also recovered another young man who had been missing for about three years. Hopefully Daniel will be found too. It only takes one or two folks to call the police when something does't seem right.

My prayers to the Morcombe family. May Daniel be with them very soon.

Christina said...

How heartbreaking for those parents. I was just thinking about the incident here in the States that Jack K mentioned. Also the disappearance/abduction of that little girl from England, Maddy McCann. If my son went missing I think I would die.

Gledwood said...

When I was maybe nine or ten I was on a railway bridge - I used to wave at the trains and they would honk back at me... anyway this guy approached me from the other end of the bridge (ie the opposite side to my home) calling me by my right name and saying he was here to collect me! I told him he'd got the wrong person and walked off. I'd kind of put this out of my mind for many many years when it came back. I asked people how could he possibly know my name and they said the only rational thing he had been following me. I don't remember having seen him ever before in my life... I often wonder if I had been stupid enough to go with him ... I might be one of those kids you see on posters today ... makes me feel sick to think about it.
I posted this some months ago and people said I shouldn't feel sorry for people who do things like that. I just think it is an awful world to live in where people want to take other people's kids like that. Disgusting

Gledwood said...

I hope that kid does come back. You never know ...

Did you hear about that girl from Austria? I think she was called Natascha?? Kidnapped and held in a cellar for 6 years or something. Escaped age 18 and came back to her family.

so miracles like that DO happen

also God is quite capable of working miracles. And does. So never forget that either

Rachel said...

How awful for those parents. My heart goes out to all who have missing children.

Walker said...

Very good post Peter
Its to bad is couldn't have been a ride just for fun instead of what it was for.
I don;t understand why people have to abduct little kids and never will.
His parents shopw their love with the ir determination in finding the boy and I hope one day justice will come to them.

Have a nice day

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ Good post about a very sad case. The parents have done so well to keep going with their lives.
Not much choice I guess.
Thanks for the mention of John and
his motor cycle riding.
Take care, Merle.

wazza said...

Gidday Peter,
A moving post about Daniel. We both watched the news report on TV that evening and we discussed about the amount of time that has passed since Daniel disappeared.
It's hard to try and imagine the suffering his parents must still be going through and not knowing (which would be even more heart breaking) what has happened to him.

Raggedy said...

I hope they find him!
It is wonerufl that they did the rally.

Jamie Dawn said...

Missing, exploited, abducted, and murdered children are sad and horrible cases. That poor family. It is sad that these cases are worldwide. Our kids are our most precious treasures. Those who harm them should never breathe another breath of life again.

Pamela said...

every parents nightmare.
Every so often one is found alive --
but most often killed within the first hours.

Child molesters and murders need to be thrown in a hole so deep that they can only see stars... ever.