FED:Woman delayed reporting Morcombe sighting

AAP General News (Australia)
12-15-2010
FED:Woman delayed reporting Morcombe sighting

By Christine Flatley

BRISBANE, Dec 15 AAP - A woman who claims she saw Daniel Morcombe with two men moments
before he was abducted did not tell police she was sure she'd seen him until 18 months
later.

In the Brisbane Coroners Court on Wednesday, Judith Ven Der Meer was adamant the 13-year-old
was among three figures she saw standing under the Kiel Mountain Road overpass on Queensland's
Sunshine Coast on December 7, 2003.

She told an inquest into Daniel's disappearance that she also saw a blue car parked
by the side of the road, with two men nearby.

As she drove past the site, Ms Ven Der Meer said, she heard the boy urgently calling out.

"I heard: 'No, I don't want to'," she said.

"I remember this urgent yelling. It was short, sharp and quick."

However, she said she did not stop the car. Instead, she continued on her journey to
the nearby Christian Outreach Centre.

"My mind was really on being late to pick my daughter up," she said.

The inquest on Wednesday was told she spoke with police on two occasions in the late
December, but that on those occasions she only made reference to having seen three figures
by the road.

The court heard that she only told police she was certain it was Daniel 18 months later.

Peter Johns, counsel assisting coroner Michael Barnes, questioned Ms Ven Der Meer about
whether she had actually seen Daniel, or whether her memory of events had been formed
by exposure to media stories about the abduction.

"I know definitely he was there," she said.

"I just remember it was dawning on me and as time went on it just became clearer and clearer."

Ms Ven Der Meer also said she had seen a suspicious man chatting to children in her
church in the three weeks leading up to Daniel's disappearance.

"I was quite alarmed by this and so I observed him and he was conversing with (a young
girl)," she said.

"He was too old, she was too young and it was just wrong, and I was quite concerned about that."

She said she reported the man to the pastor, but was not certain whether it was followed up.

She told the court she was certain she had provided police with these details, even
though they are not recorded in her statements.

"I told them everything," she said.

"I did mention that and I thought they mustn't think it's relevant because they didn't
type it in there."

The inquest continues.

AAP cf/tnf/cdh

KEYWORD: MORCOMBE

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