How the Daniel Morcombe case unfolded

TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN THE DISAPPEARANCE AND MURDER OF DANIEL MORECOMBE

* December 7, 2003 - Daniel, 13, vanishes waiting for a bus on Queensland's Sunshine Coast

* October 13, 2010 - Coronial Inquest, headed by state coroner Michael Barnes, opens

* April 2, 2011 - Inquest adjourns and police continue their investigation

* August 13, 2011 - Brett Peter Cowan is charged with murder, child stealing, deprivation of liberty, indecent treatment of a child, interfering with a corpse

* August 17 to September 9, 2011 - Shoes and bones found in bushland at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast

* Aug 28, 2011 - Forensic analysis confirms bones are Daniel's

* November 26, 2012 - Cowan's committal hearing begins in Brisbane Magistrates Court

* November 29, 2012 - the State Coroner orders Daniel's remains be released to the Morcombes

* December 7, 2012 - Daniel Morcombe's funeral is held, nine years to the day after the vanished

* February 7, 2013 - Cowan is ordered to stand trial for Daniel's abduction and murder

* February 10, 2014 - Cowan's trial begins in the Supreme Court in Brisbane

* March 14, 2014 - Jury finds Brett Peter Cowan guilty on all three counts - murder, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse. He is sentenced to life in jail

* April 9, 2014 - Cowan files notice to appeal over his conviction, arguing the jury should have never heard his confession to undercover police in 2011

* May 21, 2015 - Cowan's appeal is dismissed

* December 14, 2016 - Coronial Inquest reopens hearing claims senior police ignored initial advice that Cowan was the main suspect