True,
TBH Dave I cannot think of one instance where this has happened (I am sure it would have at some stage). Often a coroners inquest can be a useful excercise in obtaining additional information, as with the Daniel Morcombe inquest that is being held ATM.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...ers-tell-inquest/story-e6freoof-1225937865561
TELEPHONE records of the Sunshine Coast bus company at the centre of the Daniel Morcombe inquest will be searched to try to locate the "mystery woman'' who inquired about a missing boy an hour before the teenager's disappearance.
Counsel assisting the Morcombe family, Peter Boyce, asked the court to order the phone records to search for the woman, who has emerged as a fresh lead in the seven-year investigation.
Counsel acting for the Queensland Police Service, Sarah Neale, said that the ``intel section'' of QPS had ordered the records from the provider.
Sunbus duty manager Jeff Norman told the court yesterday that a woman made a one-minute phone call to the company to ask if there was a report of a boy waiting to catch a bus from Woombye, about 800m from the overpass where Daniel disappeared.
Mt Norman said the woman sounded stressed, and did not leave contact details.
The inquest before State Coroner Michael Barnes was told this was the time between when one bus driver saw him but failed to stop and a back-up shuttle arrived to find the 13-year-old had vanished, along with a "scruffy man" and blue car seen nearby.
Giving evidence at Maroochydore yesterday, Mr Norman said he had been driving a shuttle directed to look out for the boy at an unofficial bus stop near the Kiel Mountain Rd Overpass at Woombye.
He said he had been 800m behind the first bus driven by Ross Edmonds, whom he had ordered to go "express" to Sunshine Plaza when he was 45 minutes behind schedule because of a breakdown.
"I told Ross I would finish the route, pick anyone up and give them a free ride to the plaza," Mr Norman said.
When Mr Edmonds saw the boy "waving his arm" to be picked up near the overpass, he drove on but called Mr Norman on the two-way to tell him.
Mr Norman said he picked up his radio and said: "Roger Ross, I'll get him."
He said he and a colleague travelling with him were only "a minute and a half" behind.
"I slowed down and we both looked. There was absolutely nothing there . . . nobody."
Mr Norman tried to raise Mr Edmonds to check the details but his radio "wasn't very good".
In his evidence, Mr Edmonds, a bus driver of 40 years, said it had been obvious the boy wanted to get on his bus. "He did put his finger up. I gestured to him there was another bus coming. Hopefully he could lip read," Mr Edmonds said.
He defended his decision not to stop, saying he was told not to.
"I was ordered on the day to keep going on with the passengers, who'd been waiting long enough," he said.
Passenger Katherine Bird told the inquest that a young boy had stepped forward and waved for the bus to stop.
"The driver signalled to the boy with his thumb that there was another bus coming, not that I think the boy would have understood that," Ms Bird said.
She said she had seen a man standing behind the boy with his leg up against the wall and his arms crossed.
He had a tattoo, or marking, on his leg and was dressed in shorts.
She said the "strange thing" was he had not moved to get on the bus and seemed to be watching the child.
Ms Bird said she "had words" with the driver for not stopping.
Another witness, Joan Anderson, said she felt something was wrong when she and her husband had driven past Daniel that afternoon.
The inquest continues until Friday.