· Bone DNA matched Daniel Morcombe’s mum

A witness has told the trial of Daniel Morcombe’s accused killer he saw a boy in a red T-shirt on the side of the road on the afternoon the 13-year-old went missing.

Jessiah Cocks told the Supreme Court in Brisbane he was in a car being driven by his mother past the Kiel Mountain Road overpass on the Sunshine Coast on the afternoon of December 7, 2003.

He said he left the Cooloola McDonalds about 1.35pm and it would have taken about 10 minutes to drive to the overpass.

“There was a boy in a red shirt under the overpass. He was on his haunches,” Mr Cocks told the Supreme Court trial of Brett Peter Cowan in Brisbane.

“I’m not sure if he was climbing down the embankment or just sitting there.”

Mr Cocks said he couldn’t recall what else the boy was wearing but the red shirt “stuck out”.

The court has previously been told it’s believed Daniel was wearing a red shirt when he disappeared about 2pm on December 7.

The witness said there was no one else near the boy but he noticed a white four wheel drive parked about 50 to 150 metres past the overpass.

He said he wasn’t good with cars but it looked like a 1990s era Landcruiser.

Under cross examination by Cowan’s defence barrister Angus Edwards, Mr Cocks said he couldn’t remember on which side of the road the four wheel drive had been parked.

Earlier the court heard police searched a white Mitsubishi Pajero for traces of evidence in connection with Daniel’s murder but found nothing.

Police scientific officer Acting Senior Sergeant Melissa Bell said she examined hairs taken from the white Mitsubishi Pajero in 2003 but no DNA profiles could be obtained.

Meanwhile, a zoologist told the trial it was possible wild dogs could have scattered remains believed to be Daniel’s found in bushland in 2011.

The schoolboy disappeared while waiting for a bus at Woombye on the Sunshine Coast.

Cowan, 44, has pleaded not guilty to indecently dealing with a child, murder and interfering with a corpse.

The trial continues.