Officers could have done more in the early stages of the investigation into the disappearance of Daniel Morcombe to focus on Brett Peter Cowan, a Queensland coroner examining the police response has found.

Key points: Coroner Terry Ryan found DNA evidence taken from Brett Cowan's car should have been prioritised

Coroner Terry Ryan found DNA evidence taken from Brett Cowan's car should have been prioritised But he said it was not clear whether a stronger initial focus on Cowan would have led to his earlier arrest

But he said it was not clear whether a stronger initial focus on Cowan would have led to his earlier arrest Daniel's father Bruce Morcombe said the findings were "very powerful in identifying" where police "could have done better"

But coroner Terry Ryan told the court he wasn't certain extra focus would have led to an earlier arrest.

Cowan was convicted in 2014 of murdering the Sunshine Coast schoolboy.

Mr Ryan said DNA samples taken from Cowan's car, which weren't examined for eight years, should have been given priority.

Daniel Morcombe was murdered in 2003 by Brett Peter Cowan.

But he told the court it was clear the Queensland Police Service (QPS) had devoted significant resources to the investigation and the only person responsible for the teenager's death was Cowan.

Mr Ryan found that police could have looked more closely at Cowan "particularly having regard to his admission that placed him at the scene of Daniel's disappearance, the gaps in his alibi, and the specific nature of his offending history".

However, Mr Ryan also noted that while a greater focus on Cowan may have produced useful intelligence, "it is not certain that it would have produced any cogent evidence or led to Mr Cowan's earlier arrest".

Mr Ryan said the Morcombe family considered that the initial report of Daniel's disappearance was not investigated satisfactorily by the QPS.

He found in hindsight, officers shouldn't have treated Daniel's disappearance as that of a teenage boy who had either stayed out too late at the shopping centre or had run away.

However, he told the court the police response was not inappropriate in the context of QPS policy and procedure in 2003.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 6 seconds 1 m 6 s Denise and Bruce Morcombe say they feel relieved

Mr Ryan also told the court DNA evidence obtained from hair samples taken in tape lifts from Cowan's car, which were not forensically examined for eight years, should have been prioritised.

"This represented an oversight that had the potential to delay Mr Cowan's arrest had DNA material been located on the tape lifts," Mr Ryan said.

The coroner recommended changes to mandate an independent review of homicide or suspicious high-risk missing person investigations that remain unsolved after 12 months.

He also recommended the Queensland Government amend legislation to ensure a time limit is imposed on testing human remains so they can be returned to the family of the deceased.

Outside court, Bruce Morcombe said he agreed with the findings that there were areas in which police could have "done better".

"(The coroner's) findings were very powerful in identifying a couple of areas where the Morcombe family had considered that Queensland police, in hindsight, could have done better," Mr Morcombe said.

"In particular we refer to the initial report at Maroochydore Police Station and we also identify that the tape lifts, the initial tape lifts of Cowan's car, were never forensically checked until in fact the trial some many years later.

"The Daniel Morcombe Foundation lives on, it is as strong as ever and it will continue to grow and do community work.

"Fifteen years and four months is a long time, but this step, this chapter is finally over."

Cowan interviewed days after Daniel's disappearance

Daniel Morcombe, 13, disappeared from the side of a road in December 2003 while waiting for a bus on the Sunshine Coast.

A coronial inquest into the case began in 2010, but was adjourned as new leads were pursued that led to Cowan.

The inquest resumed in late 2016, after Cowan's conviction, spending two days examining the adequacy of the police investigation.

It heard two police officers interviewed Cowan in the days after Daniel's disappearance and told their superior officer they believed Cowan should be treated as a prime suspect.

The officers told the court their concerns were dismissed by then homicide squad boss Mike Condon and no extra resources were assigned to monitor Cowan, who was a known child sex offender.

Brett Peter Cowan was convicted of Daniel Morcombe's murder in 2014. ( Supplied )

Cowan confessed to the crime in a secret recording made by undercover police and was sentenced to life in prison in March 2014.

In 2016, Mr Condon — who by that time had risen to the rank of Assistant Commissioner — defended the way he ran the investigation, telling the inquest he was comfortable with the decisions made.

He was accused of misconduct and corrupt behaviour during the inquest, but a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation concluded in 2018 there was "insufficient grounds" for criminal prosecution or disciplinary action.

The inquest was told investigators were focused on finding a blue car that witnesses had reported seeing at the scene in Woombye near where Daniel was abducted.

The blue car has never been found and Cowan drove a white four-wheel drive.