Missing man probe to be ‘stood down’

THE inquiry into the disappearance of RAF gunner Corrie McKeague will be stood down and passed to a cold case team, it is reported.

Mr McKeague, from Dunfermline, was 23 when he was last seen walking through Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in September 2016 after a night out with friends.

Police conducted two searches of a landfill site at Milton near Cambridge last year, with the first search lasting 20 weeks and the second, lasting seven weeks, concluding in December. No trace of Mr McKeague was found. It is thought Mr McKeague may have climbed into a waste bin and been taken away by a bin lorry, prompting the landfill search.

It has been reported Suffolk Police will announce the inquiry will be shelved — as Mr McKeague’s father Martin said he fears the airman may have killed himself.

Martin, 49, said he thought his son knew he was going to become a father which may have affected his mental state.

He said: “I just can’t help thinking this would have weighed on him heavily and he may have actually chosen to get in that bin that night knowing what would happen.

“It’s as probable as anything else and it makes it no less heartbreaking.”

The gunner became a father to daughter EllieLouise in June last year. Mr McKeague’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, has shared a touching video of her missing son.

The short clip shows 23-year-old Corrie ice skating while laughing and joking, as his mum can also be heard giggling in the background.

Nicola decided to share the video to “make people smile” and to show why she will do all she “possibly can to find Corrie”.

Posting on the Find Corrie Facebook page Nicola, 48, wrote: “When it feels hard and I feel a little lost I look at my videos and photos of all the amazing memories I have.

“I see Corrie’s beautiful smile and fantastic humour and it just melts my heart.

“It’s hard to share my videos because they are so personal.

“I’m sharing this one though because hopefully it will make you smile too and you’ll see why I will do all I possibly can to find Corrie. Nicola x.”

Since being posted in the group, the clip has been liked by nearly 4,000 members and received more than 650 comments of support.

A SHOPPING centre fire in a Siberian city has killed 37 people and 27 are considered missing, the Russian government said. The fire at the four-story Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo was extinguished early today after burning for hours. Many of the...

Corrie McKeague