The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Missing Corrie’s mum critical of police probe
Airman has not been seen for more than 14 months after disappearing on a night out
The mother of missing Corrie Mckeague has hit out at how parts of the investigation into her son’s disappearance has been handled by police.
The RAF airman from Fife has not been seen since September 2016 after vanishing on a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds.
Search teams are currently scouring a landfill site at Milton, Cambridgeshire, in the belief that the 23-year-old may have climbed into a waste bin and was taken away by a bin lorry.
That search is expected to be concluded by the end of next week and an independent review by the East Midlands Specialist Unit into Suffolk Police’s handling of the investigation described the probe as “exemplary”.
However, Corrie’s mum Nicola Urquhart – a Fife-based police officer – has taken to social media to express her frustration that not all lines of inquiry have been followed up.
Writing on Facebook, Nicola stressed that she had the “utmost respect and gratitude” for the role of officers searching for Corrie but added: “Being grateful ... does not mean I feel the same about all aspects of the investigation though.”
She said she has been asked to keep quiet about aspects of the probe, sometimes for the “media image of this investigation”.
Ms Urquhart said: “This is an awful position to be in. I am a police officer and very proud to be one. I fully understand the difficulties they have experienced. I am however a mother first and foremost and finding my son is more important than protecting someone’s image.
“Yet I continue to try to work with the police and keep quiet about matters that I feel should be shared with the public especially when it may help find Corrie.
“Corrie is a missing person. This is not a criminal investigation.
“Although I am only too aware of how any investigation could move to criminal, that will only happen if the police investigating have an open mind and are actively investigating all reasonable possible lines of inquiry.”
She added: “If the police intend to stop after this search next week saying they have done all they can then there should be no need to keep things from the public before they walk away.”
“If Corrie is not found in the landfill then it makes these other lines of inquiry far more probable.
“I have spoken to the police about my concerns but sadly I feel they are again more interested in trying to keep me quiet and hanging on for replies while they prepare media images that suit their theories.
“The only way I ever seem to get anywhere is when I publicly have to criticise them. I should never be forced into this but unfortunately they continue to give me no choice.”