Missing airman probe ‘complete’ say police on five year anniversary

Police say credible new leads would be needed to reopen their probe into the missing Dunfermline airman Corrie McKeague, who disappeared five years ago.

Corrie, who grew up in the Fife town, disappeared following a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on September 24 2016, aged 23.

Extensive searches and a police inquiry costing more than £2 million have failed to find out what happened to him.

He was last seen on CCTV at around 3.25am on September 24 after he left a local nightclub.

Police have previously brought their investigation into his disappearance to a conclusion, saying they have exhausted all leads in the search for the former RAF gunner’s disappearance.

And on the fifth anniversary of him going missing, officers say there is no reason to reopen the inquiry unless new details emerge.

A spokesperson for Suffolk Police said: “Unless any new, realistic and credible information becomes available then the investigation is complete.

“There is no information available at this time that changes the status of the investigation.”

Police believe he may have died after climbing into a waste bin.

Extensive searches were carried out at a landfill site near Cambridge, but Corrie’s body was never found.

A review concluded his body is most likely buried within landfill at the site.

An inquest, opened and adjourned in November last year, heard evidence from a police officer that Corrie had been “very drunk” after leaving the nightclub.

Corrie was born in Perth and grew up in Cupar before moving to Dunfermline aged nine, where he lived with his mum – Nicola Urquhart – and his two brothers, Darroch and Makeyan McKeague.

He left Dunfermline after joining the military, where he was based at RAF Honington.

Nicola has previously spoken of her anguish over her son’s disappearance.

Bones found in September 2020 caused further heartbreak for the family, with Suffolk Police saying that a post-mortem examination of the remains found in Sudbury was “not able to establish any form of identification or cause of death”.

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Sommerville said: “The disappearance of Corrie is heart-breaking for his family and all that knew him”

“Five years on, and the family are still searching for answers. I truly hope that one day they can find them and get the closure they need and deserve”

UNSOLVED: RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague, pictured with his mum Nicola Urquhart, went missing from Bury St Edmunds in September 2016.