No lines of inquiry left in search for Fife airman

Police maintain nothing to suggest foul play or third party involvement

Police searching for missing Fife airman Corrie McKeague have said there are “no realistic lines of inquiry left to pursue”.

Suffolk Constabulary said the investigation into the disappearance of Corrie, who was 23 when he was last seen walking through Bury St Edmunds on September 24 2016, had been handed to a cold case team.

Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said: “It is extremely disappointing that we have not been able to find Corrie.

“I can only imagine the strain Corrie’s family have been under over the past 18 months and I thank them for their patience and understanding.

“While the investigation has drawn to a natural conclusion we will continue to work with the family to provide answers to their questions and help them understand what may have happened.

“Since Corrie disappeared, police have been exploring all proportionate and relevant lines of inquiry.

“We have now reached a point where we are unable to make any further progress, and have gone as far as we realistically can with the information we have.”

Corrie, who was based at RAF Honington, 10 miles away from Bury St Edmunds, had gone out on the town with friends on Saturday September 23 and was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of the next day.

One theory is he came to grief after falling asleep in a bin.

The search for Corrie has focused on a landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, after data from his mobile phone followed the movements of a bin lorry which had been in an area of Bury St Edmunds known as the Horseshoe, where the RAF gunner had turned into after disappearing from CCTV coverage.

After a gruelling and prolonged search of the site last year, Corrie’s mother Nicola Urquhart said she no longer believed her son had ended up there.

Police said the evidence available still pointed to the theory he had been brought to Milton and at this stage there was nothing to suggest any foul play or third party involvement.

Assistant Chief Constable Simon Megicks from Suffolk Constabulary said: “Saddened as I am that we have not found Corrie, I have absolute confidence in the way the investigation was conducted.

“The major investigation team inquiry has been reviewed at various points by senior officers within the constabulary and external experts, including the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

“The unit’s report concludes police have conducted a thorough and detailed investigation, and explored all reasonable lines of inquiry.

“It also endorses the primary hypothesis that Corrie ended up in the waste disposal process.”

Pictures: PA. Acting Chief Superintendent Kim Warner of Suffolk Police speaks alongside Corrie’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, and his brothers Darroch and Makeyan McKeague, during a press conference in the wake of his disappearance.

Corrie, above, and Nicola Urquhart retracing her son’s final steps in Bury St Edmunds last year.