IT’S LIKE I’VE LOST 3 SONS Missing Corrie McKeague dad’s rift with family
THE heartbroken dad of missing RAF man Corrie McKeague has told how the tragedy has torn his family apart.
Police are carrying out a painstaking search of a landfill site for gunner Corrie, 23, who vanished last September after a night out.
Corrie’s parents split 14 years ago. In an interview yesterday his dad Martin said the search for their son has had a terrible effect on relations within the estranged family.
He said: “I feel as if I’ve lost all three sons. I’ve not spoken to my boys in months. ”
Police have still not found Corrie and Martin said a family rift has developed since he vanished. He said: “When terrible things happen they say it brings people together but n this tore the family apart. I’m in pieces.” Corrie disappeared in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in the early hours of September 24.
Police believe he may have got inside a bin. Investigators fear Corrie was crushed then unwittingly dumped at a landfill site by a truck.
Martin has moved from his Scottish home with wife Trisha to a caravan outside Cambridge to be nearer.
Corrie’s mum Nicola Urquhart has led an online search with other sons Makeyan, 26, and Darroch, 21. She previously branded Suffolk constabulary’s probe “incompetent” but Martin called it “excellent”.
His last contact with the boys was after a press conference. Martin, 48, said: “It got heated and I had to walk outside. The last thing I said was, ‘I’ve lost one son. I don’t want to lose another two.’ “By speaking publicly about what happened, I may sacrifice the chance of ever speaking to my boys again. But things need to be said.” Martin believes Corrie knew that his 21-year-old girlfriend April Oliver, a fitness teacher, was pregnant. But Nicola says he vanished without finding out. Martin also criticised Nicola for publicly saying Corrie did not have mental health problems. He said: “Corrie was on anti-depressants. It was something he’d been dealing with for a while, quite openly.” Nicola declined to comment on the interview.