The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Memorial service for missing RAF airman Corrie Mckeague
Emotional day for father during tribute to ‘carefree’ son two years on
The father of missing Fife airman Corrie Mckeague fought back tears at a memorial service for his son.
Martin Mckeague, 49, told more than 200 mourners attending St Columba’s RC Church in Cupar he did not want to “dwell on his son’s passing”, adding that Corrie had lived a life “without remorse or regret”.
Mr Mckeague organised the church tribute to Corrie, who has not been seen for more than two years after vanishing during a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds when he was aged 23.
Police believe the RAF gunner is dead, having been taken to a landfill site after climbing into a bin, but last week Corrie’s mum Nicola Urquhart said she believes new CCTV suggests he was never in the rubbish tip and may therefore still be alive.
During the service on Saturday, Mr Mckeague struggled to keep his emotions in check as he described his son as “carefree and energetic”.
“We did everything we possibly could to find you, son, and today we’re going to honour that commitment in the only way we can,” he said.
“We’re going to celebrate the man you became from the moment I first held you to the moment I no longer could.”
An extensive search of the landfill site at Milton in Cambridgeshire was stopped and the investigation has been handed over to cold case detectives.
However no trace has ever been found of Corrie. His mum Nicola and brothers Darroch and Makeyan have vowed never to give up searching until they find out the truth.
Last week Ms Urquhart said she believes Corrie can be seen on CCTV leaving the ‘Horseshoe’ area in Bury St Edmunds, and hit out at senior officers at Suffolk Police who had “tried to only provide information that fits their preferred theory at the time”.
The force has always maintained the “most likely” scenario was that Corrie got into a bin and was emptied into a Biffa lorry before taken to landfill.