Missing airman’s family hopeful of answers as inquest is granted
THE mother of missing Scots airman Corrie Mckeague has said she is hopeful of getting answers as the family’s request for an inquest to be held was granted.
Mr Mckeague, of Dunfermline, Fife, was 23 when he vanished on a night out in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk on September 24, 2016.
His disappearance sparked a multimillion pound search operation, which included detailed sweeps of two landfill sites in the area.
But despite all efforts and multiple public appeals for more information, no trace of the RAF gunner has ever been found.
Writing on the Find Corrie Facebook page yesterday, his mother Nicola Urquhart, also of Dunfermline, said his family are hopeful for “answers”.
She wrote: “We have just heard, with excellent legal assistance, at our request the Suffolk coroner has applied to the Chief Coroner and we are getting a coroner’s inquest for Corrie.
“This process will take time, but we are extremely hopeful that this will give us answers.”
In a statement, Suffolk County Council said: “Following an application at the request of the family of Corrie Mckeague, the Chief Coroner for England and Wales has directed the Senior Coroner for Suffolk to hold an inquest into Corrie’s death which there is reason to believe occurred on September 24 2016.
“A date for a short inquest opening hearing is yet to be finalised, but is expected to occur within the next two weeks.
“A pre-inquest review hearing will be held early in 2021.
“The inquest itself will follow later in 2021.
“Corrie, a serving member of the Royal Air Force, is believed to have come by his death following a night out in Bury St Edmunds on September 24 2016 and extensive searches have not been able to find his body.”
Mr Mckeague was stationed at RAF Honington.
The investigation into his disappearance was passed on to cold case detectives in 2018.
Suffolk Police said the “most likely scenario” is that Mr Mckeague went into a bin which was emptied into a lorry and ended up in the waste process.
The last confirmed sighting of Mr Mckeague was at 3.25am on September 24, 2016, turning right into a loading/refuse collection area behind the local Greggs shop.
He was never seen leaving this loading area on camera.
Police were able to trace his mobile phone from Bury to the Barton Mills area at a speed only a vehicle could travel at.
His mobile was not used after this and has never been found.
His family have long campaigned for an inquest into the circumstances of his presumed death to be held.
Just last month, in a local newspaper interview, Ms Urquhart said she is still struggling to deal with the fact that her son has died, explaining that she is not looking for “closure”.
She said: “I’m never going to get answers that are going to make that any easier to deal with. He’s not here.
“I certainly cannot and would not speak for anyone else, but for me there is no such thing as closure...i have to find a way of dealing with my son not being here every day.”
Mr Mckeague would have turned 27 on September 16 and Ms Urquhart added that she finds birthdays more challenging than anniversaries of the day he disappeared.
“I know it sounds bizarre because it’s a four-year anniversary but it’s no different to every single day,” she said.
“Corrie’s still not here every day and it being one-year, two years, four years, or ten years – I don’t think that makes much of a difference.
“I think it’s more the fact that it’s another year that he’s not been able to enjoy his birthday and that’s probably harder to deal with than it is the anniversary of him going missing.”
At the time of his disappearance, Mr Mckeague’s partner, April Oliver, was expecting a baby.
She gave birth to the couple’s daughter, Ellie-louise, in June 2017, giving her the middle name “Corrie”.
I have to find a way of dealing with my son not being here every day