McKeague's Mum Retraces His Steps

25 September 2017, 09:08

The family of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague have retraced his last-known steps exactly one year after he vanished.

The 23-year-old was last seen walking through Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, after a night out with friends.

His mother, Nicola Urquhart, led a group of about 30 people around the town centre on Sunday in a bid to "jog someone's memory".

The journey was filmed by Mr McKeague's older brother Makeyan and broadcast on Twitter.

Mr McKeague, from Fife in Scotland but based at RAF Honington in Suffolk, was last seen on CCTV at 3.25am on September 24.

Suffolk Police still believe his remains are somewhere on a sprawling landfill site at Milton in Cambridgeshire but called off the search after 20 weeks.

A bin lorry was caught on CCTV near Brentgovel Street in Bury St Edmunds around the time Mr McKeague was last seen. It took a route which appeared to coincide with the movements of his phone.

The bin lorry linked to Mr McKeague's disappearance was initially thought to have collected a 24lb (11kg) load, but police said it was later found to be more than 220lb (100kg).

A five-month search of a landfill site was called off in July after no evidence of his body was found.

"I know with every fibre of my being that Corrie wouldn't climb into a bin," Mrs Urquhart said. "But I wasn't there that night and people have climbed in bins before, so I cannot say it didn't happen."

She added: "It's the most logical, simplistic explanation as to what's happened, that nobody else has been involved. So that's why it should be exhausted and thoroughly investigated."

Mrs Urquhart revealed police were still looking into a number of possible sightings of her son.

A group of four men who spoke to Mr McKeague the night he went missing were spoken to by Suffolk Police this month but their interaction with him was deemed not to be significant.

Mr McKeague's girlfriend, April Oliver, announced in June that the missing serviceman had become a father with the birth of their daughter.

A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: "The police pod was well attended in Bury St Edmunds this weekend and we will now look to assess the information we have been told to see if this establishes any new lines of inquiry for the investigation.

"We are grateful and pass on our thanks to everyone who approached us over the weekend with information."