Mystery of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague, 23, could be solved after family win battle for inquest into his death
THE mystery over missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague could finally be solved after his family won their battle for an inquest into his death.
Corrie, 23, vanished four years ago during a night out, but his body has never been found.
A pre-inquest review hearing will be held in early 2020, with the inquest to follow in 2021, it was confirmed today.
The Scottish airman from Dunfermline, Fife, had been out drinking with pals in Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk when he disappeared in the early hours of Sept 24, 2016.
Hi disappearance sparked a huge hunt, which included two landfill sites.
The first search lasted 20 weeks and the second was conducted over seven weeks.
INQUEST CONFIRMED
It is feared that Corrie may have sheltered in a rubbish bin which was later collected by a lorry and emptied in a dump.
Corrie's heartbroken mum Nicola Urquhart had long campaigned for an inquest into his presumed death.
She recently revealed she is still struggling to deal with Corrie's death.
Last month, she told a local newspaper: "I'm never going to get answers that are going to make that any easier to deal with.
"He's not here."
Corrie's family was left devastated by his disappearance, with his girlfriend April Oliver announcing she was pregnant after his disappearance.
The baby girl was born on Father's Day, June 18 2017, with April revealing she given her baby the middle name 'Corrie' in tribute to the missing RAF airman.
Police had pieced together some of his last movements on September 24, with CCTV footage showing him eating takeaway food at around 1.20am.
At 3.24am he was spotted taking a nap in a nearby doorway before he leaves the view of the camera.
How the multi-million pound hunt for Corrie unfolded
- Corrie McKeague went missing in the early hours of September 24 2016 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- Prior to his disappearance he ordered a take away between 1.15am and 1.30am
- He responded to a message from a friend on his mobile
- He was last seen entering a cul-de-sac containing a number of wheelie bins at 3.25am
- Police were able to trace Corrie’s mobile phone from Bury to the Barton Mills area 12 miles away, near Mildenhall, at a speed indicating it was in a vehicle
- The mobile phone was either switched off at 8am, ran out of battery or was damaged – it has never been found
- There is no information about his whereabouts on Sunday, September 25
- He was reported missing the following afternoon when he failed to turn up for work
- Police made their first media appeal for information at 4.10am on September 27 - a police helicopter joins the search hours later
- Search teams involving Suffolk police, Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SULSAR) and RAF Police start scouring possible routes between Bury and Honington
- Another police appeal is made on October 4 for the missing phone
- A third police appeal is made on October 5 for three teenagers who were seen in the area at the time - they came forward on October 9
- A new police missing person poster is released on October 8
- Search dogs joined the teams on October 11
- Corrie's mum offers £50,000 reward for information
- Family hires private investigator on January 5, 2017
- Corrie's girlfriend reveals she is pregnant on January 9
- On February 10, police confirm they will search the landfill site at Milton
- A second search of the landfill site was carried out in October 2017
- Suffolk Police announced on March 26, 2018 that the search for the missing airman would be stood down
It is the last confirmed sighting of Corrie.
After months of investigations, detectives revealed they believed the young man could have been crushed by a bin lorry after falling asleep on one.
Calling off the £2.1million search for Corrie cops revealed Corrie was "known to sleep in bins".
The investigation into Mr McKeague's disappearance was passed to cold case detectives in 2018.
Suffolk Police confirmed at the time "there are no realistic lines of enquiry left to pursue".
I'm never going to get answers that are going to make that any easier to deal with
Nicola Urquhart, Corrie's mum
In July, Corrie's grieving Martin McKeague said he believed he knew where his son's remains were, but that they were "essentially irretrievable".
Devastated Martin claimed he was certain his son was "somewhere in the Suffolk waste disposal system", but would never be able to be recovered.
In a lengthy statement on social media, the distraught dad said: "We do know what happened to Corrie and we have to accept that it is impossible to search those areas for him now."
Today, the Chief Coroner of England Wales confirmed he had directed an inquest to be held.
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A statement released by the Suffolk Coroner read: "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 24 September 2016.
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"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."
