Corrie McKeague’s family lay flowers at scene after cops say missing airman was probably inside ‘extra heavy’ bin on day he vanished
Detectives revealed there was no other explanation for Corrie's disappearance than him falling asleep inside a bin — which was then emptied and its contents crushed
CORRIE McKeague's heartbroken family have laid flowers at the bin store where cops believe the missing RAF airman was likely killed.
Detectives have told them that the bin weight was "unusually high" on the day Corrie, then 23, vanished in Bury St Edmunds two years ago.
It has led his distraught relatives to believe that he had fallen asleep in a skip on a night out before being crushed in a rubbish lorry.
Yesterday dad Martin posted touching photos of the floral tributes left at the Biffa bin store where his son vanished — and concluded: "My son is gone".
The horrific realisation has been reached after police quizzed binmen.
A typical bin of waste would be between 20kg and 30kg — but one container weighed 116kg (18 stone 2lbs).
It is believed Scots-born RAF gunner Corrie climbed into the bin after a drunken night on the town, fell asleep and was taken away to a waste tip.
Corrie was born in Cupar, Fife, but moved to Dunfermline following his parents' divorce when he was nine.
In a statement on Facebook, Mr McKeague confirmed that he and his partner Trisha visited the area Corrie was last seen in the town centre on 24 September — the second anniversary of his disappearance.
They laid flowers and met with police who told them they had no other evidence as to Corrie's whereabouts.
Officers shared the findings of waste company Biffa with the family — which suggest that the excess weight in the bin was that of the RAF serviceman.
In his emotional statement, Mr McKeague said: "The police have confirmed the Biffa bin weight that suggests my son ended up in the Suffolk waste disposal system.
"They also confirmed that there is no new evidence whatsoever".
Corrie was seen on CCTV entering the area known as the Horseshoe — a bin loading area behind Greggs bakery — in Bury St Edmunds at 3.24am on Saturday, September 24, 2016.
A Suffolk Police spokesman said: "This investigation has found no other reasonable explanation for that unusually high bin weight."
Last month Corrie's mum Nicola Urquhart said she believes there are still unanswered questions.
She said: "It was only just a couple of weeks ago that I've been told that the police never even got 12 hours CCTV footage of the immediate area, despite me begging them up until the 28-day cut-off period to go and get more."
But a multi-million pound investigation into the RAF Honington gunner's disappearance, which included two searches of a landfill site in Milton, Cambs, yielded nothing.
And the family now accept further searches could take years and still find no trace of his remains.
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 known as the Horseshoe 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 offered a £50,000 reward for information
- The 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
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Corrie's family will hold a private memorial in the near future.
In his heart-rending Facebook post, Corrie's dad added: "My son is gone and the McKeague family in Scotland will be holding a private memorial for him in the near future.
"Thank you all again for standing up and standing by us."
A Suffolk Police update given to the family concluded: "This investigation has found no other reasonable explanation for that unusually high bin weight, thus when this data is considered alongside the other evidence held within this enquiry it confirms and consolidates my view that the preferred outcome and finding of this investigation is that during the early hours of 24th Sept 2016 Corrie came to be in the bin that was collected by the Biffa lorry and was transported away from the Horseshoe area to Red Lodge transfer station."
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