Police investigating the disappearance of the missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague will call off a five-month search of a landfill site after finding nothing, in a move that deepens the mystery around his whereabouts.
McKeague was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of Saturday 24 September last year, walking into a refuse collection and deliveries area behind shops in Bury St Edmunds.
The most prominent theory behind his disappearance was that he had been taken away in a bin to a landfill site at Milton, Cambridgeshire, but this has now been thrown into doubt.
Det Supt Katie Elliott, of Suffolk police, told a press conference that the search, which started in February, would be called off on Friday afternoon. “We haven’t found Corrie and this is bitterly disappointing,” she said.
Elliott said more than 6,500 tonnes of waste had been searched and police recovered materials such as newspapers with dates around the time McKeague went missing.
Despite this, Elliott still insisted that there was nothing to suggest McKeague went anywhere other than the bin.
She said: “All the work we have carried out, particularly around the weight of the bin lorry collection, points to Corrie being taken to the landfill site.
“The search has been complex, systematic, thorough and comprehensive. Throughout the process the work being completed has been reviewed by national experts.
“The investigation behind the scenes hasn’t stood still while the search has been carried out, but all the information we have still points to the fact that Corrie was transported from the ‘horseshoe’ area in the bin lorry.
“Having been through all of the possibilities in detail, there is nothing to support any theory other than that Corrie was in the bin.”
The 23-year-old, from Fife, was based at nearby RAF Honington, and served with No 2 Squadron RAF Regiment, the parachute-trained field squadron. He had enjoyed a night out with friends from RAF before he vanished.
Four vehicles are known to have entered the ‘horseshoe’ area including a bin lorry. A total of 31 people of interest near the area were identified, including the owners or drivers of all the vehicles.
In January, after revisiting the process of disposing of rubbish, police discovered the weight of a bin had been incorrectly recorded at 11kg; the rubbish in fact weighed 116kg.
Another key piece of evidence suggested McKeague travelled in the bin lorry. His mobile phone signal was traced until it died at about 4.25am near Barton Mills, 14 miles north-west of Bury St Edmunds, after crucially following the route of the truck.
McKeague’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, a police officer of 16 years, has followed the investigation, which has cost £1.2m so far, as if it was one of her own.
In an interview with the Guardian, she said she could not accept that McKeague might have climbed into the bin voluntarily.
“I struggle to believe Corrie would do that,” she said. “He’s already slept for an hour and a half. It’s completely out of character … I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just saying I struggle to accept that.”
“I think Corrie has ended up in the landfill,” she adds. “I do suspect there’s a third party involved.”
Writing on Facebook on Thursday, Urquhart said a criminal investigation should be launched if his body is not found.
After his disappearance, April Oliver, his partner, discovered she was pregnant with McKeague’s child. She has since given birth to the child, a daughter.
