Police have given up on finding missing RAF man Corrie McKeague, says mother

THE mother of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague has accused the police of having “given up” on finding her son.

Nicola Urquhart said Suffolk Police “kept back” information from the family about calling off the search at a landfill where they believe his remains are.

In a press conference on Friday, Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said extensive searches yielded no further trace of the 23-year-old serviceman, who disappeared from Bury St Edmunds following a night-out in September.

Writing on the Find Corrie Facebook page, Ms Urquhart said: “(Police) firmly believe Corrie is in the landfill.

Please sign and share. If corrie is In the landfill they need to find him.#Findcorrie https://t.co/sj03euEYW6

— Find Corrie (@findcorrie) July 22, 2017

“Yesterday’s decision to stop searching at the landfill means they have now given up on finding Corrie.

“Suffolk Police have handed back the landfill and are trying to have it filled back in this week.

“They have known this information for weeks but held it back from me.

“I was promised four hours to be able to discuss this press release with my sons and was given it 20 minutes prior to the press release going live on national TV.

“Darroch (Corrie’s brother) had to find out about this by watching it on Facebook.”

Police said Mr McKeague, from Fife but based at Honington in Suffolk, had a history of falling asleep in unusual places, including in bins.

A bin lorry was seen on CCTV near Brentgovel Street in the town around the time Mr McKeague was last seen and it took a route which appeared to coincide with the movements of his phone.

The bin lorry linked to the disappearance of Mr McKeague was initially thought to have collected an 11kg (1st 10lb) load but police said it was later found to be more than 100kg (15st 10lb).

Ms Elliott, who said any new lines of inquiry would be pursued “vigorously”, added: “We have searched the whole area where we believed Corrie could be.

“It’s never been about money in this investigation. We have searched the areas where we have information where that waste was deposited.

“Beyond that it’s very difficult to establish exactly where we would search for Corrie.”

Asked if she thought Mr McKeague was still on the landfill site, she replied: “I do.”