Police officer mother of missing RAF man Corrie McKeague says hunt for son is ‘surreal’

THE POLICE officer mum of missing RAF man Corrie McKeague has spoken about how her job has made the hunt for her missing son a “surreal” experience.

Nicola Urquhart, who works as a Police Scotland family liaison officer, said it was strange to be making public pleas for information instead of organising them.

Nicola, from Dunfermline, said: “In all my service with the police I never thought I would be on the other end of something like this.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s too hard to comprehend, it’s too surreal.”

It comes as police release new CCTV footage of missing Corrie.

The Scot, 23, is seen walking alone before he vanished after a night out in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk, nearly a month ago.

Cameras captured him eating fast food and strolling through streets with his hands in his pockets at 3.25am on September 24.

Specialist RAF officers and police were yesterday continuing to sweep nearby woods in the hunt for the airman.

Corrie has been based at RAF Honington for three years and his mother said he had never gone missing before.

Nicola added: “What makes it almost impossible to comprehend is the fact he just vanished leaving no digital trace.

“He’s missed virtually every camera in the area, nobody has seen him, no use of his bank cards, no contact, it’s impossible, but it’s happened.

“It’s so difficult to get my head round that.

“This is torture of all of us, how do you deal with it? There’s no manual, you just have to try and function.

“It’s impossible, it’s really really difficult.

“You just want to fall apart but you know that you can’t.”

Corrie’s family have revealed he was in good spirits as he finished his weekly duties before heading for a night out on September 23.

He spoke on the phone to brother Darroch, 21, who said: “He had no problems whatsoever. You could not have picked a happier conversation between me and him.”

It has also emerged Corrie had booked flights to spend Halloween in Dunfermline and was arranging for Darroch, a butcher, to travel south last weekend to meet his RAF friends.

On the Friday he went missing he was wearing white jeans, a pink Ralph Lauren shirt and suede Timberland boots. He left his beloved puppy Louell in his room then drove his blue BMW nine miles to meet his mates.

He joined his friends in the Flex nightclub but left well before closing time, and headed for something to eat.

Nicola added: “I believe Corrie is still alive because I’m a practical person and I don’t have a single fact that tells me otherwise.

“As a mother I am going to cling to the thought that he is still alive.

“If you were asking me the same of my other boys, I would be fearing the worst.

“Unlike Corrie they are risk aware and practical. If the same thing had happened to them I’d think it was bad news.

“Corrie though, he would take chances and would put himself in potentially dangerous situations that you should think about.

“So for example, he would get into a car with strangers to go to a party. He wouldn’t think twice about it.

“I think it’s a possibility he’s gone to party and that he’s still being held.”

Nicola also told of the agony of being left in limbo.

She added: “I’ve never been without my family and I’ve never been without my phone.

“I am hanging on every phone call.

“It’s an awful rollercoaster to be on, but we have to go through it, what else can I do?”