Disappearance of Corrie McKeague

Corrie McKeague (born 1993) is a Royal Air Force Regiment gunner who went missing in the early of hours of 24 September 2016 in the Bury St Edmunds area of Suffolk, England.

McKeague's disappearance remains under investigation with the case attracting widespread publicity.

Life

McKeague was born in Perth and raised by his mother in Dunfermline Fife, Scotland with his two brothers Darroch and Makeyan, he attended St Columba's High School in Dunfermline.^[1] McKeague joined the RAF Regiment in 2013 and was posted to No. II Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment based at RAF Honington after his initial Regiment training at the base.^[2] McKeague is a Senior Aircraftman gunner and a medic on the squadron.^[3]

Disappearance

McKeague had gone out drinking with friends on the 23 September 2016 in Bury St Edmunds.^[4] He separated from his friends in the early hours after leaving the Flex nightclub on St Andrews Street South in Bury St Edmunds.^[3] He was in a takeaway between 1:15 am and 1:30 am of the 24 September^[5] (Mama Mia's, which was his usual takeaway restaurant)^[6] and was also seen on CCTV at 3:25 am on Brentgovel Street. This is the last time anyone saw McKeague. CCTV also suggested that McKeague had slept briefly in a doorway before waking up and moving off.^[7] It is not believed he set off with the intent of walking the 10 miles (16 km)^[2] back towards his base, RAF Honington, which is north east of the town along minor unclassified roads.^[8] Nicola Urquhart, his mother, has since stated however that her son has never walked back to Honington on any previous occasions.

Leaving on his own, getting food and sleeping for a short time have all been cited by his friends and his mother as something McKeague has done in the past and as such do not represent completely an out of character occurrence.^[9]

As he had the weekend off, he was not reported missing until the 26 September 2016 (the following Monday) when he failed to report for work.^[10] Since then, the Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue team (SULSAR) have been involved with the police in searching huge swathes of land around Bury St Edmunds and Honington^[11] alongside the RAF's own search and rescue teams which have been bolstered by searches involving police helicopters.^[5]

There was one unconfirmed sightings of McKeague at the back of a sugar factory at Bury St Edmunds at 4:20 am, but police have stressed this has now been investigated and is not Corrie. The last known authenticated sighting being on the CCTV at Brentgovel Street.^[12]

Investigation

On the morning of McKeague's disappearance, his mobile phone moved from Bury St Edmunds to Barton Mills, some 12 miles (19 km) to the north west along the corridor of the A1101 road. Phone data indicates that this journey took 28 minutes, which means that it did not cover the distance by someone walking on foot.^[1] Suffolk Constabulary seized a bin lorry that was said to have contained his Nokia Lumia mobile but the line of enquiry led to nothing. It was noted that the bin lorry seized, was only carrying a weight of 15 kilograms (33 lb) and so could not have been carrying McKeague himself^[13] as he weighs around 90 kilograms (200 lb).^[14] This led to searches being carried out along the bin lorry's route between the two towns.^[13] The mobile phone was switched off at 8:00 am and has not been found.^[15]

One focus of the investigation has been whether or not someone gave a lift to McKeague as he was walking back to his base. His mother stated that Corrie would have accepted a lift if offered to him, as he would offer a lift if he was driving and saw someone walking on their own. She also appealed for anyone who may have given him a lift to come forward, even if something untoward had happened.^[16] Police believe that McKeague is not in Bury St Edmunds. Superintendent Katie Elliott stated in an interview to Forces TV with Nicola Urquhart that there could be third party involvement and that the police would not rule anything out.^[17]

The investigation also covered parts of the Hollow Road Industrial Estate in Bury St Edmunds and Great Livermere, a small village close to RAF Honington on McKeague's supposed route back to his base.^[18] Along with the British Transport Police, the Suffolk Constabulary have been searching along railway lines in the area and some of the roads have been closed to enable thorough searches to go ahead.^[19] In November 2016, a stretch of the eastbound carriageway of the A14 road, was closed between junctions 44 & 45 (Moreton Hall & Rougham) to search for McKeague.^[20]

A dismembered and burned body was found in a suitcase off the A628 road near Tintwistle in Derbyshire on the 10 October 2016. Initial investigations led police to say that it was a white man under the age of 50, but it was later revealed that a DNA search had come up negative and Derbyshire Police confirmed the body was not McKeague's.^[21]

In November 2016, it was revealed that in the five hours between 3:00 am and 5:00 am on the morning of 24 September 2016, 39 people are seen on the same CCTV camera as the last one to record McKeague's transit. Despite repeated inquiries and appeals 23 of these people remain unidentified. Suffolk Police installed a 'Pod' at a Christmas Fair in Bury St Edmunds between the 24 and 25 November 2016. The public were encouraged to visit the pod to help establish the identities of the 23 people.^[22][23]

Theories

A retired senior detective from the Metropolitan Police, Colin Sutton, has gone on record as saying that McKeague's disappearance was not intentional as making preparations leaves a digital footprint. Sutton also said that McKeague is shown going into a cul-de-sac that is blocked off by a high wall and a fence, but there is no CCTV of him leaving the road. He doubts whether McKeague would have been aware of where the CCTV cameras are located, which Sutton says, is also indicative of not leaving intentionally.^[24] The CCTV cameras that are owned by the council in the town do not give 100% coverage. Even with private CCTV recordings being reviewed, there have been no further sightings of McKeague.^[25] McKeague's uncle, Tony Wringe, said that the area off Brentgovel street that McKeague was shown walking into on CCTV, had been physically tested and it was shown to be impossible to not be caught on CCTV if leaving on foot.^[22]

Sutton said that his guess was that there was another person or other people involved in McKeague's disappearance.^[24]

McKeague's job with the RAF was not a contributory factor according to the lead detective in the investigation.^[26] Intended disappearance was also put in doubt by McKeague's happy mood at the time; he was making plans to meet up with his brother, Darroch, on the night that he went missing,^[15] with his last text being sent at 03:08 am. He had also booked flights to go home to Dunfermline for Halloween.^[27] His mother also pointed out that he loved his dog which he kept at RAF Honington and would not have left it behind intentionally. She has stated that there are three possible scenarios; that he has met with an accident and is dead, that he left voluntarily or that a third party is involved.^[15]

Whilst it has not been stated openly, some parallels have been drawn between the proximity (37 miles (60 km) away)^[28] of McKeague's disappearance with an attempted kidnapping of a serviceman at RAF Marham in July 2016.^[14] Whilst kidnapping is one investigative route, McKeague's mother, who is a family liaison officer with Police Scotland, said that it was not something that the police were discussing with her.^[29]

In November 2016, the family issued a statement on Facebook saying that they were unhappy with the police investigation. McKeague's uncle, Tony Wringe, said that "This is a Major Investigation Team in name not function" (sic)^[30] The family also said that a decision not to search a landfill in the Barton Mills area for McKeague's phone was wrong.^[31]

References

External links

• Family run appeal website