A review into the police’s handling of the Corrie McKeague missing person investigation has concluded that the Fife airman’s body is “most likely” to be in a landfill site.
Suffolk Constabulary confirmed that officers involved in the probe have now received a report following the review, which was conducted by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, and that the report concludes that police have conducted a “thorough, methodical and detailed investigation”.
It also suggested that all reasonable lines of inquiry have been explored by officers, with “no new further leads” needing to be pursued.
The news comes just days after the search of the Milton landfill site, which has been the focus of the investigation for several months now, restarted in a bid to finally find the 23-year-old RAF gunner.
Corrie went missing after a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds on September 24, 2016, and was last seen on CCTV at around 3.24am that morning.
No trace of him has been found since, despite a large scale search by police, partner agencies and volunteers.
After receiving the report into the review, a spokesperson for Suffolk Police confirmed that it will not be released due to it containing operationally sensitive material.
The spokesperson added: “The report concludes that police have conducted a thorough, methodical and detailed investigation and explored all reasonable lines of inquiry with no new further leads needing to be pursued.
“The review also concludes that Corrie is most likely to be in the Milton landfill site and the review also supports the continued search of the eastern end of cell 22 at the Milton landfill site which began on Monday October 23.”
The search of the Milton landfill site was sparked when information came to light about the movement and weight of a bin lorry which had picked up refuse from the area where Corrie disappeared on the morning of September 24, 2016.
His mobile phone, which also has not been found, tracked the same route and at the same pace as the bin lorry.
Corrie’s mother Nicola Urquhart marked the one-year anniversary of his disappearance by retracing her son’s last known steps in Bury St Edmunds.
“Now the search has started, we’re back to that again when I daren’t look at my phone every time it rings or I get a text,” she commented.
“It’s very difficult to explain. It’s horrible but then I would rather be waiting for the phone call than not.”
The East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), which carried out the review of the investigation, is a collaborative team uniting specialist officers and staff from the region’s five police forces – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire – in tackling major crime, and serious and organised crime.
