Corrie McKeague: What's Happened In The Search For The RAF Gunner

Twenty-three-year-old Corrie McKeague, a gunner in the Royal Air Force, was last seen on 24 September 2016 after going for a night out in Bury St Edmunds.

Following his disappearance more than four years ago, Suffolk Police say there has been no corroborated sighting of Corrie and no use of his bank card or passport since.

An inquest into his death has opened.

What has happened since September 2016?

At 22:00 on Friday 23 September 2016, Corrie left RAF Honington to go out in Bury St Edmunds.

He was wearing white jeans, a pink Ralph Lauren shirt, and Timberland boots.

In the early hours of Saturday 24 September, Corrie was asked to leave Flex Nightclub and walked to Pizza Mama Mia.

At 01:20, he left Pizza Mama Mia and was spotted on Brentgovel Street eating the food he purchased.

At 03:08, Corrie replied to a message from a friend on his phone after waking up.

At 03:24 he walked into a refuse collection area behind shops - this is the last time Corrie was seen.

At 11:30 on Monday 26 September 2016, RAF Honington reported the airman missing when he failed to turn up for a parade.

In November that year, Suffolk Police set up a pod in an attempt to encourage people to come forward with new information.

Detectives also identified the four individuals in CCTV images that were released.

A month later, on 6 December, Corrie’s grandparents offered a five-figure reward for information leading to his discovery.

On 10 January 2017, Suffolk Police searched buildings in Bury St Edmunds in the hunt for Corrie.

On 6 March, following revelations a refuse vehicle was carrying a heavier load than first thought, as well as campaigning from Corrie’s family, Suffolk Police begin to search at an area known as 'cell 22' - an area of about four hectares in size at Milton landfill site in Cambridgeshire, where it was believed the RAF gunner had been taken in a bin lorry.

On 21 July, police announced they would end the search for the missing airman after "no trace" of him was found.

Suffolk Police said they considered using the RAF for the landfill searches, "however they were unable to offer any specialist capability beyond our own resourcing".

In August 2017, Corrie's mother Nicola Urquhart offered a £50,000 reward for information to help find her missing son.

In September 2017, 12 months after he first disappeared, the search for missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague resumed.

On October 4, more than a year after Corrie’s disappearance, it was revealed his mobile phone had been tracked moving 12 miles away to Barton Mills just hours after he was last seen.

A bin lorry was caught on CCTV near Brentgovel Street in Bury St Edmunds around the time Corrie was last seen.

The lorry took a route that appeared to coincide with the last tracked movements of his phone.

In the 18 months after Corrie went missing, Suffolk Police said more than 2,000 hours of CCTV was looked at and with more than 1,500 people spoken to.

However, in March 2018, police released a statement which said: "Detectives investigating the disappearance of Corrie McKeague have reached the point where there are no realistic lines of enquiry left to pursue.

"There is no evidence of any criminal activity or third party involvement.

"It has always been a missing person investigation."

The case was then handed over to cold case detectives.

More than two years later, on 27 August 2020, bones were found inside bin bags in a Suffolk river.

A post-mortem examination, however, "was not able to establish any form of identification or cause of death", according to police.

It is still unconfirmed whether the human remains found in bin bags in the River Stour in Sudbury are Corrie’s.

This week, it has been announced that an inquest into the RAF gunner's death will take place, following an application at the request of his family.

A short inquest opening hearing took place on 13 November 2020 at The Coroner's Court in Suffolk.

A pre-inquest review hearing will be held early in 2021.

The inquest itself will follow later in 2021.