THE mother of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague has warned she may take legal action to stop police filling in a landfill site where she believes his body is buried.
Nicola Urquhart spoke out after Suffolk Police announced on Friday that they were calling off the search of a landfill site where they believe his remains are.
His devastated mother yesterday accused the police of having “given up” on finding her son.
Ms Urquhart said Suffolk Police “kept back” information from the family about calling off the search at the landfill.
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.
“Yesterday’s decision to stop searching means they have now given up on finding Corrie.
“Suffolk Police have handed back Milton 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 by watching it on Facebook.”
Ms Urquhart said she is considering taking out an injunction to stop officers filling in the 48-hectare site “until there is more honesty and plain speaking from the police”.
She said: “I can live with Corrie never being found –any parent would just find a way of dealing with that, but that’s on the back of knowing that everything’s been done to try and find them.
“I do not want to be anybody that criticises the police ever, but what they’ve done is wrong.”
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.
DS Elliott said: “We have searched the whole area where we believed Corrie could be.
“We had compelling information that directed us to this area, however we haven’t found Corrie and this is bitterly disappointing.
“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.
“Without anything further to tell us where he might be, on such a vast site, the search cannot continue”.
Asked if she thought Mr McKeague was still in the landfill site, she replied: “I do.”
Mr McKeague’s girlfriend April Oliver announced last month the missing serviceman had become a father with the birth of their daughter.
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe