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Missing aviator Corrie McKeague is believed to have died after drunkenly climbing into an industrial garbage can while out at night, which was later emptied into a truck, according to an investigation.
RAF gunner Corrie McKeague, 23, of Dunfermline, Fife, disappeared in the early hours of September 24, 2016, after a night out in Bury St Edmunds, just across the border from Cambridgeshire in Suffolk.
He was last seen entering an area of the city’s cargo bay and is feared he may have fallen asleep inside the container.
By tracking his phone signal, police discovered that he had traveled in a vehicle shortly after 4 a.m. to Barton Mills, about 14 miles away.
The movement of his phone matched that of a garbage truck that had collected garbage from the loading dock.
It resulted in a large search for a landfill in Milton, Cambridgeshire covering nearly 10,000 square feet of trash by Suffolk police, however, it ended without success.
No trace of him has been found, but Suffolk Chief Coroner Nigel Parsley said McKeague “died in Suffolk jurisdiction in September 2016.”
It came after an investigation into his death was opened in Ipswich on Friday and later suspended.
Marina Ericson, temporary chief superintendent for the Suffolk Police, said at the hearing that Mr. McKeague is believed to have climbed into a container that was emptied into a garbage truck where he later died.
He said McKeague drove to Bury St Edmunds on the night of Friday, September 23, 2016, and met up with RAF colleagues to go drinking and socializing.
(Image: PA)
“Witnesses claim that Corrie drank so much alcohol during the night that she got very drunk and was asked to leave the Flex nightclub,” he said.
“Witnesses also described him as happy and friendly throughout the night.”
McKeague was last seen alive at 3.25am, on CCTV footage, entering a horseshoe-shaped area on Brentgovel Street, behind a Superdrug and a Greggs store, where there are several industrial trash containers.
Ericson said a Biffa garbage truck emptied the Greggs container at 4.19 am and the container was recorded to weigh 116 kg (18 3 pounds).
This was about 70 to 80 kg (12 ° 8 pounds) more than his average weight, he said.
“Corrie’s mobile phone, having connected to the Internet, provided a signal from this point that mapped the garbage truck’s movements to the Barton Mills roundabout.
“At that point, the mobile service provider lost the signal.”
Mr. McKeague was reported missing at 3.42pm on Monday, September 26, by colleagues from RAF Honington.
Ms. Ericson continued: “Despite an extensive police-led investigation and search, there has been no evidence of life since Corrie’s last sighting at 3.25am on Saturday, September 24, 2016.
“Corrie, having climbed into the Greggs bin located in the horseshoe area on Brentgovel Street, is believed to have been in the bin when it was emptied into the Biffa garbage truck and this is where she subsequently died.
The coroner said, “Based on the evidence I have heard, I will open an investigation into Corrie’s tragic death.”
A pre-investigation review hearing will be held on February 5.
At this hearing, the witnesses and the length and date of the full investigative hearing will be considered.
Mr. McKeague’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, listened to the proceedings remotely, while his father, Martin McKeague, and his wife, Trisha, attended the hearing in person.
Ms. Urquhart previously said that she had asked for an investigation for her son and was “extremely hopeful that this will give us answers.”
Martin McKeague said after Friday’s hearing: “This will bring the truth out to the public.
“There is no mystery. We are not finding any new news here. “
She said her son went to the garbage and added: “The facts and evidence that they have presented to us tell us that is what happened to him.”
A £ 2 million investigation into the disappearance was shelved in 2018 and handed over to the open cases team after police admitted they “had no realistic lines of investigation to follow”.
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