Missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague’s mum reveals firm’s blunder over weight of bin could mean his body IS at landfill site… as his heartbroken dad joins police search
THE mum of missing RAF man Corrie McKeague says she is preparing for the worst after police revealed a blunder could mean his body was dumped in a BIN.
Corrie’s dad was seen blinking back tears as he visited a Cambridgeshire landfill site police are now scouring following the chilling new information.
Police today admitted an error meant a lorry, which picked up bins near where the gunner was last seen in September, was 14st (90kg) heavier than previously thought.
Corrie’s mum, Nicola Urquhart, wrote on Facebook: “This can really devastatingly mean only one thing”.
She added: "I can only pray that Corrie is found quickly and that we are able to get answers as to how this could have happened.
"Each second waiting is torture."
She later posted a second message apologising for "not breaking this news in a gentler way".
She added to the Find Corrie group's 11,000 followers: "I'm so sorry I've had to share this news with not only my sons but with you all too."
Corrie's dad, Martin McKeague, and his wife Trisha were seen comforting each other at a landfill site in Milton as the search continued.
Detectives confirmed a wheelie bin collected shortly after Corrie's last sighting in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, weighed more than 100kg (15st 10lb).
Officers had seized and searched the rubbish truck after the 23-year-old from Dunfermline went missing after a night out.
But no traces of the RAF gunner were found and the load of the wheelie bin was deemed too light to include a body after it was incorrectly measured at 11kg (1st 10lb).
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said: "Through the persistence of officers and their detailed work we recently identified that the data provided was incorrect.
"We now know the weight of the waste collection from the ‘horseshoe’ on the night Corrie went missing was over 100kg, when the original information we were given indicated that this was 11kg, and this makes our search of the landfill the next logical step to try to find Corrie."
Police said the company which provides the data usually charge per collection, not per weight of load collected.
"It appears that it was genuinely believed by the company that the data provided was correct," Dt Spt Elliott added.
"There was no intention to mislead the investigation, however our discovery, through persisting with this through our enquiries and evidence gathering, now puts a new emphasis on the search."
Suffolk Police said searching the landfill site was the "next logical step" after the vehicle's waste load was found to be far heavier than first thought.
Police today confirmed a man arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice over the disappearance of the RAF gunner will face no further action.
The 26-year-old, believed to be Haydn Stephens, was quizzed by detectives over information provided to the investigation after being arrested last week.
Officers have confirmed he is not the driver of a bin lorry which collected waste from the area where Corrie was last seen.
Dad-to-be Corrie was out with friends on September 24, but became separated while leaving Flex nightclub in Bury St Edmunds.
It is not known whether he tried to walk the ten miles back to his base at RAF Honington.
Five months after Corrie vanished - cops confirmed the arrest last week and released previously unseen CCTV footage of two potential new witnesses.
Writing on Facebook immediately after the arrest was announced, his mum Nicola said: "Update. Police have arrested a 26-year-old male on suspicion of attempting to pervert the cause of justice as part of the continuing Corrie McKeague missing person investigation.
"The man was arrested early today Wednesday 1st March. He is in custody and will be interviewed. He is not the bin lorry driver.
"Please view the new images of the 2 people still to be identified."
Corrie's phone was receiving social media data almost 90 minutes after he was last seen – first in Bury St Edmunds and then again in the Barton Mills area, 13 miles away.
The times and locations are consistent with the route taken by a private, single-manned Biffa dustcart which collected cardboard waste from the bin area Corrie was seen entering.
It arrived at 4am and left 20 minutes later after the driver filled out paperwork.
There have been various theories about what may have happened to the RAF serviceman.
Possible theories include that Corrie may have attempted to walk home and managed to dodge the cameras.
Another option is that he willingly got in a car with someone else close to the area, or that he was taken against his will.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Police confirmed last month that they would be searching a landfill site in Milton in connection with Corrie's disappearance.
Preparatory work continues to shift 8,000 tonnes of bulk waste before cops can even begin scouring the site - with the official search likely to start in the next seven days.
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said: “We are continuing to make progress on the investigation and we will be starting the landfill site search as soon as the preparatory work is complete.
"We have been carrying out a lot of enquiries behind the scenes and our work continues to find the truth about what happened to Corrie.”
Corrie is a senior Aircraftman and is the son of Nicola, from Dunfermline, and Martin McKeague from Cupar, and has two brothers; Darroch and Makeyan McKeague.
The serviceman met his girlfriend April Oliver, 21, five months before his disappearance.
In a heartbreaking twist to the tale, she discovered she was pregnant two weeks after he went missing without a trace.
Yesterday it was revealed Corrie's family have been hit with another tragic event as his mother’s father-in-law has died.
Corrie’s mother Nicola Urquhart – who is divorced from the RAF serviceman’s dad – posted on Facebook her husband’s father “unexpectedly passed away”.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368