This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-43539468
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Corrie Mckeague: Missing airman search to be stood down | Corrie Mckeague: Missing airman search to be stood down |
(about 2 hours later) | |
There are "no realistic lines of inquiry left" in the investigation into the disappearance of RAF airman Corrie Mckeague, police have said. | |
Mr Mckeague was 23 when he was last seen on 24 September 2016 walking into a bin loading bay in Bury St Edmunds. | |
Suffolk Police said the inquiry, which has cost £2.1m, had been handed to a cold case team but remained open. | |
Det Supt Katie Elliott said: "It is extremely disappointing that we have not been able to find Corrie." | |
"We have now reached a point where we are unable to make any further progress, and have gone as far as we realistically can with the information we have," she added. | |
A police spokesperson said the case had always been a missing persons investigation and there is no evidence of "criminal activity or third party involvement". | |
Suffolk Police said it had been "re-examining the evidence relating to all realistic theories to identify whether there is anything else that could be done to establish what could have happened to Corrie". | |
But the force said an assessment of the evidence "still points to Corrie being transported from the 'horseshoe' area in a bin lorry and ultimately taken to the Milton landfill site". | |
Mr Mckeague was last seen on CCTV pictures at about 03:25 BST after a night out and his phone was tracked as taking the same route as a bin lorry. | |
As part of the inquiry, police trawled a landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, for the missing airman's remains. | |
However, after the search the force said they were "content" he was not in the landfill areas. | However, after the search the force said they were "content" he was not in the landfill areas. |
Assistant Chief Constable Simon Megicks said he had "absolute confidence" in the way the investigation was conducted. | |
"The major investigation team inquiry has been reviewed at various points by senior officers within the constabulary and external experts," he said. | |
Det Supt Elliott added: "If any new, credible and proportionate inquiries relating to Corrie's disappearance emerge we will pursue them." | |
The force said Mr Mckeague's family have been informed of the decision. | |
Mr Mckeague's mother Nicola Urquhart previously said the search of the waste site had given her "immeasurable peace of mind". | |
The investigation into the disappearance has cost £2.1m and Suffolk's police and crime commissioner said the government had agreed to contribute with a special grant, expected to be about £800,000. |