The mother of missing airman Corrie Mckeague today retraced his last known steps on the first anniversary of his disappearance.
RAF gunner Corrie, 23, was last seen walking through the streets of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in the early hours of Sunday September 24 last year.
It was feared he had fallen asleep in a wheelie bin and police later spent £1.2million on a fruitless search of a rubbish dump.
In the year since he vanished his girlfriend April Oliver, 21, has given birth to the baby he was not aware she was carrying, their daughter Ellie-Louise.
His mother Nicola Urquhart, 47, and brother Makeyan, 25, were joined by around 50 people as they walked through the town.
They hoped the high profile walk, which started at Sobar where Corrie began his fateful evening, would jog someone’s memory and bring fresh evidence forward.
His mother Nicola Urquhart, 47, pictured, was joined by around 50 people as she walked through Bury St Edmunds retracing her son Corrie’s steps
RAF gunner Corrie, 23, pictured, was last seen in the early hours of Sunday September 24 last year
She said: ‘I’m not here to talk through theories today, I want to talk to you about what Corrie did and to jog your memory.
‘I’m a mum, I’m his mum, and believe me, if it were up to me I would go into every building and search every room myself.
‘I want that more than you can imagine – you can’t imagine how badly I want to go in and find him.
‘I don’t believe that the police have exhausted all possibilities and there are still so many, many lines that need to be completed.’
She added: ‘I don’t believe he’s alive now, I know that it’s not likely.’
When asked about baby Ellie-Louise, she said: ‘I have now got a whole future to look forward to with Corrie, it’s emotional, but it’s good emotional.
Nicola, pictured, said today: ‘I’m not here to talk through theories today, I want to talk to you about what Corrie did and to jog your memory’
Nicola, pictured, continued: ‘I want that more than you can imagine – you can’t imagine how badly I want to go in and find him’
His mother Nicola, of Dunfermline in Fife, is offering a £50,000 reward to anybody with fresh information that can help the family find Corrie.
‘Right now, I feel pleased that so many people have turned up to show their support and ask questions.’
Makeyan added: ‘You have to try and stay optimistic – it can be a very deep, downward spiral otherwise.
‘It’s hard to go and see your niece without her Dad there. She’s a stunning beautiful baby, I just wish things had turned out differently.
‘There are still a lot of active lines of enquiry being pursued by the police – there are only two links that suggest he could be in the bin: the phone, and the weight of the bin.
‘Obviously I’d prefer for him not to be in the landfill.’
Corrie is originally from Fife in Scotland and moved down to Suffolk to live at RAF Honington where he worked as a gunner and team medic in the air force.
His mother Nicola, of Dunfermline in Fife, is offering a £50,000 reward to anybody with fresh information that can help the family find Corrie
As she retraced Corrie’s steps, Nicola, pictured, said: ‘I don’t believe that the police have exhausted all possibilities and there are still so many, many lines that need to be completed’
On the night he vanished he was thrown out of Flex nightclub at about 1am and became separated from his friends.
CCTV captured his movements as he stopped to buy takeaway food and ate it in the street before falling asleep, and then woke to continue his journey.
The final CCTV sighting came at 3.25am as he headed towards a refuse area behind a Greggs bakery.
Police later matched the movements of his Nokia Lumia mobile phone to the path of a bin lorry, which was found to be carrying the weight of a human body.
Officers then spent four months raking through more than 4,800 tonnes of rubbish at a landfill site in Milton, Cambridge, without finding a trace.
His mother Nicola, of Dunfermline in Fife, is offering a £50,000 reward to anybody with fresh information that can help the family find Corrie.
Officers then spent four months raking through more than 4,800 tonnes of rubbish at a landfill site in Milton, Cambridge, without finding a trace
CCTV captured Corrie’s movements as he stopped to buy takeaway food and ate it in the street before falling asleep, and then woke to continue his journey
On Friday night police set up a cabin in the heart of Bury St Edmonds in the hope that fresh information may come forward from revellers.
Corrie’s father Martin McKeague, 48, drove down in his caravan to join officers on the streets.
Martin, his wife Trisha, and Detective Sergeant Darren Bruce walked around the bars that Corries visited and spoke with security doormen at each of the venues.
Over the weekend police revealed they have identified four men who had a ‘brief interaction ending on friendly terms’ with Corrie shortly before he vanished.
One the men came forward following a police appeal and gave officers the names of his three friends who were also pictured.
Suffolk Police insist the four men are not suspects but could have valuable information.