Hunt for missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague tops £300,000 but cops still have no idea why he vanished without trace after night out
DETECTIVES hunting for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague have so far spent more than £300,000 in their search to find him, it has been revealed today.
A huge missing person’s enquiry was launched after the 23-year-old gunner vanished following a night out in Bury St Edmunds on September 24.
The figure was released following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, making the investigation one of the most expensive ever carried out by Suffolk and Norfolk Constabularies.
Despite the enormous cost to the public purse, Corrie McKeague‘s family have also raised more than £50,000 to draft in private investigators to help with the search.
Mum Nicola, 48, said: “I’ve never criticised any of the work that the police have done, I’ve been delighted with the efforts they’ve made.
“With myself, it’s just looking for particular things that haven’t been done in the enquiry that I’ve been asking for.
“I can’t really give any kind of a comment on what they’ve spent.
“They’ve clearly spent a massive amount.
“But equally, when things aren’t done I will be vocal about it and ask for it to be done.
“That’s genuinely why things have gone quiet – there is nothing that I’m not happy with. The police are doing everything that we are asking them to do.”
According to the FOI, the £300,000 bill has been made up of staffing, overtime, travel and forensics.
The sum has been split between Suffolk and Norfolk Constabularies.
Nicola was critical of the police in December last year, claiming her faith in their ability to help find Corrie was “utterly destroyed”.
And last week, she admitted the chances of finding him alive are diminishing.
Temporary assistant chief constable Louisa Pepper hit back and said that she was confident in her team’s officers and said the force was using an “inordinate” amount of resources in the hunt for the missing 23-year-old, who it is known is due to become a dad.
A Suffolk Police spokeswoman said: “As long as we still have lines of enquiry to follow, as we do now, this will remain an active and continuing investigation.
“Police still have work to carry out around a number of aspects of the investigation and we continue to treat finding Corrie as a priority for the constabulary.”
Last weekend mum Nicola and 100 volunteers launched a huge new search for her son. She was joined by her two sons and husband as they carried out a new search of a five-mile square area mapped out by investigators last Sunday.
Suffolk Police, who Mrs Urquhart has heavily criticised since her son went missing, did not take part.
Anyone with information over Corrie’s disappearance should call Suffolk police’s incident room on 01473 782019.
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