Relatives of Corrie McKeague have retraced his last known steps in Bury St Edmunds to mark the year anniversary of his disappearance.
The RAF Honington serviceman, 23, went missing after a night out with friends on September 24, 2016, and despite a stringent investigation and far-reaching appeal, he has not been seen since.
Corrie’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, along with her brother Tony Wringe and sons Darroch and Makeyan, spent the painful milestone retracing his final known steps with the public and talking them through the established facts.
Mrs Urquhart led a group of about 30 people around the town centre on Sunday in a bid to jog someone’s memory.
The journey was filmed by Corrie’s older brother Makeyan and broadcast on Twitter.
Writing on the Find Corrie Facebook page earlier this month, Mrs Urquhart said: “On Sunday, September 24, it will be one year since Corrie disappeared.
“As the investigation continues, we would like to do something positive especially on this day, to assist the police in trying to find Corrie.
“So many of you kind people have sent us private messages offering suggestions of various things we could do on this day. Now is not the time to give up and sit quietly somewhere to remember Corrie. Information is what will find Corrie, we desperately need you for this.
“We welcome any opportunity to say hello and thank you to any of you that would like to come and meet us, but most importantly we want to do something constructive that helps find Corrie.
“Myself, Makeyan, Darroch and Tony will be on Langton Place, Bury St Edmunds (near So Bar, which is where Corrie started his night out) throughout the day/evening. Where we will be happy to walk you all the route that Corrie took that night ending at the horseshoe area, while explaining all the facts that we have to date.
“This is being done in the hope that we may jog someone’s memory that may have been out that night or has heard something since, or that after seeing the route and hearing the facts, may ask a question we have not thought of yet.”
Corrie was last seen on CCTV at 3.25am on September 24.
Suffolk police still believe his remains are somewhere on a sprawling landfill site at Milton in Cambridgeshire but called off the search after 20 weeks.
A bin lorry was caught on CCTV near Brentgovel Street in Bury St Edmunds around the time Corrie was last seen. It took a route which appeared to coincide with the movements of his phone.
The bin lorry linked to Corrie’s disappearance was initially thought to have collected a 24lb load, but police said it was later found to be more than 220lb.
A five-month search of the landfill site was called off in July after no evidence of his body was found.
“I know with every fibre of my being that Corrie wouldn’t climb into a bin,” Mrs Urquhart said. “But I wasn’t there that night and people have climbed in bins before, so I cannot say it didn’t happen.”
She added: “It’s the most logical, simplistic explanation as to what’s happened, that nobody else has been involved. So that’s why it should be exhausted and thoroughly investigated.”
Suffolk police has ramped up its investigation following the anniversary of Corrie’s disappearance.
This has led to four potential witnesses being tracked down through new CCTV images, and police also set up a dedicated information hub in Bury St Edmunds, opposite The Grapes public house, this weekend for people to speak to officers about what might have happened to Corrie.
A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: “The police pod was well attended in Bury St Edmunds this weekend and we will now look to assess the information we have been told to see if this establishes any new lines of inquiry for the investigation.
“We are grateful and pass on our thanks to everyone who approached us over the weekend with information.”
Earlier this month, Mrs Urquhart spoke to this newspaper about the heartbreak of seeing in her son’s 24th birthday without him.
Mr McKeague’s girlfriend, April Oliver, announced in June that the missing serviceman had become a father with the birth of their daughter.
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