Delia Smith joins search for missing airman Corrie McKeague

The father of a missing Scottish serviceman has spoken of his desperation as the search, backed by TV chef Delia Smith, enters its fourth week.

Missing RAF airman Corrie McKeague. Picture: PA

Fifer Corrie McKeague went missing in Bury St Edmunds after a night out with friends, and was last seen on CCTV footage in the early hours of Saturday 24 September.

Since the 23-year-old’s disappearance a large-scale search has taken place, but police are yet to come up with concrete leads, and are urgently requesting information on his whereabouts.

The RAF airman was last seen on CCTV footage eating a takeaway and having a nap in a doorway at 1.20 a.m., then heading back to base at 3.20 a.m., from where the trail has gone cold.

TV chef Delia Smith has joined the search for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague three weeks after he was last seen. Picture: SWNS

Almost one month after his son went missing, Corrie’s father was handing out pamphlets on scene, calling attention to his son’s disappearance.

Martin McKeague, who is an oil rig worker from Cupar, said: “I would do anything to get my son back, Corrie has now been missing for three weeks and all our focus is on him.”

Among others showing support for the widespread search, a prominent TV chef, Delia Smith posed with a police poster at Norwich City Football Club, after she was approached by a fan asking her to “keep Corrie in her prayers”.

Other volunteers continued their hunt through Bury St Edmunds’ surrounding countryside, as at least one person Corrie spoke to during his last hours said he mentioned walking the nine miles home to the RAF base in Honington, Suffolk.

TV chef Delia Smith has joined the search for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague three weeks after he was last seen. Picture: SWNS

In the ongoing search for the missing man, who originally came from Dunfermline, police have appealed to local people, businesses and landowners from surrounding villages to check any abandoned properties.

Both parents have shown gratitude towards all volunteers involved in the search, and thanked members of the public for their continued messages of hope.

Although all help in this investigation is beneficial, Martin gave promincence to finding the person with information which will help the search party find his son.

“Someone must have seen something or know something and I’m pleading for these people to come forward.

“They could have information that could be the key – people don’t just vanish.”

The missing airman’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, commented on Corrie’s habits during a night out, saying: “Nothing in his behaviour was even remotely unusual and the boys he was with would not have been able to stop him [from walking home lone].

“What was absolutely out of character is that he wouldn’t contact one of us, his girlfriend or the boys from the base. He would get in touch with somebody.”

The serviceman can be distinguished by the pink Ralph Lauren shirt, white trousers and suede Timberland boots he was seen wearing on the CCTV footage of him.

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