Corrie McKeague's family win battle to have inquest for missing RAF airman who disappeared aged 23 and whose body has never been found
The family of missing RAF airman Corrie McKeague who vanished four years ago has won its battle to have an inquest held into his death.
Mr McKeague, 23, disappeared after touring pubs in Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk, in the early hours of September 24, 2016.
Despite a multi-million pound search operation which included two landfill sites the serviceman's body has never been found.
It is feared that he may have sheltered in a rubbish bin which was later collected by a bin lorry and emptied in a dump.
The serviceman's mother Nicola Urquhart has long campaigned for a formal inquest into the circumstances of his presumed death to be held.
Corrie McKeague , 23, disappeared after touring pubs in Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk, in the early hours of September 24, 2016
However she has said that she is not looking for closure and is still struggling to deal with the fact that he has died.
Just last month, she told a local newspaper: 'I'm never going to get answers that are going to make that any easier to deal with.
'He's not here.'
Today the Chief Coroner of England Wales confirmed that he had directed that an inquest be held.
A statement released by the Suffolk Coroner read: Following an application at the request of the family of Corrie McKeague, the Chief Coroner for England and Wales has directed the Senior Coroner for Suffolk to hold an inquest into Corrie's death which there is reason to believe occurred on 24 September 2016.
'A date for a short inquest opening hearing is yet to be finalised, but is expected to occur within the next two weeks.
'A pre-inquest review hearing will be held early in 2021. The inquest itself will follow later in 2021.'
Despite a multi-million pound search operation which included two landfill sites the serviceman's body has never been found. Pictured: The last sighting of Mr McKeague on CCTV
The serviceman's mother Nicola Urquhart has long campaigned for a formal inquest into the circumstances of his presumed death to be held
Corrie was last seen in a part of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, known as the 'Horseshoe' at 3.24am on Saturday, September 24, 2016 - around nine miles from his base at RAF Honington.
He has not been seen since and in October 2018 Suffolk Police said they believed his body was at a landfill site in Cambridgeshire.
Officers said they believed Corrie, who was 23 when he disappeared, climbed into a Biffa bin and fell asleep and was taken to the rubbish tip in Milton.
They reached the conclusion after a meeting with Biffa Head Office, which confirmed the weight of the bin, which was picked up from outside Greggs in the area where Corrie was last seen, weighed 116kg - much higher than bin collection weights from the same place normally.
Corrie McKeague was last seen near a bin loading area in Bury St Edmunds in 2016. Police searched a landfill site near Cambridge for his body in March the following year
Suffolk and Norfolk police spent 137 days looking for Corrie at the Milton tip and trawled through more than 7,000 tonnes of rubbish as part of a £2 million investigation into his disappearance.
Officers carried out two separate search operations in 2017 with the first being called off in July and the second resuming in October and lasting approximately six weeks.
Last year, on the third anniversary of his disappearance, mother Nicola said she accepted her son was dead - but said she hadn't given up hope of finding his remains.