RAF gunner Corrie McKeague died after getting into a bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry, an inquest jury concluded today.
The 23-year-old disappeared in the early hours of September 24, 2016 after a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Police believed the airman, who was stationed at RAF Honington, climbed into a bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry.
Despite a lengthy investigation, which included two separate searches of a landfill site, no trace of the airman has ever been found.
Detectives in Suffolk said there was no evidence of foul play or third-party involvement in Corrie’s disappearance.
After spending the evening with friends, he was last seen on CCTV at 3.25am entering a service area behind a Greggs shop.
Data from a Biffa bin lorry which carried out a collection minutes later showed the bin weighed 18st 3lbs.
The inquest was told Corrie had slept in a bin before and had also slept under bin bags on a previous night out.
A former RAF colleague said the airman, from Dunfermline, was a “nightmare on the drink”.
The inquest jury in Ipswich recorded a narrative conclusion that Corrie died at approximately 4.20am.
They recorded his death as being a result of “compression asphyxia in association with multiple injuries”.
In their conclusion, they said Corrie’s death was contributed to by “impaired judgment due to alcohol consumption”.
They said there were “ineffective bin locks” and a search of the bin before it was tipped had been “ineffective”.
Corrie’s dad Martin McKeague said after the ruling that he hopes his son can “finally be left to rest in peace”.
He criticised “conspiracy theorists” and added: “We knew the facts and evidence could unfortunately only mean one horrible conclusion”.
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Corrie’s mum, Nicola Urquhart, said she now “100%” believes her son was inside the bin.
She said: “We’ve always said the most obvious thing is that Corrie ended up in a bin and went to the landfill.
“We had other questions, though, and until they could be answered we couldn’t get to that conclusion either.
“However we’ve heard information in the inquest that we now completely believe in the verdict that the jury have given today, 100%.
“As a family, we’ve now all walked out with a huge weight lifted off our shoulders.”
She said Corrie’s legacy is his five-year-old daughter Ellie, who is the “spit of her dad”.
