One of the last people to speak with Corrie McKeague has told how the 23-year-old said nothing “out of ordinary” just a few hours before he suddenly vanished in Bury St Edmunds.
Will Hook, 20, is a bouncer at Flex nightclub in St Andrew’s Street South who had to ask Corrie to leave at around 1.20am on Saturday, September 24, after he had too much to drink.
“It was a pretty normal night,” he said, “I was on the door of Flex and was out the front when he came in and I went in soon afterwards as it got busier.
“He wasn’t too drunk but was worth keeping an eye on. He carried on drinking and got progressively worse. He was too intoxicated to still be there.”
Mr Hook emphasised Corrie was not causing any trouble, but had simply been too drunk to stay.
After Mr Hook tapped him on the shoulder, Corrie left without protest and they chatted outside briefly.
Mr Hook recalls the topics were “general stuff, where he had been that evening, nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever”.
He found out police had launched a missing person inquiry to trace the RAF Honington serviceman on the Monday.
“It’s a strange situation,” said Mr Hook. “People don’t go missing, especially in the town centre. Everybody hopes he will return safely.”
He said Corrie had been a regular in the club and always came in with friends previously, but was on his own that night. “He was a nice bloke and very polite,” he said. “He never caused any trouble before. He enjoyed his weekends out but never caused any trouble.”
After leaving Flex, Corrie walked to the Mama Mia takeaway and then slept in the doorway of Hughes Electrical Store in Brentgovel Street for a couple of hours.
A public search organised by Corrie’s family is planned this Saturday, with more details to be announced on the Find Corrie Facebook page.
There has been recent speculation on the page as to the whereabouts of Corrie’s Nokia Lumia mobile.
He sent a message to a friend at 3.08am. CCTV then spotted him walking down Brentgovel Street and turning into an alleyway opposite Short Brackland at 3.24am, after which he has not been seen.
His phone was traced travelling from Bury to Barton Mills at a vehicle’s speed. It pinged around 5am after which it was turned off, ran out of battery or damaged. It has not been used since.
A bin lorry seized by police because its movements matched the signal has revealed nothing currently.
A police spokeswoman said: all possibilities were being examined and “thousands of hours of police time” had been spent on “hundreds of enquiries”, which were still ongoing.
Anyone with information should contact police on 01473 782019.
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