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Hi Everyone,
First, Trisha and I would like to thank everyone who supported us, stood by us, and believed in us as we relayed the truth to you over the last 5 years.
The facts and evidence have never changed, and were made absolutely clear to both sides of this family throughout the investigation. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you.
The result of the Coroner’s Inquest has now made that truth public and inarguable, and shown a light on those who tried to manipulate public opinion for their own benefit.
That’s why it took the jury just 3 hours and 42 minutes to come to the conclusion that they did; because the truth was clear and the police did their job thoroughly.
Next, we need to clear up a couple of things to help us now move on.
The McKeague family - meaning myself, my wife Trisha, my two brothers, and my mother and father - put its trust in my ex-wife, Ms Urquhart, at the outset of this tragedy. We did so because she was a police officer herself, and because she told us that she would hear more, find out more, and know more because of her position. She also suggested that she would be the only point of contact with the police. We agreed to this at the time. Her reasoning made sense to us. But we would soon regret putting our trust in her.
On the Friday after my son had been reported missing, the McKeague family traveled down to Bury St Edmunds together with Ms Urquhart and my two sons, Darroch and Makeyan, as a family unit. I felt we were united in searching for Corrie. I was wrong.
During that very early stage of the investigation we spent that weekend - Saturday and Sunday - in Bury St Edmunds we seen a variety of searches of the area and spoke to Suffolk police.
On late Sunday afternoon, Ms Urquhart convinced my wife Trisha, myself and my brother-in-law to return to Scotland because nothing was happening on Monday other than my son Darroch giving a statement to the Suffolk police. Ms Urquhart even asked my brother-in-law if he could drive her husband David back up to Scotland with us as well, saying she would stay down in Bury St Edmunds with Makeyan and Darroch.
And that was when everything changed.
We would later find out what was actually happening in the background was that Ms Urquhart had arranged for a TV press conference to be held the following morning (Monday) with my two sons and the Suffolk police to announce that my son had gone missing. She had deliberately sent me and my wife and brother-in-law back to Scotland so that we couldn’t take part.
Back up in Scotland on Monday morning I received a call just five minutes prior to the press conference going live. It was my son Darroch who called me to say the press conference was about to happen. I felt utterly shocked and betrayed.
Also, unbeknownst to me at the time, immediately after that first press conference about my son going missing, Ms Urquhart phoned the Suffolk police and told them that the family unit was broken.
Trisha and I headed back down to Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday, confused and bewildered by what had happened. We would later find out that on that same day Ms Urquhart made a second phone call to the Suffolk police to say that she did not want me involved at all in the investigation. She told them she did not want me to talk to the press, or the Suffolk police, or even join in with the search for my son.
When I arrived on Wednesday, I met with my two sons who were confrontational and asked me why I had come back down and what I was planning to do. I told them that I actually didn’t know what I was planning to do because I really had no idea what to do at the time. My sons then fell out with me and blamed me for breaking the family unit just because I had returned to search for my son. They didn’t want me down there.
Why?
For the simple reason that we told them we wouldn’t lie for them.
Makeyan actually asked me, “What are you exactly down here to do?” To which my wife Trisha responded, “I’ll tell you exactly what he’s down here to do. He’s here to search for his missing son.”
To me, my sons’ reaction to me being there, and their suggestion that I’d somehow done something wrong was complete madness. The McKeague family had suddenly and inexplicably been purposefully isolated from everything that was going on.
Since that day I can tell you that neither of my sons have spoken a word to me, Trisha or their grandparents - with one exception. Their grandmother told them she had money for their birthdays back in 2017. They showed up, collected, and left.
FInally, there is a local pub in Cupar known as the Golf Tav. The owner was approached by Ms Urquhart back in 2016 to raise money in the McKeague family name to buy a computer as part of the search for Corrie. The Golf Tav’s owner then put up on Facebook that they were donating the money raised during their annual Halloween fundraiser for a computer to the McKeague family.
When I was told about this I had to embarrass myself and decline that offer. No one from the McKeague family had made this request and we had no need for a computer to help with the investigation. From that point onwards I was told by several people in Cupar that I was being slated by the owner of the Golf Tav for this. She, the owner, even went so far as to slate me on the cesspool of lies and conspiracy theories known as the Find Corrie Facebook page and the Discussion and Theories pages. I had actually told the owner that any money that had been raised would be better going to SULSAR - the volunteer Search and Rescue organisation in Suffolk who had taken an active role in the search for my son.
This was the first example of money being raised in the McKeague name without anyone from the McKeague family asking for, or wanting it to happen. Since then there have been a number of instances of this happening, including a crowdfunding on the Just Giving site that raised over £50,000 - the money from which has never been accounted for, and my son’s face appearing on an online gambling site that was trading donations for new subscribers.
Having to deal with the loss of your son is bad enough. Having to watch you family’s name and your son being used to raise money for other people’s personal gain, while being ostracized in your own home town, is horrific.
And the online attacks and hate campaign driven against the McKeague family on the FInd Corrie page by Ms Urquhart, Tony Wringe and Kerry Wringe continued. We complained about it to the Suffolk Police and Scottish Police and they did nothing to protect the Mckeague family against this. We even tried to speak to the industry regulators about it. Nothing was done.
FInally, there has been some “confusion” expressed about the DNA in the bin that I’ve been asked about. During the Inquest, the pathologist said in court that the DNA would never have been any good because of the cross–contamination in the bin and bin lorry. We were told this in February 2018 at the 2nd, 3-hour meeting with the police while going through the evidence. Once again, both sides of the family were told. There was no confusion, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.
This has been a long and difficult road for the McKeague family.
We now finally at a stage where Corrie can rest in peace and we can try and move on with just his memory.
We couldn’t have done it without your support.
Thank you.
Martin & Trisha
Quote - Martin McKeague Facebook 27 March 2022
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