Missing Corrie Mckeague: Girlfriend April Oliver has baby girl

  • Published
Nicola Urquhart, April Oliver and Nicola's mum with the babyImage source, BBC/Nicola Urquhart
Image caption,

Corrie Mckeague's girlfriend April Oliver (centre) announced the birth of their baby daughter on Father's Day

The girlfriend of missing airman Corrie Mckeague has announced the birth of their baby in an online post.

April Oliver, from Norfolk, uploaded an image on her Facebook page on Father's Day of her cradling the girl.

Mr Mckeague's mother Nicola Urquhart later also posted a photo on the Find Corrie Facebook page, saying the baby, born a week ago, was "perfect".

The RAF gunner, 23, went missing on a night out in Bury St Edmunds, with a search of a landfill site ongoing.

Miss Oliver announced her pregnancy in January, four months after Mr Mckeague vanished.

Image source, April Oliver/Facebook
Image caption,

April Oliver announced she was pregnant with the missing airman's baby in January

Image source, Nicola Urquhart
Image caption,

Nicola Urquhart said the baby girl was "absolutely perfect"

The baby girl was born on 11 June.

For more on this and other Suffolk stories, visit our BBC Local Live page

Mrs Urquhart said: "She is beautiful and very healthy.

"We are so proud of April and how well she has coped with the stresses put on her during her pregnancy and fully support April in her wish to as much privacy as possible.

"As such no interviews or photos will be released. We pray that others will respect this and not try to keep baby or April in the media."

Image caption,

Mr Mckeague's mother Nicola Urquhart went with Miss Oliver for her first scan

Miss Oliver said she had discovered she was pregnant with Mr Mckeague's baby two weeks after his disappearance and said in January: "I've had to make a massive decision by myself.

"I was hoping and praying that he'd come back so we could make the decision together."

The pair met on a dating site and had been in a relationship for five months before Mr Mckeague - originally from Dunfermline in Fife - went missing from his base at RAF Honington, in Suffolk.

The personal trainer told the BBC when she announced her pregnancy that her partner is "just the sweetest and most outgoing person I've ever known".

In May, Miss Oliver posted a black and white image of her holding her bump and a pair of boots, like the ones Mr Mckeague was wearing when he went missing, alongside a message on Facebook.

Image source, April Oliver
Image caption,

Miss Oliver and Mr Mckeague dated for five months before he went missing on a night out with friends

"Your daddy would be proud of you my little one and would love you as much as I do," she wrote.

Mr Mckeague had been out with friends in September when he went missing and was last seen entering a bin loading bay known as the "horseshoe" at about 03:25 BST.

A waste disposal lorry collected a bin from that area less than an hour after Mr Mckeague was spotted on CCTV.

Specialist officers began sifting through waste in March at the landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, where they believe his body may be.

The search so far has cost more than £1m.

Police initially estimated the search of the vast landfill site could take 10 weeks.

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.