Serviceman Corrie McKeague, who has been missing since September last year, is to become a father.
The announcement was made today by his girlfriend April Oliver, aged 21, from west Norfolk.
Miss Oliver said she only found out about the pregnancy in October, weeks after Corrie’s disappearance.
Corrie, originally from Fife in Scotland but stationed at RAF Honington, went missing in the early hours of September 24 after a night out with friends.
Searches across Suffolk to find him have taken place in the months since, including examining hours of CCTV footage for people who might have seen Corrie before he vanished.
Speaking to BBC Look East today Miss Oliver, a personal trainer, said she last saw Corrie shortly before his disappearance and was on holiday in America when he went missing. She returned to the UK as soon as she heard what had happened.
The pair had been dating for about five months after meeting on a dating site and Miss Oliver had met Corrie’s family.
She said: “I’ve had to make a make a massive decision by myself. I was hoping and praying that he’d come back so we could make it together.
“I have the support of my family and friends around me which is great but it’s still not the most pleasant thing to go through on your own especially when the person you love is missing.
“I’ve given it a great deal of thought. Obviously there is the element of ‘what if he didn’t come back?’ what would I do and that was something I had to take a sensible approach to.
“When I found out, although it was a horrible time and something I wished I could experience with him, it was also something I was excited about.
“Given the stress that I’ve been under, the pregnancy has gone really well. I’m just doing anything I can not to add to the pressure I’m already under.”
Asked about the moment she discovered he was missing, she said: “I had only been there a few days when I got the call from the RAF boys asking if I’d seen him or heard from him, that’s when I knew that he was missing. I very quickly got a plane home.
“At that point I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to him. It was completely out of character.
“I found out I was pregnant a couple of weeks after I came back.”
Miss Oliver is expecting the baby to be born late this spring or early in the summer.
She said she had decided to speak about her pregnancy so that she could focus on looking after herself and her baby without any intrusion.
“Most people only tell their close friends but I’m faced with a decision where I need to tell near enough the whole UK.
“It’s hard and it’s going to add another level of stress I don’t really need but it’s something that has to be done.”
Corrie’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, said she had to balance the joy of becoming a grandmother for the first time with the continued uncertainty about her son’s whereabouts.
Mrs Urquhart added: “It’s something that somebody would normally want to keep quiet to make sure everything’s ok but it’s getting to the stage now where there are far too many people starting to notice and ask questions.
“That’s why we felt now is the time that we do have to let people know so that we can draw a line under it so April can enjoy her pregnancy safely without any additional stress.
“I was at the scan with April and I don’t think anybody could see that and not be affected by it.
“But it’s incredibly difficult to bounce my head from the excitement of a new baby to what we’re actually trying to focus on which is finding Corrie.”
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