CORRIE McKeague’s dad has said farewell to the missing 23-year-old RAF gunner at a special memorial service.

Grieving Martin McKeague, 49, organised the emotional church tribute after accepting his beloved son, last seen over two years ago, is dead.

The dad of three brushed away tears as he hailed Corrie - who vanished on a night out in Bury St Edmund, Suffolk - as “carefree and energetic”.

He was joined by wife Trisha, 56, and around 200 family, friends and RAF officials at St Columba’s RC Church in Cupar, Fife.

Martin said:“We did everything we possibly could to find you, son, and today we’re going to honour that commitment in the only way we can.

“We’re going to celebrate the man you became from the moment I first held you to the moment I no longer could.”

But the hearbroken dad, from Cupar, told the church he did not want to “dwell on his son’s passing” - pointing out that Corrie lived a life "without remorse or regret".

He added: “We are not here today to relive the horrific journey of the last two years.

“Corrie would not have wanted us to do that.

“We are honouring a commitment that we made to all of you.

“Today we brought Corrie home together.”

It comes as Corrie’s grandparents, Mary and Oliver McKeague, both 71, recalled their final memory of the airman.

The pair last spoke to their grandson on his birthday – when he revealed he would visit them at Halloween.

They added: “Eight days later he was gone. We miss him so much.

“But we know where he is now and we also know that we won’t get him back.”

And Canon Patrick McInally told mourners: “It was felt this service would be an opportunity for the family to bring closure to the tragic events of Corrie’s death, laying him to rest.”

We told last month how Martin accepted the RAF gunner, 23, from Dunfermline, is buried under a landfill in Suffolk.

It’s thought he was taken there after climbing into a bin after a night out in near his RAF base in September 2016.

But last week Corrie’s mum Nicola Urquhart, 48, said she believes new CCTV film shows he was never in the tip.