Corrie McKeague Search To Resume Next Week

Police have confirmed that the search for missing RAF airman Corrie McKeague will resume next week.

Search teams will return to the Milton landfill site in Cambridgeshire on Monday to look for the serviceman.

An area, which has been labelled Cell 22, will be the focus and it is expected to last around four to six weeks.

'Cell 22' is 10,000sq metres in size, and the new area that police will search is over 1800 cubic metres.

A bin lorry found in the area where Corrie was last seen weighed more than first thought, police have said.

His mother spoke to Forces News about the police decision to re-start the landfill search for the missing airman.

“I’m really pleased that they’ve re-started the search. It’s been horrible having to wait, feeling like nothing was getting done… Since July it’s been difficult just waiting.

“If Corrie is in the landfill, the way that they’ve explained it, they will find him. They will get to the end of this search and be able to categorically state if Corrie is not in cell 22.

“That must mean they’re still getting the incorrect information and something else has happened, or that somebody else is involved, so they’ll have to go down that route.

A painstaking search found no trace of him and was originally called off in July but police have now decided that the Milton site is still the most likely location for the missing airman to be found.

The 23-year-old airman, who was based at RAF Honington, was last seen at 3.25am after going out with his friends on 24th September 2016.

The police investigation led to the belief the RAF gunner had been taken in a bin lorry to the Milton landfill site in Cambridgeshire.

RAF Honington reported their airman was missing at 11.30 am the following Monday, when he didn’t turn up for a parade.

On October 4, almost a year ago to the day, it was revealed that his mobile phone had been tracked moving 12 miles away to Barton Mills just hours after he was last seen.

It followed the route of the bin lorry which was later searched with no trace of Corrie. The landfill where it dropped its waste was not examined.

Suffolk Police continued their search, and it was later determined that Corrie could not have left the area on foot without being picked up by the town’s CCTV.

The landfill search started on the 6th March, after Corrie's family campaigned for it landfill to be examined. 

It was only after revelations that the refuse vehicle was carrying a heavier load than first thought that searches started in the landfill site in Cambridgeshire.

However, on 21st July the police announced that they will end the search for the missing airman after "no trace" of him was found - despite believing his remains are somewhere on site.

Last month, Suffolk Police set up a pod in an attempt to encourage people to come forward with new information.