Corrie McKeague landfill search ends with no trace of missing RAF gunner after police sift through 2,800 tonnes of rubbish
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The landfill search for missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague has ended with police failing to find any trace of him.
Officers carried out a 20-week search of the site at Milton, near Cambridge, earlier this year before launching a second search lasting seven weeks.
That search finished on Monday, with police sifting through more than 2,800 tonnes of waste.
Suffolk Police said the investigation into Mr McKeague's disappearance would remain open after the landfill search failed to locate him.
Mr McKeague was 23 when he was last seen walking through Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in September 2016 after a night out with friends.
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It is thought he may have climbed into a waste bin and was taken away by a bin lorry, prompting the landfill search.
A Suffolk Police spokesman said: "Police are content Corrie is not in the landfill areas which have now been searched.
"The inquiry team has identified all the other possible locations where waste has been deposited from the area in Bury St Edmunds known as the 'horseshoe' and there are no further realistic search opportunities at this time.
"As previously stated, the nature of waste disposal and its movement is not an exact science."
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A review of the investigation to date agreed that it was most likely that Mr McKeague ended up in the waste disposal process.
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said: "We are still committed to continuing with the inquiry.
"There are a number of other theories about what could have happened to Corrie and we are continuing to test the evidence to help us understand what happened to Corrie, which will assist in providing answers to his family.
"We feel it is important to explain to the family what we are doing, so they have the opportunity to understand and question what we have done, and why we have done it.
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"We are acutely aware of the immense strain the last 15 months has placed upon Corrie's loved ones.
"We want them to be confident we are doing everything that it is practical for us to do as we strive to find Corrie."
Mr McKeague's heartbroken father Martin recently told of the torment of not being able to "bring him home" as police called off the search.
Police had told the McKeague family that all leads have dried up and the missing airman most likely perished after climbing into a bin.
Martin McKeague, 48, said last week: “Until the last bucket I will have hope.
“Without hope I have nothing and I fear I will have failed my son in not finding him and bringing him home. That is the torture I cannot bear.”