Corrie Mckeague: Police to search Milton landfill site

Corrie Mckeague, 23, has been missing for more than four months

Detectives looking for missing airman Corrie Mckeague are to search a landfill site in Cambridgeshire.

The RAF serviceman vanished after a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 24 September.

A bin lorry made a collection in the area a short time after the last sighting of the 23-year-old.

His mother Nicola Urquhart said she was both "terrified and desperate" for the result the search, which will start on 22 February, may bring.

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Police will search more than 920 sq m (1,100 sq yd) of waste to a depth of 8m (26ft).

It is expected to take a team of specialist officers up to 10 weeks to complete the search at Milton, near Cambridge.

Mrs Urquhart, from Dunfermline, said: "It is with extreme mixed emotions that myself, the boys and our family take on board this news.

"To know that the police are now going to carry this out is emotionally overwhelming.

"My respect and gratitude to the officers carrying out this task is immeasurable."

Corrie Mckeague was last seen walking alone in Bury St Edmunds

Mr Mckeague was last seen walking into a bin loading bay known as the "horseshoe" at 03:25 GMT.

A bin lorry was seized early in the early stages of the investigation after Mr Mckeague's phone signal followed the same route as the vehicle.

No traces of Mr Mckeague were found in the lorry and the landfill site was never searched.

Det Supt Katie Elliott from Suffolk Police said searching the landfill site is the "next logical step".

She said: "While the search may not provide the answers as to what happened it is something we need to do as our investigation continues."

Mr Mckeague, from Dunfermline, is based at RAF Honington. His girlfriend April Oliver is pregnant with his child.