Corrie Mckeague: Landfill search for missing RAF man to be extended

Corrie Mckeague was last seen at about 03:25 BST in Bury St Edmunds on 24 September

The search for missing airman Corrie Mckeague is set to be expanded after weeks of looking through landfill failed to find any trace of his body.

Mr Mckeague, 23, has not been seen since a night out in Bury St Edmunds last September, when CCTV showed him entering a bin loading bay.

Police have so far spent nine weeks searching a Cambridge landfill site for any sign of the RAF Honington gunner.

Earlier, it was revealed the search had so far cost more than £1m.

The investigation into Mr Mckeague's disappearance is one of the most expensive undertaken by Suffolk Police, the Cambridge News reported.

On Friday afternoon Suffolk Police said officers searching the landfill had been through all the rubbish from the location and time he disappeared.

"However, towards the edges of the area it has also been noticed that the waste may have naturally shifted from the original deposition area," the force said.

"Police are expanding the search parameters to take this into account."

More news from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

It took several weeks to prepare the Milton landfill site before officers moved in earlier

The airman, from Dunfermline in Fife, vanished after going out with friends from RAF Honington, where he is based.

He was last seen entering a bin loading bay known as the "horseshoe" at about 03:25 BST.

A waste disposal lorry collected a bin from that area less than an hour after Mr Mckeague was spotted on CCTV.

Nine weeks ago specialist officers began sifting through waste at the landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, where they believe his body may be.

So far, Suffolk Police said it had sifted through more than 3,000 tonnes of waste at the 120-acre (48.5 hectare) site.

While officers have yet to find any trace of him, late last month officers said they had started to find rubbish at the site "from the right time period" from when he went missing.

Gunner Corrie Mckeague (front) is based at RAF Honington in Suffolk

A force spokeswoman confirmed that search costs "above and beyond staffing" were currently running at about £544,250 and taking into account salaries and "specialist resources", the investigation costs exceeded the £1m mark to date.

Police initially estimated the search of the vast landfill site could take 10 weeks.

The spokeswoman was unable to say at this stage whether it could take longer.

Specialist officers have started to find rubbish dated back to 10 September