Greater Than
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Police halt search after finding no sign of missing airman Corrie McKeague
21 July 2017
Police hunting missing airman Corrie McKeague have admitted he may never be found after a £1.2 million search of a landfill site ended in failure.
Detectives said they still believed his body was at the site, but after 20 weeks of sifting through 6,500 tonnes of rubbish they had found no sign of the RAF gunner.
The officer leading the hunt for Mr McKeague, 23, stormed out of a press conference after saying the search of the site had been halted.
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott of Suffolk Police got out of her chair and left the room after saying that everything possible had been done to find Mr McKeague.
Earlier she said she still believed that his body was buried somewhere under tons of rubbish at the giant 120 acre site in Milton, Cambridgeshire.
[...]
Ms Elliott denied that the search of the site had been halted on grounds of cost after she admitted that the hunt had so far cost £1.2million.
She said that the search of the site had been carried out in an area where it had been identified that waste was dumped over the period Corrie went missing
But she said officers had now finished searching the area where rubbish was 26ft deep and had no further information about where they should be looking.
Ms Elliott added: "It is not a matter of cost. The investigation has never been about money.
"We searched the areas where we had information that the waste was deposited
Beyond that it is very difficult to establish where we would look for Corrie."
Ms Elliott said Corrie's family had been told the search of the tip was being called off.
Police call off search for missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague at landfill site
21 July 2017
[...]
Tim Passmore, [Suffolk] police and crime commissioner, said: It is extremely sad that the mystery surrounding Corries whereabouts has not been resolved.
My thoughts are with Mrs Urquhart and Mr McKeague and their families I cannot even begin to understand what they have been going through since their sons disappearance.
The officers that have been involved in this search have worked tirelessly for months, in very difficult circumstances.
I know they will be disappointed not to have found Corrie but I know that the Constabulary has done all it can locate him and Id like to express my thanks, on behalf of the communities I serve, to them all.
Throughout this operation I have been regularly briefed and made sure the Constabulary has had the funding and equipment it needed to carry out this unprecedented search.
This is the biggest missing person enquiry that the Constabulary has undertaken. Our officers have worked closely with the National Crime Agency, the College of Policing and the Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SULSAR) at various stages in the enquiry and I would also like to publicly express my gratitude to them.
Mum of missing Corrie McKeague 'angry' and 'devastated' as police call off landfill search
21 July 2017
The mother of missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague has told ITV News Anglia she's "angry" and "devastated" following Suffolk Police's decision to call off their search of a landfill site in Cambridgeshire.
[...]
I'm just devastated. When they told me that they were going to be finishing the search of the landfill, it was my understanding that what they were actually going to be saying is: 'we've finished the search of the landfill and we haven't found Corrie - he's not there.'
It was an absolute surprise to me on Wednesday when I was told: 'we're finishing the landfill, we're not searching anymore - but we do still think he's in there.'
When Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott's saying it's got nothing to do with money, then why aren't you continuing searching if you still think he's in there?
NICOLA URQUHART, CORRIE MCKEAGUE'S MOTHER
'We are heartbroken' devastated Martin McKeague reacts to end of landfill search for son
21 July 2017
The father of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague has spoken of his 'devastation' after police called off the search of Milton landfill today (July 21).
[...]
Today he issued a statement of behalf of the McKeague family in which he praised the police.
It read: "The McKeague family in Scotland is devastated by today's announcement by Suffolk Police that the search of the landfill site in Milton for Corrie has now come to an end.
"At no point did we think that the search of the site would end this way, and as all the evidence tells us that Corrie is somewhere in that landfill site, we are heartbroken at the thought that we may not be able to bring Corrie home together.
But we are, as a family, somehow going to get through this together.
"We would like to express our deepest thanks to the volunteers from the Norfolk and Suffolk police for their heroic efforts over the past 20 weeks in searching the landfill site at Milton for my son.
"As you know, my wife Trisha and I have had the opportunity to meet these incredible people face-to-face each week, and to thank them personally for everything theyve done.
"From the very beginning we felt this was the very least a parent could do to show them our respect and appreciation, and weve been proud to do it.
"The McKeague family in Scotland has never doubted the polices reasoning for, nor the timing of the search of the Milton landfill site.
"The police have prioritised their efforts based on facts, not speculation. And anyone who suggests otherwise is, in our opinion, committing the ultimate act of disrespect its like a slap in the face to the people who have given so much of themselves in the search for Corrie."
[...]
"We would also like to thank all of the people who have stood up and supported this effort, and who have stayed strong and not fallen for the erroneous suggestions of any criminal activity in the search for my son, or the cynicism, gossip, and speculation in the media that has unfortunately littered this process from day one... regarding suggestions of criminal activity and other nonsense surrounding the disappearance of my son.
21 July 2017
Police hunting missing airman Corrie McKeague have admitted he may never be found after a £1.2 million search of a landfill site ended in failure.
Detectives said they still believed his body was at the site, but after 20 weeks of sifting through 6,500 tonnes of rubbish they had found no sign of the RAF gunner.
The officer leading the hunt for Mr McKeague, 23, stormed out of a press conference after saying the search of the site had been halted.
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott of Suffolk Police got out of her chair and left the room after saying that everything possible had been done to find Mr McKeague.
Earlier she said she still believed that his body was buried somewhere under tons of rubbish at the giant 120 acre site in Milton, Cambridgeshire.
[...]
Ms Elliott denied that the search of the site had been halted on grounds of cost after she admitted that the hunt had so far cost £1.2million.
She said that the search of the site had been carried out in an area where it had been identified that waste was dumped over the period Corrie went missing
But she said officers had now finished searching the area where rubbish was 26ft deep and had no further information about where they should be looking.
Ms Elliott added: "It is not a matter of cost. The investigation has never been about money.
"We searched the areas where we had information that the waste was deposited
Beyond that it is very difficult to establish where we would look for Corrie."
Ms Elliott said Corrie's family had been told the search of the tip was being called off.
Police call off search for missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague at landfill site
21 July 2017
[...]
Tim Passmore, [Suffolk] police and crime commissioner, said: It is extremely sad that the mystery surrounding Corries whereabouts has not been resolved.
My thoughts are with Mrs Urquhart and Mr McKeague and their families I cannot even begin to understand what they have been going through since their sons disappearance.
The officers that have been involved in this search have worked tirelessly for months, in very difficult circumstances.
I know they will be disappointed not to have found Corrie but I know that the Constabulary has done all it can locate him and Id like to express my thanks, on behalf of the communities I serve, to them all.
Throughout this operation I have been regularly briefed and made sure the Constabulary has had the funding and equipment it needed to carry out this unprecedented search.
This is the biggest missing person enquiry that the Constabulary has undertaken. Our officers have worked closely with the National Crime Agency, the College of Policing and the Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SULSAR) at various stages in the enquiry and I would also like to publicly express my gratitude to them.
Mum of missing Corrie McKeague 'angry' and 'devastated' as police call off landfill search
21 July 2017
The mother of missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague has told ITV News Anglia she's "angry" and "devastated" following Suffolk Police's decision to call off their search of a landfill site in Cambridgeshire.
[...]
I'm just devastated. When they told me that they were going to be finishing the search of the landfill, it was my understanding that what they were actually going to be saying is: 'we've finished the search of the landfill and we haven't found Corrie - he's not there.'
It was an absolute surprise to me on Wednesday when I was told: 'we're finishing the landfill, we're not searching anymore - but we do still think he's in there.'
When Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott's saying it's got nothing to do with money, then why aren't you continuing searching if you still think he's in there?
NICOLA URQUHART, CORRIE MCKEAGUE'S MOTHER
'We are heartbroken' devastated Martin McKeague reacts to end of landfill search for son
21 July 2017
The father of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague has spoken of his 'devastation' after police called off the search of Milton landfill today (July 21).
[...]
Today he issued a statement of behalf of the McKeague family in which he praised the police.
It read: "The McKeague family in Scotland is devastated by today's announcement by Suffolk Police that the search of the landfill site in Milton for Corrie has now come to an end.
"At no point did we think that the search of the site would end this way, and as all the evidence tells us that Corrie is somewhere in that landfill site, we are heartbroken at the thought that we may not be able to bring Corrie home together.
But we are, as a family, somehow going to get through this together.
"We would like to express our deepest thanks to the volunteers from the Norfolk and Suffolk police for their heroic efforts over the past 20 weeks in searching the landfill site at Milton for my son.
"As you know, my wife Trisha and I have had the opportunity to meet these incredible people face-to-face each week, and to thank them personally for everything theyve done.
"From the very beginning we felt this was the very least a parent could do to show them our respect and appreciation, and weve been proud to do it.
"The McKeague family in Scotland has never doubted the polices reasoning for, nor the timing of the search of the Milton landfill site.
"The police have prioritised their efforts based on facts, not speculation. And anyone who suggests otherwise is, in our opinion, committing the ultimate act of disrespect its like a slap in the face to the people who have given so much of themselves in the search for Corrie."
[...]
"We would also like to thank all of the people who have stood up and supported this effort, and who have stayed strong and not fallen for the erroneous suggestions of any criminal activity in the search for my son, or the cynicism, gossip, and speculation in the media that has unfortunately littered this process from day one... regarding suggestions of criminal activity and other nonsense surrounding the disappearance of my son.
