The remains of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague were not among bones and animal waste discovered at the Great Blakenham incinerator, it has been confirmed.
Why were police analysing incinerated waste?
The analysis has confirmed none of the waste contained human bone material.
A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: “Suffolk police have engaged experts to examine incinerated waste gathered from the Great Blakenham energy-from-waste facility and it has been confirmed that this matter does not contain human bone material.”
The news comes as the police confirm which police force will be carrying out an independent review of the £1.2million search for RAF Honington serviceman Corrie.
The family of the 23-year-old, who went missing from Bury St Edmunds at 3.24am on September 24, 2016, are hoping the review will call for a landfill search at Milton, Cambridge, to continue. The search stopped after 20 weeks with no sign of the team medic, who is originally from Scotland.
A spokesman for the police said: “Police can also confirm that the East Midlands Special Operations Unit will be conducting a detailed review of the investigation to date.
“The aim of the review is to assist in identifying whether there are any other lines of enquiry that should be pursued that could lead to information that would locate Corrie McKeague.
“Investigative reviews are a key part of any lengthy major investigation and we are confident this will be a detailed and impartial review.
“If this review establishes further lines of enquiry we will pursue them. No timescale has been set for the completion of the review but the first phase is due to be completed by the end of September.”
The police were previously set to allow the landfill cell – where they still believe Corrie is – to be filled in.
The spokesman continued: “As mentioned previously, while we no longer have an operational presence at the site at Milton, the police have agreed with the company that run the site to leave cell 22 in its current state.
“Cell 22 will not be used for the deposition of waste until the review is concluded.”
The East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) is a collaborative team uniting specialist officers and staff from the region’s five police forces (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire) in tackling major crime, and serious and organised crime.
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