'This can really – devastatingly – only mean one thing.' That's the message from Corrie McKeague's mother Nicola Urquhart as police reveal the bin collection on the night the RAF airman disappeared weighed far more than first thought.
Detectives said the material picked up from the 'horseshoe' loading bay area on September 24, 2016 has now been found to be far heavier – at more than 100kg. It was originally thought to have weighed just 11kg.
The news came to light as detectives said a 26-year-old arrested as part of the investigation would face no further action.
MORE: Search for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague starts at Milton rubbish dump today
His arrest had sparked fresh checks of information provided to police during the investigation, revealing the gap between the two weights.
Sharing the update with the Find Corrie group on social media, Mrs Urquhart said: 'The weight of the bin that was lifted the night Corrie went missing has been incorrect and the true weight is over 100kg. This can really devastatingly only mean one thing.
'I can only pray that Corrie is found quickly and that we are able to get answers as to how this could have happened. Please can I ask everyone on here to try really hard not to speculate just now. Each second waiting to find Corrie is torture enough.'
A search of landfill is currently underway in Milton, Cambridgeshire, as part of the investigation into how Corrie, 23, disappeared after a night out in September last year. The RAF Honington gunner was last seen in Brentgovel Street at 3.24am on September 24, wearing a pink shirt and white trousers. No-one has been able to trace him since.
Detective Superintendent Katie Elliott said: 'We now know the weight of the waste collection from the horseshoe on the night Corrie went missing was over 100kg, when the original information we were given indicated that this was 11kg, and this makes our search of the landfill the next logical step to try to find Corrie.'
Det supt Elliot also said it appears it was genuinely believed by the company that provided the data that it was correct and there was no intention to mislead the investigation.
A second man had been interviewed under caution in relation to the data difference, but will also face no further police action.
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