The mother of missing RAF gunner Corrie McKeague says she passed on allegations to the police that her son may have been murdered but the force did not take the claim seriously.
Police have so far spent £1.5million looking for Corrie, 23, who disappeared following a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in September 2016.
Mother Nicola Urquhart said she was concerned that police were not taking the allegations seriously after the search focused on a landfill that did not provide any trace of him.
Police have so far spent £1.5million looking for Corrie, 23, who disappeared following a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. His mother says police are not taking claims he was the victim of a crime seriously
A 20-week search of the site at Milton near Cambridge finished earlier this year, and a second search, lasting seven weeks, finished earlier this month.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Urquhart said: ‘We have had various calls suggesting a crime, but when we passed them on to police they took little action to follow them up.’
‘I spoke to the senior investigating officer two weeks ago and mentioned one call that we alerted them to, but she said she knew nothing about it.’
Suffolk Police has said the investigation into Mr McKeague’s disappearance would remain open.
Search and recovery teams scoured 9,000 tonnes of rubbish at a landfill site over 27 weeks in the hope of finding traces of the missing man.
It was thought he climbed into a waste bin and was ‘disposed of through the waste disposal process’, leading police to search for his body at the landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire.
Police searching the landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire (PA)
But no evidence of him has been found and police officially announced the end of the search last week.
His devastated mother Nicola Urquhart, 48, said: ‘I know how long and the search teams have worked – it has been an extremely physical and emotional task and we will never be able to thank them enough for their efforts.
‘What I can say is that my complete trust in the team leaves me certain that had Corrie been in that landfill they would have found him.
‘The peace of mind they have given me is immeasurable – I will no longer picture my son in that landfill.
Corrie was last seen on CCTV at 3.24am near a loading area known as the horseshoe
‘From the first day that we stood in the middle of Bury St Edmunds we wanted that possibility to be investigated and if necessary ruled out.’
Corrie was last seen on CCTV at 3.24am near a loading area known as the horseshoe.
The original 20-week search for Corrie at the landfill site was stopped in July after nothing was found.
Only one bin was collected from the area that morning and waste from it was initially taken to a transfer station at Red Lodge and then to the Milton landfill site.
But the search continued in October after 25,000 people signed a petition calling for it to be resumed.