The landfill search for missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague is expected to finish by Christmas.
The current search at the landfill site in Milton, Cambridgeshire, resumed on October 23, and is likely to finish in the next two to three weeks.
Corrie went missing on September 24 last year after a night out in Bury St Edmunds. He was last seen on CCTV at 3.24am near a loading area behind Greggs, known as the horseshoe.
It is believed the RAF gunner may have climbed into a waste bin and been taken away by a bin lorry.
A spokesman for Suffolk police said last month that the search, initially scheduled to last four to six weeks, may progress through to early-mid December.
Corrie’s mother, Nicola Urquhart, said via social media that she was “incredibly grateful” that police have continued the search and that the bin lorry theory has “always been the most logical explanation”.
Mrs Urquhart said a recent meeting with police where information about the case was reviewed was “positive”.
Speaking via the Find Corrie Facebook group, she said: “We have now had the first stage of our review.
“I have to say it was a positive meeting where we went over so much information. We are now about to start week seven of this search, although things can change, and that’s understandable, it is guessed that this search will be finished in the next two weeks.
“A further week will then ensure they have definitely exceeded the search area.
“It has always been the most logical explanation for what has happened to Corrie so I am incredibly grateful that the police have continued to search in this area.
“I also believe there are other lines of enquiry that have not been investigated, exhausted or ruled out yet.
“We have now been assured that every single one of those questions will be answered. That’s what I’ve been fighting for.”
In her social media post, Mrs Urquhart added that a fundraising ball held at The Bull Inn at Barton Mills on Friday for Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue (SULSAR) saw son Darroch propose to his girlfriend Leah.
She said: “The evening ended with Darroch proposing to simply the most beautiful young lady in the world, beautiful in every sense of the word – inside and out. It was just the perfect time and night.”
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