The fall foliage presented a contrasting backdrop Wednesday as county and Meridian city authorities launched a grim search at the county landfill for a missing Meridian man.

A huge back hoe gingerly began excavating a 100 foot by 50 foot area of trash at the Pine Ridge Sanitary Landfill and Recycling Facility on Murphy Road east of Meridian on the strength of new information currently being investigated by the Meridian Police Department.

The search centers on the disappearance Oct. 26 of 67-year old Richard Smith of 4512 28th St.

According to MPD Det. Tim Eldridge, two people placed Smith at Dr. Brock Road on Hwy. 145 South near the interchange with Hwy. 45. One person said he dropped Smith off at the stop sign at the intersection of Dr. Brock Road and Hwy. 145 South and another man said he saw a man fitting Smith’s description at the dumpsters on Dr. Brock Road. Both of the sightings were reportedly made on the evening Smith vanished from an area near 43rd Avenue and 26th Street in Meridian.

“We have two people who place Smith in the same general area,” said MPD Det. Tim Eldridge. “That is the best information we have at this time.”

Volunteers with the Lauderdale County Emergency Management Agency, just as they’ve done since Smith’s disappearance, were on hand with officers of the MPD to help search the debris. LEMA Director David Sharp said the area of the search is small thanks to the cooperation of officials with Southern Waste Management.

“When the first report of Smith in the Dr. Brock Road area came in we immediately conducted a search, which yielded nothing,” Sharp said. “Since we’ve gotten this second eyewitness information, we decided to check the dumpsters. But we had to know when the trash was picked up and where it was dumped in the landfill. That is where the people here at Waste Management have been so helpful.”

Knowing the driver, his route and the days he picked up trash from the dumpsters on Dr. Brock Road led to the specific search area at the landfill.

On the day Smith was reported missing, Sharp used a cadaver dog to track the man to a point near Highland Park. The trail abruptly stopped. Sharp could not be certain if the dog lost the scent because of all the other people in and around the park or whether the trail stopped because Smith was picked up by someone in a vehicle.

A motorist has since claimed he picked up a man near Highland Park who fit Smith’s description and let him out near Fifth Street. A man from Quitman reported picking up a man from around Fifth Street and dropping him off at Dr. Brock Road. Another person said they saw a man near the dumpsters that same evening. Once the reports were pieced together, it seemed to create a trail leading from Highland Park to Dr. Brock Road and the dumpsters prompting Wednesday’s search.

Eldridge emphasized if nothing was found in this latest search effort, the investigation would continue.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” said Eldridge. “We will act on tips and information we receive for however long it takes.”

The excavation at the landfill is expected to be completed sometime today.