Police have outlined more about the tremendous job they had on their hands while searching for the body of Michael McGrath.
David Benbow is on trial for allegedly murdering his childhood friend McGrath. He was arrested more than two years after McGrath went missing but McGrath's body has never been found.
It was two years and four months after Michael McGrath went missing that Benbow was arrested.
Police have undertaken thousands upon thousands of hours of work but McGrath's body has never been found.
On Friday the High Court heard from the police officer in charge of searching an area near the Halswell River, an area the jury already heard was a "highly suitable" location for Benbow to have disposed of McGrath's body.
"The enormity of the task wasn't lost on me when I arrived," Senior Constable Nigel Barton said.
The area near the Halswell river involved a five-day search by a police search team including ground search teams, a dive squad, drones and dogs that specialised in looking for bodies.
"It was very much a massive area covered with quite a collection of terrain. Long grass, man-made structures, established trees, new plantings, public cycleways, shrubs - it was hard work," Snr Const Barton said.
That search was also more than a year after McGrath was reported missing.
"Yeah more than a year later of growth obviously, and flooding that had gone through there," Snr Const Barton said.
Thousands of hours and dollars were spent by police trying to crack the case including 45 days of combing through the dump after Benbow visited there.
No body, no weapon and no concrete forensic evidence in the case is key for Benbow's defence.
On Friday, Benbow's lawyer asked Snr Const Barton in court: "It was determined that a thorough and diligent search had been done. Do we agree?"
Snr Const Barton said "yes". When Benbow's lawyer said to him "and as far as you're aware, absolutely nothing of forensic interest was found?" Snr Const Barton said "no".
The 54-year-old remains on bail. The defence is expected to open its case next week.