Police believe the body of a missing Queensland woman was dumped in a wheelie bin, picked up by a rubbish truck and taken to a waste site.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said foul play cannot be ruled out as the search for 78-year-old retired school teacher Lesley Trotter continues.

"Ongoing investigations can reveal that on the morning of March 28 this year, the body of a female we believe was Lesley Trotter was located in a general waste wheelie bin situated on Maryvale Street, Toowong, near to where she resides," Massingham said.

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He said the rubbish truck went to the Nudgee Transfer Station, where the rubbish was dropped into a pit before an additional 22 trucks visited the site that day.

The loads from each of the trucks were compressed and taken away from the site in six B-double semi-trailers.

The trucks were taken to dump sites at Rochedale and Swanbank, with the Rochedale facility taking one truck and Swanbank taking five.

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Massingham said rubbish at each of the sites was quarantined over the weekend.

"We are currently planning an extensive search of both those sites to try and recover the remains of the person we believe to be Lesley Trotter," he said.

A large-scale search was sparked when Trotter vanished one day after seeing her family, with more than 130 police and State Emergency Services (SES) volunteers involved.

Massingham confirmed yesterday police believed Trotter had died.

Trotter's next-of-kin had been informed, he said.

"This is traumatic to them … it would be concerning to any family," he said.

"Particularly a lady of that age looking forward to the next chapter of her life.

"It's a very sad story."

Massingham said police would treat the matter as suspicious until further information became available.

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