. current news . five women murdered .
. [start] .
An urgent manhunt was under way last night after a suspected serial killer claimed the lives of two more prostitutes, bringing the number of young women murdered in Suffolk to five.
The naked bodies of the two sex workers were found dumped in fields close to Ipswich.
A police chief described the killings as "unprecedented" and said they were progressing at a more alarming rate than in the case of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980.
Officers from throughout the country have been drafted in to help the beleaguered Suffolk police force as fears grow that the killer will strike again.
The latest victims were found yesterday afternoon near Levington, a village to the south of Ipswich and two miles from Suffolk police headquarters. They are thought to be the missing Ipswich sex workers Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29. The two women are the fourth and fifth murder victims to be discovered in the past 10 days.
Ms Clennell was alive as recently as Sunday evening, when she spoke to a friend. She was interviewed by a television crew the previous week and said she was prepared to go back on the street because she needed the money to buy heroin.
Her body, and that of Ms Nicholls - although police have yet to confirm their identities - were dumped close to where the body of another sex worker, Anneli Alderton, 24, was discovered on Sunday. Ms Alderton had been strangled to death.
Alastair McWhirter, the Chief Constable of Suffolk, said: "Clearly one can surmise that what we have is a serial killer," although police had not ruled out the possibility of a "copycat" attacker. He added: "This is an unprecedented set of circumstances. If you think of the Yorkshire Ripper, the murders took place over a long period of time. This has happened almost as a crime in action." He said that the police had a "steely determination" to prevent any further murders, and "catch the perpetrator".
All the bodies were found dumped close to the A14, which runs from Ipswich to the port of Felixstowe. In the last three cases the victims appear to have been hurriedly abandoned with little effort made to conceal them.
A forensic psychologist suggested last night that this indicated the serial killer was "taunting" the police. Keith Ashcroft, a specialist in sex crimes, said the fact that bodies were left in relatively open surroundings in an area close to police headquarters offered a clue to the killer's attitude.
The discovery of the two bodies, at just after 3pm yesterday, came after several days of searching by more than 100 police officers for the two missing sex workers.
The multiple murder inquiry follows the discovery of the naked body of Gemma Adams, 25, who was found on 2 December in woodland at Hintlesham, on the outskirts of Ipswich. She was last seen on 15 November.
On 8 December the body of Tania Nicol, 19, was found in nearby Copdock. She was the first to go missing and had last been seen on 30 October. The naked body of the third street worker, Anneli Alderton, 24, from Colchester in Essex, was discovered at the weekend in Nacton.
The fourth body was noticed by a member of the public yesterday afternoon in the neighbouring village of Levington, a mile from Nacton. The fifth naked victim was spotted by a police helicopter close by.
The officer leading the inquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, said: "We've formally linked the murders of Tania and Gemma on Saturday because of significant similarities, and they continue with Anneli, Paula and Annette. Clearly they were all prostitutes from Ipswich, they were found naked and in an open rural environment.
"This is so fast-moving, we need to take stock and maximise opportunities to recover forensic evidence from the scene before formally establishing whether they are linked or not.We need to catch this person or persons as quickly as possible."
No further women working in prostitution have been reported missing in Ipswich.
Police have continued to warn prostitutes in Ipswich not to work on the street. But some street sex workers say they have to work to fund their drug addictions. The scale of the problem was revealed in a study in 2004 found that 98 per cent of female sex workers on the street in Bristol were using drugs, most often crack and heroin.
Ms Nicol's uncle, Alhusain Nicol, 45, from Brighton, paid tribute yesterday to his niece. "Despite the label she has been given, she was a nice girl," he said. "She is still someone's daughter, someone's niece and we are a close family.
"I would just remember her as a nice family girl. But once you get hooked on something, that is it."
. How terrible? .
. sends chilling shivers down my spine .
. in a sombre mood . all dressed in black today too .
. boo hoo .
. [end] .
An urgent manhunt was under way last night after a suspected serial killer claimed the lives of two more prostitutes, bringing the number of young women murdered in Suffolk to five.
The naked bodies of the two sex workers were found dumped in fields close to Ipswich.
A police chief described the killings as "unprecedented" and said they were progressing at a more alarming rate than in the case of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980.
Officers from throughout the country have been drafted in to help the beleaguered Suffolk police force as fears grow that the killer will strike again.
The latest victims were found yesterday afternoon near Levington, a village to the south of Ipswich and two miles from Suffolk police headquarters. They are thought to be the missing Ipswich sex workers Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29. The two women are the fourth and fifth murder victims to be discovered in the past 10 days.
Ms Clennell was alive as recently as Sunday evening, when she spoke to a friend. She was interviewed by a television crew the previous week and said she was prepared to go back on the street because she needed the money to buy heroin.
Her body, and that of Ms Nicholls - although police have yet to confirm their identities - were dumped close to where the body of another sex worker, Anneli Alderton, 24, was discovered on Sunday. Ms Alderton had been strangled to death.
Alastair McWhirter, the Chief Constable of Suffolk, said: "Clearly one can surmise that what we have is a serial killer," although police had not ruled out the possibility of a "copycat" attacker. He added: "This is an unprecedented set of circumstances. If you think of the Yorkshire Ripper, the murders took place over a long period of time. This has happened almost as a crime in action." He said that the police had a "steely determination" to prevent any further murders, and "catch the perpetrator".
All the bodies were found dumped close to the A14, which runs from Ipswich to the port of Felixstowe. In the last three cases the victims appear to have been hurriedly abandoned with little effort made to conceal them.
A forensic psychologist suggested last night that this indicated the serial killer was "taunting" the police. Keith Ashcroft, a specialist in sex crimes, said the fact that bodies were left in relatively open surroundings in an area close to police headquarters offered a clue to the killer's attitude.
The discovery of the two bodies, at just after 3pm yesterday, came after several days of searching by more than 100 police officers for the two missing sex workers.
The multiple murder inquiry follows the discovery of the naked body of Gemma Adams, 25, who was found on 2 December in woodland at Hintlesham, on the outskirts of Ipswich. She was last seen on 15 November.
On 8 December the body of Tania Nicol, 19, was found in nearby Copdock. She was the first to go missing and had last been seen on 30 October. The naked body of the third street worker, Anneli Alderton, 24, from Colchester in Essex, was discovered at the weekend in Nacton.
The fourth body was noticed by a member of the public yesterday afternoon in the neighbouring village of Levington, a mile from Nacton. The fifth naked victim was spotted by a police helicopter close by.
The officer leading the inquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, said: "We've formally linked the murders of Tania and Gemma on Saturday because of significant similarities, and they continue with Anneli, Paula and Annette. Clearly they were all prostitutes from Ipswich, they were found naked and in an open rural environment.
"This is so fast-moving, we need to take stock and maximise opportunities to recover forensic evidence from the scene before formally establishing whether they are linked or not.We need to catch this person or persons as quickly as possible."
No further women working in prostitution have been reported missing in Ipswich.
Police have continued to warn prostitutes in Ipswich not to work on the street. But some street sex workers say they have to work to fund their drug addictions. The scale of the problem was revealed in a study in 2004 found that 98 per cent of female sex workers on the street in Bristol were using drugs, most often crack and heroin.
Ms Nicol's uncle, Alhusain Nicol, 45, from Brighton, paid tribute yesterday to his niece. "Despite the label she has been given, she was a nice girl," he said. "She is still someone's daughter, someone's niece and we are a close family.
"I would just remember her as a nice family girl. But once you get hooked on something, that is it."
. How terrible? .
. sends chilling shivers down my spine .
. in a sombre mood . all dressed in black today too .
. boo hoo .
. [end] .