Prostitute murders - two more bodies found

Police investigating the murders of three prostitutes in Suffolk have found another two bodies, it has been announced.

Suffolk Police said that they had received a call from a member of the public around 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, saying that they had spotted what appeared to be the naked body of a woman around 20 foot off the Old Felixstowe Road, near the Levington turn-off, in Ipswich.

Police arrived at the scene and sealed off the area and a helicopter was sent to film the scene as part of the force's initial response.

Around 40 minutes later, a crew member on the helicopter spotted what appeared to be a second body, a few hundreds away from the site of the first body.

Fears have been raised that a serial killer is targeting prostitutes in the Suffolk area, following the murders of Gemma Adams and Tania Nicol.

Ms Adams, 25, had been missing since November 15.

Her body was discovered in a brook at Thorpes Hill, Hintlesham on December 2.

The body of Ms Nicol, 19, was discovered on December 8, near Copdock Mill, two miles from where Ms Adams' body was discovered.

She had been reported missing on November 1.

Both women were found naked. Post-mortems could not establish the cause of death of either woman, although they did reveal that neither had been sexually assaulted.

Both Gemma and Tania had worked as prostitutes in Ipswich.

On December 10, the body of another prostitute, 24-year-old Anneli Alderton from Colchester was discovered in woodland near Nacton, close to where the other two bodies were discovered on Tuesday. She was last seen on December 3.

Earlier on Tuesday, it was revealed that the cause of death was asphyxiation. Further tests are being carried out to establish more exact details about her death, as well as to establish if she had been sexually assaulted.

Police had appealed for two other missing prostitutes - Annette Nicholls, 29, and 24-year-old Paula Clennell - to contact them, following the discovery of the three bodies.

Ms Nicholls had not been seen since December 4, while Ms Clennell had not been seen since last Saturday, although it is understood that she contacted a friend on Sunday night looking for a place to stay.

Commenting on the discovery of the two bodies on Tuesday afternoon, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull from Suffolk Police said: “As you will understand, we don’t have a great deal of information. But, because of the discovery of two further bodies – close to where the body of Anneli Alderton was found – we can only fear the worst.

“The natural assumption is that these are the bodies of the two missing women, Annette Nicholls, aged 29, and Paula Clennell, aged 24.

“But until we have carried out inquiries to establish identification, this of course cannot be confirmed.

“My appeal at this stage is for anyone with any information to come forward immediately.”

(KMcA/EF)