The hunt goes on

Police hunting for Britain’s worst serial killer of prostitutes since the Yorkshire Ripper said last night that they were concerned for the safety of two women who have vanished from Ipswich’s red-light district.

Detectives are battling to contain increasing anxiety over the activities of the serial killer, who has murdered Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, and a 24-year-old who was last night identifed by police sources as Anneli Alderton, of Harwich, Suffolk.They have told sex workers to stay at home and are appealing for information about Paula Clennell, 24, who was last seen on Saturday night, and Annette Nicholls, 29, who has not been seen since December 3 or 4.

They have also drawn up plans to draft in extra police support from outside Suffolk, which has only 1,300 officers.

Detectives have already been brought in from Norfolk and divers from the same force have been involved in the inquiry for more than a week.

More than 100 detectives are working on the inquiry and uniformed officers are conducting extra patrols in the red-light area.

The naked bodies of the three women were found within ten miles of each other in remote areas south of Ipswich over the space of nine days. The remains of Ms Adams and Ms Nicol showed no sign of serious sexual assault and are the subject of extensive pathology tests. The body of the third victim was still being examined where it was found in woodland close to the village of Nacton.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is heading the inquiry, said he believed the same man had killed all three women.

The discovery of a third body on Sunday was “a deeply disturbing development” which surprised police because the woman had not been reported missing.

Mr Gull said: “While we can’t formally link the discovery of the body at Nacton with the other two murders, the facts speak for themselves.” Mr Gull sought to calm growing anxiety in the area about the killer being still at large.

He said that the appeals for information about the two missing women were precautionary and several other people about whom concerns had been reported had since turned up safe and well.

Ms Clennell is believed to have spoken to her mother, Isabella, by telephone but officers are still eager to speak to her in person. She was last seen in London Road in the heart of the red-light district. Ms Nicholls is white, about 5ft 3in tall, of slim build, with shoulder-length brown wavy hair. She was reported missing by her family yesterday.

Mr Gull said: “Both of these girls were reported missing as a result of the publicity generated by the inquiries into the murders of Gemma Adams and Tania Nicol.

“There could be an innocent explanation. We know, for example, that Paula is of no fixed address and moves between addresses regularly.

“However, in the current climate, we are concerned for their welfare and are making urgent enquiries to locate them.” Detailed examinations are continuing at the crime scenes. Divers were searching the Belstead Brook, the fast-flowing stretch of water where the bodies of Ms Adams and Ms Nicol were both found.

At Nacton a large number of police and forensic technicians are conducting detailed searches in the grounds of Amberfield school where the body believed to be Ms Alderton was found.

No arrests are said to be imminent but among their priorities police are checking on the 380 registered sex offenders in Suffolk.

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