Sally Anne Bowman, 18, was repeatedly stabbed in a frenzied attack and left to bleed to death yards from her front door in Croydon, South London. It is believed that she was stripped naked. Police have refused to say whether she was sexually assaulted.

Miss Bowman, who recently told a local newspaper that her ambition was to be the next Kate Moss, had been out with friends on Saturday night. She was last seen in Croydon town centre at 2am on Sunday. Her body was found at 6.30am by a neighbour who called police.

Some neighbours said that they had heard screaming during the early hours but did not call police because street noise was common after the town’s nightclubs close.

A resident from the leafy suburban street where the actress June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton in EastEnders, lives, said: “The guy who found her is an early riser. He spotted what looked like a mannequin lying next to a skip. Apparently as he got closer he realised it was a naked body.”

Miss Bowman was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene. Her parents, Linda Chiddy and Steven Bowman, who have split up, said that they were devastated and appealed for help to catch their daughter’s killer.

A statement by Miss Bowman’s family read: “Sally Anne’s parents and sisters love and miss her so much. We wish to stress that anyone who has the slightest bit of information about her death, even if they don’t think it is important, should contact police.” Her two tearful half-sisters, Michelle and Nicole, were accompanied by Miss Bowman’s stepfather, Stephen Chiddy, to lay flowers at the scene yesterday.

Police are trying to piece together her movements after she was last seen in the town centre and the discovery of her body. Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Cundy, who is leading the investigation, said that he was keeping an open mind about the motive for the killing and whether Miss Bowman knew her attacker. He said that the killer could strike again and urged women in the area not to walk home alone.

He refused to say whether she had returned to a friend’s house before making her final journey home.

Miss Bowman, who also worked as a hairdresser, had recently told a local newspaper of her ambitions to become a catwalk model and appear on the cover of Vogue magazine. In an interview she said that she dreamt of becoming as famous as Kate Moss, who is also from Croydon.

“I would love to be compared to Kate Moss because she is just so amazing. To be where she is one day would be brilliant,” she said five months ago.

Miss Bowman, who studied a two-year theatre course at the Brit School in Croydon, said that friends persuaded her to become a model in January when she signed up with a modelling agency in the town.

Last night a team of forensic scientists scoured the murder scene and officers searched shrubbery, drains and nearby gardens for the murder weapon. Three men, aged 26, 25 and 20, have been arrested in connection with the murder.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Milk: do we need a dairy godmother?
• DIY: the women doing it for themselves
• First double portrait of Princes unveiled