By Katherine Haddon
Ipswich, England - The red light district of the quiet English town of Ipswich was deserted overnight as British police continued their probe into the murders of three prostitutes in the area Wednesday, after discovering two more bodies.
The new corpses, presumed to be those of women reported missing for several days, were confirmed by police in the eastern port town, fuelling fears that a serial killer was at large.
All women are being warned to take care once darkness falls as the pre-Christmas party season warms up.
| 'Give me a call and we can deal with this' |
"The natural assumption is that these are the two missing women," said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is leading the investigation.
The killings carry grisly echoes of the horrors of Jack the Ripper, the infamous 19th-century murderer of east London prostitutes.
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They have also revived more recent memories of Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", who preyed on prostitutes and murdered 13 women and attacked seven others between 1975 and 1980.
The first two murdered women - Gemma Adams, 25, and 19-year-old Tania Nicol - went missing in the red light district of Ipswich on November 15 and October 30 respectively.
Police on Tuesday confirmed the identify of a third woman, whose body was found in the woods on Sunday, as 24-year-old Anneli Alderton, adding that she had been strangled.
| 'Don't come out onto the streets' |
And they admitted there was still no news of two other missing prostitutes: Paula Clennell, 24, who has not been seen since Saturday, and Annette Nicholls, 29, who has been missing since December 4.
Later on Tuesday their worst fears appeared to be confirmed.
Around mid-afternoon a naked body was found in open rural land, Gull said. A helicopter was called in, and spotted a second corpse about 100m away from the first one.
"We can only fear the worst," Gull said.
"The natural assumption is that these are the two missing women."
He told BBC television that formal identification would probably not be completed until Wednesday.
Gull has previously said that the killings could be the work of a serial killer. Asked for his view after the latest bodies were found, he said: "We need to keep an open mind."
While for the moment only the first two deaths are being linked, Gull has admitted that "the facts speak for themselves" in terms of the similarities between the killings.
"Although there are obvious and distinct similarities of the murders, we need to carry out further work to determine whether these deaths are linked," he said.
Earlier the police chief launched a direct appeal to the killer or killers to surrender themselves.
"My appeal is simple: give yourself up," he said.
"Make contact with Suffolk police. You have a significant problem. Give me a call and we can deal with this."
About 30 prostitutes are thought to operate in Ipswich, though an AFP reporter at the scene confirmed that there appeared to be no sign of working girls in the town's red light district late on Tuesday night.
Community leaders have implored them to stay inside, as Jeremy Pembroke, the leader of the local district council appealed: "Don't come out onto the streets."
He said in comments made to the BBC that prostitutes in the area were "not on their own".
"If they come to us, we'll help them. We'll find somewhere for you to stay."
Meanwhile, it emerged that one of the missing prostitutes said only days ago that she was prepared to dice with danger by going back on the streets because "I need the money".
"The girls are probably wary about coming out now," Clennell told ITV television, in an interview after the first bodies were found, but added that while she was "a bit wary about getting into cars" she would probably still do it anyway.
Ipswich, 130km north-east of London, is normally a quiet town and has never before witnessed a murder
inquiry on such a scale. It has a population of about 140 000 and is the capital of Suffolk county.
Suffolk Chief Constable Alastair McWhirter said that the local police force was requesting assistance from other police forces around Britain to help in the investigation.
There are more than 100 police officers currently involved in the search for the murderer. - Sapa-AFP
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