The discovery of a third body in less than three months in the Thames has sparked concern that a serial killer is on the loose, murdering prostitutes before dumping their bodies in the water.
The gruesome finds include the discovery of a severed female torso floating in the Thames, bags filled with female body parts in a canal and the latest victim found tied up and wrapped in a carpet. The first two victims have been identified by British police as prostitutes.
Scotland Yard said today it had launched a murder inquiry after the discovery of the third body, a black woman around 40, in the River Thames, near Lambeth Bridge in central London.
The body had not been dismembered like the previous victims, but investigators in the three cases will be discussing whether the cases are connected, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said. A postmortem established the cause of death as compression of the neck.
Last month police found body parts of 31-year-old Paula Fields, a prostitute, dumped in the Regent's Canal in north London. Fields was last seen getting into a red car in December.
In December, the upper torso of Zoe Parker, a 24-year old prostitute, was found floating in the Thames near Chelsea Harbour in west London. The lower part of her body has not been found.