ONE of the victims of the so-called Suffolk "Ripper" had worked in Huddersfield.

The third victim of the serial killer stalking the Ipswich area was prostitute Anneli Alderton, 24.

And it emerged last night that she lived in Huddersfield with her young son and her mother.

The grim total of deaths attributed to the mass murderer rose to five yesterday as two more bodies were found.

Both were prostitutes.

Miss Alderton lived at several addresses in Huddersfield, including Marsden, Clare Hill and Primrose Hill.

Her five-year-old son was also born in Huddersfield.

Her mother Maire had been living in Northgate, Almondbury.

Miss Alderton's mother emerged from her terrace house in the Essex coastal town of Harwich this morning.

The curtains remained closed and a tattered Christmas garland hung forlornly from the front door.

Looking exhausted, she refused to make any comment about her daughter's death.

A neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said Maire was devastated by the killing.

"She is just cold, I can't say any more."

She and her daughter moved to Harwich about a year ago. Mrs Alderton and her partner Tim Smith now run a small shop.

A neighbour, Brendan Byrne, said: "She is very popular and very well liked.

"Everybody knew her daughter was going through some troubled times and her mother did everything she could to help. She even adopted the little boy.

"She will be absolutely distraught by this and my heart goes out to her".

Miss Alderton, a known drug user, is believed to have lived in Huddersfield between 2001 and 2003.

In February 2002, she was living in Prince Street in Primrose Hill.

Her home was a terraced house, tucked away down the quiet cul de sac.

She did not stay long at the property before moving on to Clare Hill in August the same year.

She moved to Marsden in January 2003.

The 24-year-old seems to have lived a quiet life on Prince Street, as yesterday none of the people living on Prince Street could remember her.

But in her time in the town, she appeared in Huddersfield Magistrates Court a number of times.

She was convicted of theft, of possessing cannabis and of breaching a community rehabilitation order.

In January 2003, she was given a 12-week jail sentence.

She then moved to Essex.

Her grandmother lives in Meltham.

Miss Alderton had been working as a prostitute in Ipswich's red light are but was found dead in woods near Ipswich on Sunday.

She had been asphyxiated.

She was today described as a "kind-hearted girl" who turned to drugs and prostitution after getting in with the "wrong crowd".

A woman who works as an escort and gave her name as Emma said she had known Miss Alderton, 24, for about seven years and the pair had spent time together in prison for drugs-related offences.

She said: "She was a lovely girl, very kind-hearted and would do anything for anybody.

"Her friends introduced her to crack when she was about 13 and eventually she turned to prostitution. "She was so young. Unfortunately she got involved with the wrong crowd."

Police said they were launching a murder inquiry into the death of Miss Alderton, whose body was found in Nacton, Suffolk.

Detectives said further tests were being carried out to discover whether Miss Alderton had been sexually assaulted.

A passing motorist reported seeing her naked body in an area of woodland at Nacton on December 10, three days after another motorist mistook it for a mannequin and failed to report it.

Miss Alderton was the third prostitute found dead near Ipswich in a 10-day period. Gemma Adams, 25, was found murdered in a stream at Hintlesham on Saturday December 2. Tania Nicol, 19, was found dead in a pond at Copdock, Suffolk, the following Friday, December 8. Police have not yet revealed how Miss Adams and Miss Nicol died. But they say neither was sexually assaulted. Detectives appealed today for anyone with information about Miss Alderton - whose family live in Harwich - to come forward. Det Chief Supt Stewart Gull said a third murder inquiry had been launched following post mortem tests.

"It is important that we try to piece together Anneli's final movements," said Mr Gull.

"We know that, like Gemma and Tania, she did work as a prostitute in Ipswich. However, unlike them, she had not been reported missing."