RIPPER victim Paula Clennell almost certainly knew her killer, a shaken friend disclosed last night.
The pal said the 24-year-old prostitute had a policy of entering cars only if she recognised the client behind the wheel. He said: "I'm convinced she knew the man who murdered her. Paula never got into a stranger's car. That wasn't her style."
Last night detectives hunting the madman who has killed five women were urgently searching for a chubby-faced man with glasses who was driving a blue BMW which victim Anneli Alderton, 24, got into last Thursday. It was the last time she was seen alive.
They were also preparing to check a handbag found in central Ipswich and women's clothes discovered in the nearby River Orwell.
Paula's friend told the Mirror he had not seen her since she cycled to the Suffolk village of Nacton to meet a mystery drug dealer in a pub on Friday night.
The naked body of the mum-of-three was found on Tuesday a mile away in Levington.
Anneli's body was found at Nacton on Sunday.
Paula's friend said: "She was desperate for drugs so I agreed to lend her pounds 30. She phoned the dealer at 10.55pm with my mobile and arranged to collect in Nacton.
"I was a bit worried about her cycling that far but she said she'd be OK. That was the last I saw of her.
rolex replica"When she didn't call me to say she was safe, I started to worry but assumed she was just crashed out somewhere. Then on Sunday I saw a TV newsflash that a girl's body had been found in Nacton. I assumed it was Paula. But it was another girl."
Police yesterday combed the Golden Hind pub in Nacton and examined CCTV footage. Earlier they visited the friend's house to take a statement. The friend said: "They took my phone, some clothes of Paula's and a hairbrush she used."
He also gave detectives a detailed description of what Paula was wearing when he last saw her.
Paula may have been seen at 1am on Sunday. But the sighting is unconfirmed.
Her friend also saw another of the murdered prostitutes, Tania Nicol, 19, a day after she was reported missing on October 30. He told police he saw her climbing into a dark Astra estate diesel in Ipswich's red light district.
He said: "Tania asked if I Quadrate Handbag Handbags wanted any business. I told her I wasn't interested. As I walked off, a car pulled up alongside her. The next thing I know, she got in and the car drove off."
Tania's naked body was discovered in a stream near Copdock Mill on December 8.
In Ipswich, prostitutes said they last saw Anneli Alderton when she was picked up by a punter in a BMW, probably on Thursday.
Prostitute Lou, 28, said: "This newish dark blue BMW went into a car park close to where Anneli was standing. Anneli went over and got in. She was sitting in the passenger seat.
"As the guy drove past us I could see he had a chubby build, glasses and short dark hair.
"Nobody thought anything of it at the time. But it was the last time any of us girls saw Anneli alive. This guy might have killed her. He could have killed the other girls as well."
The naked body of Gemma Adams, 25, was found in a brook at Hintlesham, west of Ipswich on December 2. Two bodi
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