The location where Tania Nicol was found

Crime Scene Location Ipswich, Suffolk

This is the location where Tania Nicol was found.

Nicol was the first known victim of the Suffolk Strangler, Steve Wright.

The 19-year-old sex worker was last seen standing at her usual spot in Ipswich's red-light district at around 11 p.m. on October 30th, 2006.

Nicol was last seen at the bottom of Burlington Road in Ipswich — CCTV footage showed Nicol getting into a dark blue car at the corner of Handford and Burlington Road on the night of October 30th, 2006. The 19-year-old often stood at this location. At the time of the killings, Wright drove a dark blue Ford Mondeo. Wright admitted that he picked up Nicol on the night in question. He claimed that the pair drove around the corner to Portman Road, but that he quickly changed his mind.
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Exactly 39 days later, on December 8th, 2006, a police dive team discovered her remains at this section of the Belstead Brook River. The site in question is situated on the southern side of Old London Road, near the Copdock Mill in Ipswich.

Nicol left home when she was 16 and became addicted to heroin.

Initially, she funded her habit by working in a massage parlor. However, the owners eventually fired her due to her drug use.

After losing her job at the parlor, she began selling her services on the streets. Her family was unaware that she had become involved in the sex industry, as they were under the impression that she was working as a barmaid or hairdresser.

Nicol was the second victim to be found. The discovery of her body confirmed suspicions that there was a potential serial killer on the loose.

Six days prior, a member of the public had spotted the remains of Gemma Adams in the same river, just a few miles northwest of this location.

Adams was a 25-year-old sex worker who had also disappeared from Ipswich under suspicious circumstances.

The authorities now had two victims with similar backgrounds who had been found in the exact same waterway. Furthermore, the whereabouts of a third woman named Anneli Alderton were still unknown.

Map — Police divers were searching the Belstead Brook waterway for the belongings of Gemma Adams when they found Nicol's remains near the Copdock Mill. The cause of death could not be determined due to the passage of time.

By the time Nicol's body was discovered, national news agencies were already preparing to send their reporters to Ipswich.

One woman was dead, while another was missing. News editors were aware that a big story was potentially brewing, either because they noticed a possible connection themselves or they received a tip-off from local sources.

Although Nicols was found at this section of Belstead Brook, she may have been dumped further upstream, as the area had recently experienced heavy rainfall and flooding.

Wright said that he brought Nicol to Portman Road but that he changed his mind about using her services. The police said that the victim's phone went dead shortly before midnight on October 30th, which was around the same time that a security camera captured him picking her up in his Ford Mondeo (bottom-right). Portman Road is a football stadium. It is the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. At the time, the streets around the stadium were part of Ipswich's red-light district.
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Fibers found on Nicol's body were later proven to be a match with the fibers on Wright's couch, the upholstery in his car, and his reflective jacket. No DNA was found on her remains, as she had been submerged in water for more than five weeks.

In February 2008, Wright was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison.