Intensive hunt for missing women grips Bradford

More on the Bradford killings, with video

As searches for the bodies of two missing prostitutes resumed yesterday, passers-by could be left in no doubt that, even with the main suspect behind bars, the murder investigation was far from over.

Prosecutors say they have enough evidence to try Stephen Griffiths for the murders of three women, but the police inquiry will not end until the bodies of Shelley Armitage and Susan Rushworth are found.

The remains of the third woman, Suzanne Blamires, were recovered on Tuesday from the River Aire at Shipley, where police were searching yesterday .

Minutes after Griffiths was remanded in custody following a short hearing at Bradford Crown Court, the police officer leading the investigation told the Yorkshire Post how the search for clues had intensified.

Det Supt Sukhbir Singh, of West Yorkshire Police's elite Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: "The searches along the River Aire are continuing along with searches in the Bradford city centre area.

"Our inquiries will continue, but so far we have not uncovered any new leads to where the missing women are.

"We now have 45 detectives working on the case and in the region of 70 other officers assisting with the search."

As police divers explored the River Aire, forensic officers and dog-handlers concentrated on the area near Griffiths's third-floor flat in Holmfield Court, a converted mill building in Thornton Road which

overlooks Bradford's red-light district.

The search slowed traffic as motorists craned their necks to watch, but the engine noises in the tailbacks could not drown out the sound of whirring propellers from a helicopter hovering overhead.

Officers in white overalls were seen taking a mattress out of

Griffiths' home for forensic testing as passers-by looked on.

A crowd also gathered around the entrance to Soho Street, a road running alongside the block of flats which was sealed off by police.

A community support officer kept guard as a team of forensic officers strode towards the rear of the building and set up a large blue tent to protect potential evidence. Two police vans, including a scientific support vehicle, were parked in front of the tent.

On the opposite side of Thornton Road, five forensic officers began the painstaking task of sifting through a pile of rubble which had been dug up from the ground.

The hole, which exposed a cable, was about five feet deep and appeared to have been dug by engineers before the police search began.

A digger was called to break the rubble into minuscule pieces which were then pored over by the officers using shovels and long sticks.

Photographers snapped away excitedly from behind safety barriers, but the detailed inspection had apparently drawn a blank last night. Only yards away about a dozen floral tributes had been left outside Holmfield Court, the spot where Griffiths was arrested on Monday.

With no bodies to bury, it remains the only place of commemoration available to the friends and relatives of Miss Armitage and Miss Rushworth. Two bouquets in particular caught the eye – one each for Miss Rushworth and Ms Blamires, left "in loving

memory" by Miss Armitage's family.

Cards left in memory of Miss Armitage paid tribute to a "special daughter" and "beautiful soul".

nFollow the continuing developments and watch video coverage online at yorkshirepost.co.uk