MORE than 40 police officers are continuing to hunt the killer who battered former Frodsham woman Annie Eels to death.

Police are building up a picture of the her movements and the circumstances leading up to her death.

The bodies of Mrs Eels, 55, and 24-year-old Samantha Tapper were discovered in Rachael's Health Studio at 13 Frankwell, Shrewsbury, just before 2.45am on Sunday, July 2.

Mrs Eels's daughter Zoe, 27, who was brought up in Dunham Hill, was aware her mum worked as a receptionist in the sex industry but never worried about her safety.

Zoe, who lives in Llansantffraid, Powys, said: 'I am devastated. I was in utter shock. It's the one thing you would never think will happen. I keep waiting for her to come home, waiting for her to come around the corner. I feel it's not happening.'

She added: 'The establishment had been running for over 16 years and they never had any trouble. People in the area knew where the establishment was and what it was. They didn't have a problem with it at all.

'It's the oldest profession in the book and mum had been there nearly five years. She was well known by customers, the girls and people in Frank-well. She was loved by everybody.'

She said her father Chris, who, like his wife went to Frodsham High School, was being 'as strong as he can be in the circumstances.'

'We all live together,' said Zoe, who also lives with her partner and children Chelsea, three, Jakob, five and 13-month-old Mason.

'But he's lost the one person he loved more than anything. It's hard to take in. I cannot get my head around it.'

Zoe said her father worked as a doorman at The Helsby Arms for years while her mum used to work at the all night burger bar at Hapsford where Chester Services is today.

She worked alongside her mum in the cafe they opened just eight weeks ago but denied her mother was working as a madam or a prostitute.

'We are a very close family and if I know she wouldn't. She had too much self-respect.

'She loved everything about life. The cafe was her dream, but Rachael's was her own space.'

Detective Chief Inspector Sheila Thornes, the officer leading the inquiry, said: 'We are making steady progress with various lines of inquiry. There has been an excellent response from the public.'

Although many of the parlour's clients have now come forward, she believes there are others holding back. nAnyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 08457-444-888.

Police deny links between massage parlour murders > > >

Police deny links between massage parlour murders

POLICE this week denied there was a link between the murder of two women at a Shrewsbury massage parlour and a prostitute in Chester exactly 15 years ago.

An article in the News of the World suggested the murderer responsible for the deaths of Annie Eels, 55, and Samantha Tapper, 24, may be a serial killer who also killed 29-year-old Lynne Trenholm at Pinky's massage parlour, Boughton, in June 1991.

A spokesman was quoted as saying: 'Officers are being made aware of the earlier case.' But this week West Mercia and Cheshire police denied any connection.

Cheshire Constabulary spokesman Glyn Hellam told The Chronicle: 'We are definitely not linking them.'

Lynne Trenholm was stabbed to death on Sunday, June 9, 1991, but no one has ever been caught.

Detectives still hope a single blooded fingerprint found at the scene might help solve the crime.

Every two or three months police run the print through their national database to check for matches with anyone brought into custody.

In recent years, police have reexamined items like furniture taken from the scene hoping that advances in DNA testing may be able to assist in the identification of the murderer.

The nature of Lynne's work meant police faced a difficult battle getting people to come forward.

Hundreds of individuals were eliminated from involvement but police believe there are people who visited Pinky's around the time of Lynne's death who have never come forward.

Lynne, from Failsworth, Manchester, was survived by her mother and father plus a sister.