A POLICE probe into the murder of former Cheshire woman Annie Eels and her colleague is turning into one of the biggest investigations ever carried out by West Mercia Constabulary.
The bodies of ex-Frodsham resident Mrs Eels, 55, and 24-year-old Samantha Tapper were discovered in Rachael's Health Studio at 13 Frankwell, Shrews-bury, at the beginning of July.
More officers have been drafted in to assist with the inquiry, now into its fourth week.
Detective Chief Inspector Sheila Thornes, in charge of the operation, said: 'This is a major inquiry with more than 60 officers continuing investigations.
'It is now more than three weeks since the bodies were found but there is no let up in our efforts to trace the killer. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done but we are definitely making headway.
'I remain confident that we will eventually bring the case to a successful conclusion.'
DCI Thornes said the investigation was being managed using the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System database.
She said the inquiry had raised more than 1,200 individual actions to date and over 1,000 exhibits had already been entered into the murder incident room. Many of these were forensic or CCTV exhibits.
'This is an immensely time-consuming undertaking in itself, but as a result, specific lines of inquiry are taking shape and we are making steady progress.'
She said Press appeals had generated more than 340 messages and a total of 375 statements had already been taken with a further 83 people completing questionnaires. More than 1,000 names had been entered onto the database together with nearly 600 addresses.
DCI Thornes added: 'We have drafted in additional resources to assist with the large amount of information which has been forthcoming. No effort is being spared to trace the offender.'
The two women were discovered in a downstairs room just before 2.45am on Sunday, July 2. Both died from severe head injuries.
Police believe they were killed between 3pm and 5pm the day before.
