MURDER squad detectives were last night hunting the killer of a 42-year-old mother-of-five.

Audrey Badger's body was found at her home in Thornaby, Teesside, at 5am on Saturday when a friend returned from a night out.

Police said the victim had been subjected to a violent attack and believe she knew her killer.

Last night, officers said it was too early to say whether there had been a sexual motive or whether there were any signs of forced entry or a struggle in the house.

A team of 45 officers is working on the investigation with uniformed police carrying out door-to-door inquiries.

A Home Office pathologist has attended the scene and a post-mortem examination has been carried out on Ms Badger's body.

Over the weekend, crime scene investigators also carried out a detailed forensic examination of Ms Badger's home, in Stirling Way.

Cleveland Police yesterday held a Press conference at which the identity of the victim was revealed.

It is still not clear who lived with Ms Badger, but police confirmed she had five children aged 23, 20,17 and twins aged 12.

Detective Chief Inspector Darren Best, of Cleveland Police, who is leading the investigation, urged the attacker to come forward before officers found them.

He said: "The victim was found by her friend when she returned from a night out.

"We have a number of lines of inquiry that we are following, but we are just over 24 hours into the investigation, so we want to keep the details close to the investigating team.

"We are keen to trace Audrey's movements between 3pm on Friday and 5am on Saturday when her body was discovered.

"I would appeal to anyone who saw Audrey within this time to contact the incident room.

"Audrey was a mother of five and this is a traumatic time for the family. Whilst family liaison officers are in direct contact with the family, I do not wish to give further details on them at this early stage in the investigation."

DCI Best added: "We believe that Audrey knew who was responsible for her death.

"My message to anyone involved in the attack is, 'We will be knocking at your door sooner rather than later - so come forward to us first'."

One line of inquiry officers are understood to be looking at is the lifestyle of Ms Badger.

A neighbour described her shock at waking up to see police officers in the street.

She said: "I didn't really know her, but it was still shocking to hear that something like that has happened in this street.

"There were police all over the place and they sealed the house off. There are now all sorts of rumours flying around about what happened to the poor woman.

"Hopefully, they will catch whoever was responsible for her murder."

An incident room has been set up at Cleveland Police's headquarters in Ladgate Lane, Middlesbrough. Anyone with information is urged to call (01642) 301333.

Residents can also contact the police at an incident caravan near the scene in Stirling Way, which is staffed 24 hours a day.