Hamburg police are searching for a ‘Jack the Ripper’-style murderer who cut a sex worker into pieces and scattered her body parts across the city. Some of the body parts were found 25km apart.

Axar.az reports citing RT news, the latest piece, the seventh, was found in the Goldbekkanal canal on Thursday, the local Hamburger Morgenpost (HM) newspaper reported, citing police.

The woman, identified in local media as 48-year-old Lucy, was reported missing August 1. She was reportedly working in the St. Georg neighborhood of Hamburg as a prostitute. Lucy was a citizen of Equatorial Guinea, West Africa, but had lived in Spain before moving to Germany, according to ARD broadcaster.

The first of Lucy's body parts were discovered earlier in August near the shore of the Elbe River, German media said. Then on Monday, a passerby found a torso near a city canal.

Some of the pieces were found 25km from each other. All of them are believed to belong to one person, Hamburg police officer Heike Uhde told HM.

German BTV broadcaster released a map which shows various places in Hamburg where the body parts were found.

According to a spokeswoman, police have no “hot” clues into the murder, the Local reported.

Prostitution was legalized in Germany in 2002, with brothels openly operating in almost every town. “Night ladies” can be hired on a contract, while the majority work independently.

In July 2017, Berlin introduced more regulation into the prostitution business. Under the legislation, brothels or businesses that offer sex services must apply for a permit, which is granted if the organization meets all health and hygiene requirements.