Baffled Kent Police have asked for assistance from forces across the country to help them solve PCSO Julia James’ murder.
Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said the force does not know who the killer is, if they are a man or woman, what weapon was used nor what the motive was.
When asked whether the killer had struck before, Chief Constable Pughsley said: ‘I hope not.’
Ms James was found bludgeoned to death in woodland with a ‘severe traumatic injury’ near her home in Snowdown, Kent, on Tuesday, April 27.
The force yesterday expanded their search area around the small village and have been looking for clues at several locations including the woodland.
And Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £10,000 for information leading to the conviction of Julia’s killer.
While the force does not know what the murder weapon is, Chief Constable Pughsley said Ms James was killed in the ‘most brutal of circumstances’.
Baffled Kent Police have asked for help from forces across the country to help them solve PCSO Julia James’ (pictured) murder
Detectives released a picture of Ms James in the same clothes she wore when she died
Officer were seen to enter the former Snowdown Colliery at around 1pm yesterday afternoon
The chief constable said he has asked national police forces to help in their investigations to take the pressure of worn out Kent officers who are working ’24 hours, seven days a week’.
He said the National Crime Agency has been drafted in to investigate the ‘style of the attack’, as well as the killer’s motive.
Other officers will help with door-to-door inquiries for the next four to six weeks, he added, while some work on the ‘painstaking’ inch-by-inch finger search of the scene where Ms James’ body was found.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said: ‘It’s a massive case. As you would imagine we throw absolutely everything at every murder and this is a murder of Julia in the most brutal of circumstances on April 27.
‘So pretty much since that time we’ve had hundreds and hundreds of officers and staff working 24 hours, seven days a week
‘We’re about to go to go to national police forces to ask for some help on that, that went out on my behalf yesterday.
‘And as you would expect pretty much every single chief constable in the land is offering whatever assistance they can to help find the murderer.’
He said the force doesn’t have a motive for Ms James’ murder, but said they have ‘a really wide mind to why this has happened’.
Ms James was found dead in woodland with a ‘severe traumatic injury’ near her home in Snowdown, Kent, on Tuesday, April 27. Pictured: Police continuing their search
Chief Constable Pughsley added: ‘We do not at this time have a focused suspect.
‘We have lots of lines of inquiry, lots of people to think about, lots of work to do.
‘But we need to just get that little bit of luck, little bit of public information, little bit of forensic examination to come back to identify this individual so we can capture him or her.’
When asked why he’s reaching out to national forces, he replied: ‘So there’s probably three things.
‘The style of the attack. We’ve got expertise from the national crime agency who have been really helpful with regards to motive and/or why or any other reason this person may have done that so there’s some specialism coming in from the NCA.
‘We’ve got lots of detectives doing house to house and investigative work. But also, as much as they don’t want to they need a little bit of a rest every now and again.
Police vans parked outside a former colliery site near PCSO Julia James’ home as the police search for clues in the relation to her death and Crimestoppers put up a £10,000 reward for information
‘So we’ve got detectives coming in from other forces to help us for the next maybe 4-6 weeks.
‘And then we’ve got painstaking but incredibly important inch-by-inch finger search of the scene which as you know was a massive rural area.
‘We are looking for that tiny piece of evidencce whether it be on an exit route or an entry route or somewhere along the way to identify and again tie in the murderer.
‘As for the suspect, we are not narrow on that.
‘We are looking anywhere for the suspect, whether or not he or she travelled into the area, whether they’re from the area, whether they’re a Kent resident, whether they’re further afield.
‘It matters not to us. We are looking wide and broad for him or her.’
He said the force is ‘not 100 per cent sure’ of what weapon was used to kill Ms James.
He added: ‘It was a severe traumatic injury to Julia but it would be wrong to talk about what style of weapon was used until we: One, have the suspect and two: have some more detail about the weapon that was used.
Kent Police officers are planning to carry out searches at a number of locations after expanding the area of interest
When asked if the killer has struck before he said: ‘To be fair, I don’t know. That’s a brutally honest answer. I don’t know.
‘Because we don’t know yet who the killer is.
‘I hope not and we’re going to do everything we can to try and capture this person as quickly as we possibly can.’
Appealing to her killer, he said: ‘You will never ever ever completely get away with this.
‘You’ll have to keep looking over your shoulder and at some stage we’ll be there to get you and we will get you. The best thing you can do is hand yourself in’
On Tuesday police patrols stopped a total of 449 cars on nearby road spoke to drivers and passengers who could have help information.
The force yesterday released a map of the local area, saying they remain keen to hear from anyone who was inside a red section of fields between 1pm and 4.30pm on the day Ms James was murdered.
Mick Duthie, director of operations at charity Crimestoppers, announced a reward of up to £10,000 for any anonymous information that leads to the conviction of Ms James’ killer.
‘The public, like our charity, have been horrified at this heart-breaking loss of such an innocent life. Our thoughts are very much with Julia’s family and friends at this terrible time,’ he said.
‘Crimestoppers is here to help people who – for whatever reason – won’t or can’t speak directly to the police, but want to do the right thing. By contacting our charity with information, we guarantee that you will stay 100 per cent anonymous.
‘We’re not interested in who you are and will never ask for your details – all we want is information, however small, that might help find those behind this murder.
‘Julia’s life has mercilessly been taken away. If you know who was involved, please remember our charity’s unique service guaranteeing your anonymity is here for you.
‘Crimestoppers has been taking crime information since our charity began in the late 1980s. Every day over a thousand people contact us online and over the phone.
‘By contacting us, you can help – anonymously – to have the person behind Julia’s murder face up to the consequences of their violent actions and you may even prevent someone else from coming to harm.
Search teams yesterday expanded their perimeter and could be seen examining hedgerows and a field around a mile away from a white forensic tent where Julia’s body was found
‘Our UK Contact Centre is open 24/7 on 0800 555 111 or you can use our simple and secure anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.’
It comes after it emerged a driver spotted a car dangerously parked near the PCSO’s home shortly before the 53-year-old was killed.
Sheila Tanton, 68, drives past Snowdown – the quiet hamlet near Dover where Julia was brutally killed last week – from her home in Elvington every Tuesday and Thursday when visiting her mother in Canterbury.
She has now revealed that she noticed a black estate car near the entrance of a disused coal mine – which was searched for the first time by police yesterday – just a few hours before the attack is thought to have taken place, between 3pm and 4pm on April 27.
Ms Tanton said: ‘I didn’t really pay much attention at the time but I know it was a black estate car. It looked pretty new as it was lovely and gleaming.
‘It stuck in my memory because of how stupidly it was parked on a blind bend on double yellow lines.
‘I thought someone might go into the back of it on the corner on the bridge over the railway line. It didn’t have hazard lights on and there was no one in the car.
‘It was 12.50pm on the Tuesday when I was driving to Canterbury.
‘It’s been playing on my mind and I’ve been racking my brains on what I saw when I passed here on the day she was killed. I will be reporting this to the police.’
Kent Police declined to comment on Ms Tanton’s discovery, after detectives insisted they would not provide a ‘running commentary’ on the investigation.
The car was parked around 30 yards from the Holt Street entrance into Snowdown where Julia lived.
Detectives began searching the disused Snowdown Colliery, which is right next to where the black estate car was allegedly parked, for the first time yesterday.
Officers were seen inside the old coal mine which closed in 1987 searching around the multiple derelict buildings.
It sites next to Snowdown railway station opposite the entrance to the quiet hamlet and around 400 yards from Julia’s home.
Two marked Kent Police Land Rovers and a Ford Kuga from the Rural Task Force were parked in the entrance to the eerie setting.
Two were seen peering inside the corrugated iron roof of an outbuilding for clues.
The red brick buildings, many of which are covered in graffiti and have windows smashed in, are surrounded by spiked fencing and terrifying razor wire.
Signs warn ‘DANGEROUS BUILDINGS. KEEP OUT,’ and ‘These premises are protected by dog patrols,’ with 24 hour CCTV in operation.
But the six-foot high rusted entrance gate is easily jumpable and the private property is popular with urban explorers.
The report of a black car follows a police notice warning of a man in his 60s in a black BMW who approached two dog walkers down a quiet country lane in nearby Nonington on March 16.
He offered them cigarettes in exchange for their pooches and asked if they wanted rid of them anyway – leading police to warn of dog abductors and call for vigilance.
The search appears to be intensifying and expanding as the hunt for Julia’s killer enters its tenth day.
Resources have now been moved away from Ackholt Wood where her body was found and are now being diverted to the surrounding fields.
Five Kent Police vans were parked on Aylesham Industrial Estate yesterday, around a mile from where Julia was found.
Officers from those vans are searching fields and hedgerows off Spinney Lane which was used for vehicle stop checks on Tuesday.
A further three police vans were seen driving through the vast crops on the other side of the woodland as searches move more towards Womenswold and Woolage Village.
Meanwhile, it emerged this week that detectives believe Julia left her home only around an hour before she was found bludgeoned to death.
The 53-year-old had taken her beloved Jack Russell Toby out for a walk, when she was brutally attacked.
Police had not previously revealed what time she left the house in the quiet hamlet near Dover, where she was working that afternoon, before her body was discovered at 4.08pm.
But a new appeal for information leaflet now suggests Julia set off just after 3pm once she finished her shift.
It was only around 60 minutes later that members of the public then found her dead on a public bridle path on the edge of Ackholt Wood, and called the police.
A large team of officers continued their search for clues as the murder investigation rumbles on
The new flyer being handed out locally reads: ‘Kent Police is keen to speak to anyone who is yet to come forward with information about the murder of PCSO Julia James.
‘Julia was found next to Ackholt Wood, near to Aylesham Road, Snowdown, at around 4pm on Tuesday 27 April 2021.
‘She had been out walking her dog having left her home in The Crescent nearby just after 3pm.’
It again urges anyone who was in the remote area on Monday or Tuesday who may have seen anything unusual or suspicious to call Kent Police.
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It emerged this week that detectives hunting the killer have tested Julia’s dog for forensic clues to try and track down her murderer.
Assistant Chief Constable Tom Richards told a press conference yesterday the pedigree pet, found next to her body, had laboratory swabbing for any evidence.
He said: ‘We have got a very considerable forensic strategy as you would expect, it does include the dog. That is being staged through the laboratories. We have considered all the opportunities around Toby.’
Julia had finished her shift and headed out from home with her Jack Russell at around 3pm – her body, with her loyal dog sat next to it, was found at 4pm on Tuesday, April 27
Police also released a picture of Julia with Toby wearing the same clothes she was in before she was bludgeoned to death on a remote country footpath.
ACC Richards said detectives investigating the murder were ‘still are not aware of a motive’ and have not made any arrests.
Julia’s nephews Ryan and Dan have said their aunt’s ‘smile and humour could light up the darkest of rooms’.
They wrote in a heartbreaking tribute on a bunch of flowers left in Aylesham’s historic market square: ‘Auntie Julia. We all miss you so very much.
‘Your smile and humour could light up the darkest of rooms. Words can’t describe how much we all miss you.
‘The world is most certainly a better place for having you in it. All our love. Ryan and Dan.’
Another floral tribute had a card titled ‘with fond memories of sister-in-law’ which read: ‘Words can’t say how much we will miss you. A beautiful soul inside and out. Rest in peace. Robert and Sharon.’
Kent Police’s East Kent Task Force Team also left a bunch of flowers. Their tribute read: ‘PCSO Julia James. Thank you for your service. You are truly missed from your police family.’
It was accompanied with the #justiceforjulia hashtag which is being used on social media to help keep the murder in the public eye.
Another card read: ‘With heartfelt condolences from the women of Reclaim These Streets Deal. R.I.P Julia.’
