A poem written by a Police Community Support Officer in praise of her beloved village has emerged after her body was found on a countryside path.
Yesterday afternoon Kent Police announced that they had discovered a body in woodland outside Aylesham.
Today the force made the sad announcement that it was that of serving PCSO Julia James, a mother-of-two who lived in a tiny hamlet close to the village.
Since the news broke tributes have flooded in from people living in Aylesham - which one resident described as a "good, decent, hard working community".
Another said the "sleepy village", which is served by a couple of small shops and a pub, is the kind of place you feel comfortable leaving your bike unlocked.
Now townsfolk have been left reeling by the shocking death of Ms James, which police have said is suspicious and which flies in the face of Aylesham's reputation for peace and safety.
"It's quite unnerving to know that's happened in a sleepy hamlet," one person told Kent Online.
"It makes your blood run cold."
Two years before her death, Ms James wrote a poem praising Aylesham, which was built to serve the nearby Snowdown mines in the 1920s.
"A place where we belong, Yours and mine to carry on, Let’s do this with love and respect, Enjoy our lives, look back and reflect, Some of us remember days long gone, Homes with open doors sharing a song, Ayup and Tara the Aylesham salutes, Miners, our Grandads our grassroots," the 53-year-old wrote.
Linda Keen, a councillor representing an area that has been flooded with new builds in recent years, said the community was in "shock".
"This sort of incident is very atypical for Aylesham and doesn't really happen here," she said.
As more tributes to Ms James were made, a picture of her as a woman very well liked and imbedded in the community emerged.
Ben Sandowe said she had been round to his family home when he was a teenager to warn his mum about what he'd been up to.
The 23-year-old, who said she was "really nice", added: "Aylesham has a reputation that people don't like the police but they let her in."
Neighbours described Ms James, who lived on a 1930s former miners' housing estate close to where her body was found, as “friendly”.
“She’s the same age as our daughter - they went to school together," a couple who asked not to be named said:
“We have known her since she was four years old. She was always friendly - a nice woman.”
The married mother-of-two, who is also a grandmother, walked her dog in the area.
One neighbour claimed that her Jack Russell has not been seen since her body was found.
Leah Southwell, 18, a beauty student at Canterbury College who lives a few doors down from the PCSO, said the street was a close knit community.
She said: “It’s such a shock. I only spoke to her this week.
“Everyone looks out for everyone around here."
A marked police car was parked outside her semi-detached three-bedroomed home this afternoon.
Police have not revealed how the popular officer died, but a post-mortem is due to be held to establish the exact cause of death.
Kent Police also refused to say if Julia, who is believed to have served in the domestic violence unit, was on duty or off duty when she died.
A Kent Police spokesman said: "Kent Police is appealing for witnesses to come forward following the death of a woman near Dover.
"Officers were called shortly after 4pm on Tuesday April 27 to Ackholt Wood in the Aylesham Road area of Snowdown where the body of a woman, aged 53 was found.
"The victim is a serving Kent Police PCSO Julia James.
"No arrests have been made at this time but detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate are conducting enquiries to establish the circumstances and her death is being treated as suspicious.
"Officers are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area on Monday April 26 and Tuesday April 27 who may have seen something unusual or suspicious."
