A driver spotted a car dangerously parked near PCSO Julia James’ home shortly before the 53-year-old was bludgeoned to death while walking her dog, it emerged today.
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 – being searched for the first time by police today – 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.
Search teams today 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
Detectives hunting the killer of PCSO Julia James have released a picture of her in the same clothes she wore when she died
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 today.
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 today, 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.
Around 10 marked and unmarked vehicles remained parked on Aylesham Road today compared to about 30 during initial inquiries.
Meanwhile, it emerged this morning 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 today as the murder investigation rumbles on
Julia, 53, had taken her beloved Jack Russell Toby out for a walk from her home in Snowdown, Kent when she was attacked on April 27
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.
Meanwhile, search teams today 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.
One team of 24 officers all dressed in black formed a line and slowly moved through the foot-high grass with four foot sticks to scour the undergrowth in hope of unearthing clues.
Some of the specialist searchers appeared to be leading and overseeing the operation by telling others where to look – using a handheld screen for intel.
It comes after it emerged yesterday 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.’
Police are particularly interested in the area bordered in red in connection with their investigation into the murder
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.’