A south Suffolk village is still reeling with shock a week after a mother-of-six was fatally attacked while walking her dog.
Anita Rose, 57, was walking her Springer Spaniel, Bruce, close to Rectory Lane in Brantham before she was found unconscious with a serious head injury on the morning of Wednesday, July 24.
She died in hospital on Sunday and a man was arrested on suspicion of murder before being released on bail.
Reverend at St Michael’s Church in Brantham, Chris Willis, spoke of the impact the incident has had on the quiet village near the border with Essex.
UPDATE: Man from Brantham arrested on suspicion of murder
He said: “It’s a week on and there is still the same shock and bewilderment. People can’t understand how this has happened.
“It’s inexplicable: the location, the time, everything. Regularly people are coming in and spending time in the church.
“It’s not unusual people coming in and lighting a candle or leaving flowers.”
He added: “I’m also out and about and talking to people and everyone is trying to process what happened and we are all deeply upset.
“It is a shared community grief between those who didn’t know her at all, those who knew her as a dog walker and others who knew her better. It’s shared grief.”
Alastair McCraw, an independent district councillor at Babergh District Council for the Brantham parish, said a week on people were finding ways to support each other.
Mr McCraw said: “People are coping. They’re looking after each other.
"Some people have altered their routes to walk, and other people are looking out for each other and going in pairs and letting each other know where it’s safe to go and where they’re going so they can report back.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty and despite the arrests and the post-mortem examination, we don’t have any clarity."
He added: “People have been very supportive of each other and there has not been a lot of speculation on social media, which we asked them not to do because it doesn’t help the police and they’re expressing a lot of sympathy for the family of Anita.
“We really just hope the police can bring this to a conclusion.”
The murder investigation continues and leaflets about the attack have been distributed by police in a bid to shed more light on the incident.
Police were back in Brantham conducting an anniversary search between 5am and 8am on Wednesday - exactly a week on from the attack.
Some officers remained in the village several hours later.
British Transport Police officers were on trains between Ipswich and Manningtree on Wednesday morning to see if anyone had information related to the incident, with the route being the commuter line to London.
A Home Office post-mortem examination was unable to determine a cause of Ms Rose's death, with further tests to be carried out.
Earlier this week, Detective Superintendent Mike Brown spoke of the "concern" in the community that the man who had previously been arrested on suspicion of murder had been released on bail until October 25.
He said: "It is important to understand that at times it may be necessary to make arrests in serious and complex investigations based on the evidence available at that time to fully understand the role individuals may have played in any offences identified."
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