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The Hogansville Police Department is in shock after unexpectedly losing one of their own.

Officer Nikki Starnes passed away Thursday night.

Hogansville Police Chief Jeff Sheppard said Starnes had worked for the department for about seven years.

Starnes passed away unexpectedly due to natural causes around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Sheppard said it was a shock to the department.

Starnes has served as a communications officer for years and recently took a position in the department as a property and evidence custodian.

“She was a very important part of our law enforcement family,” Sheppard said.

Officer Starnes is the wife of HPD K-9 Sgt. John Starnes, another longtime employee of the department.

“She was part of our family, even more so with her and John both being family, working there together,” Sheppard added.

Everyone in Hogansville knew Nikki, even if they didn’t know her name.

“Everybody knew her voice,” Sheppard said. “We don’t have a 911 system. The residents call directly to the police department. They call for police emergencies. The call for power outages. They call for everything.”

“Officer Starnes will be sorely missed by all of us,” said HPD in a post announcing her death.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by McKibben Funeral Home.