A SUSPECT has handed himself into police after a woman was found dead in the boot of a burnt out car.

Christopher Raymond Jeffrey-Shaw went to a police station in south-east London early yesterday morning and was subsequently arrested.

Last night police said the 26-year-old was in custody and was being questioned by officers. Police opened a murder investigation and launched a man hunt for Jeffrey-Shaw, who is from London, after a Volkswagen Jetta saloon was dumped and set alight near the Ifield Golf and Country Club in Crawley on Friday.

When firefighters were called to extinguish it they made the grim discovery at around 2.30pm.

Officers from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team are still struggling to identify the woman, who died from smoke inhalation – suggesting she was burned alive in the boot of the car.

The remains of the woman, believed to have been in her 20s, were so badly burnt that a post-mortem examination had to be conducted to determine whether the body was male or female.

A Sussex Police spokesman said officers are investigating why the car was dumped in Crawley and details of the victim’s final journey remained unclear. She said it was not clear where the car was travelling from or if the victim was in the boot for the duration of the journey.

She said checking CCTV is a line of enquiry they are using and officers are “keeping an open mind as to the exact circumstances”.

A 34-year-old woman from Dulwich, London, who was arrested on suspicion for conspiracy to murder, has been released on bail until March 30.

Anyone who may know the victim’s identity or has any other information should call 101 or email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting Operation Maderia.