Missing woman's family told of burning body find

The family of a teacher who is missing, feared murdered, was informed yesterday of the discovery of a woman's burning body on a common.

Detectives said it was possible that the body found in woodland near a West Sussex nature reserve was that of Jane Longhurst, a music teacher who vanished from her home in Brighton on 14 March.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony O'Donnell said it appeared that someone had dumped the body and then set it alight to "destroy evidence".

A motorist driving across Wiggonholt common, near Pulborough, at 8pm on Saturday saw a fire in nearby trees and alerted the fire brigade. Firefighters found the burning body near an RSPB reserve about 100ft from a small road which cuts across the common.

Yesterday, a yellow forensic examination tent covered the spot as officers searched the surrounding area. A post-mortem examination was being carried out yesterday.

Det Ch Insp O'Donnell said that police had no idea how the woman's body came to be on the common. "I can confirm the body is that of a woman. Our focus today is to identify her," he said.

"The family of Jane Longhurst have been notified. We are mindful that she is missing and it is possible that it could be her – but there is also a strong possibility that it is not."

Police looking for Ms Longhurst, 31, have made extensive searches of woodland and heathland across Sussex. But they have found no trace of the missing woman, a teacher at Uplands School in Brighton, who was last seen standing at her front door in Brighton carrying shopping.

Her mother, Liz; sister Sue, and long-term partner, Malcolm Sentance, have made several television appeals for help in finding her. Police say they believe she may have been abducted and killed.

A reward of £5,000 was offered two weeks ago for information about Ms Longhurst's disappearance. Police were baffled that no one had seen her or come forward with information about her.

At an earlier appeal, Mr Sentance, 34, said: "I started to consider the worst after three days. I have already started to grieve."