Body of music teacher 'preserved for five weeks' before panicking killer burnt it

The body of a murdered music teacher found burning in woodland may have been preserved for up to five weeks before the killer became "spooked" and dumped it, detectives said yesterday.

Jane Longhurst, 31, from Brighton, went missing on 14 March. She was set ablaze, possibly using petrol, and her charred remains were found in a nature reserve near Pulborough, West Sussex, on Saturday evening. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been strangled several weeks earlier.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Dennis, of Sussex Police, who is leading the investigation, said her body must have been "reasonably well preserved" and placed "somewhere cool" for more than a month, because decomposition was not advanced.

"We know she has been dead for four to five weeks and suddenly, out of the blue, she is moved from wherever she has been kept in a place where she has been reasonably well preserved," he said.

He added that her killer had most likely been "spooked" into dumping her body on Wiggonholt common, part of an RSPB reserve, 20 miles from Brighton.

It was panic that drove her killer to dump her body in an area that was clearly visible from a road and footpaths, particularly on a busy bank holiday weekend, DCI Dennis said. "It was an urgent gut reaction that whoever it was had to get rid of her body. It was a panic-type situation."

He appealed for anyone who had noticed a friend or family member acting suspiciously or smelling of smoke that evening to contact Sussex Police.

Ms Longhurst lived with her long-term partner, Malcolm Sentance, a 34-year-old social worker. In a statement on behalf of Mr Sentance and her family, she was described as someone "who enjoyed life to the full". The statement read: "We cannot put into words how we are feeling at the moment. While we were expecting the worse, none of us could be prepared for how devastating this is.

"We have lost a devoted daughter, sister and partner. Jane was loved by all who knew her and she enjoyed life to the full. She was missed terribly and her death has left a hole in all our lives."

Paul Atkins, the headteacher at Uplands Special School, in Hollingdean, Brighton, where she had worked, led tributes to a "delightful, genuine and caring person" who had been "dedicated" to her pupils.

Meanwhile police are trying to trace some of Ms Longhurst's belongings that have gone missing. They include a Nokia 3310 mobile phone, a black wallet from the high street store Next, a pair of shoes and a blue denim jacket. Her bank account had not been touched and her phone had been switched off.

Police are seeking information on three vehicles seen in the area where the body was found. They include a Renault Espace seen driving near the nature reserve, a red Volkswagen car, seen emerging from the A283, with a male driver aged 40 to 45, and a brown or dark green Ford Focus, which was parked in a nearby car park.