The sexual crimes squad have taken over the investigation into what happened to a young woman who has been found in a car, 15 kilometres from where she went missing while jogging 24 hours earlier.

The 18-year-old university student was found by police in the car on Hermitage Drive, Maiden Gully, near Bendigo, about 4.50pm on Thursday.

State Emergency Service volunteers search for the woman on Wednesday night. Credit:Bendigo Advertiser

A Bendigo man aged in his 30s was arrested by police in Maiden Gully shortly after the vehicle was located and remains in police custody. The man was picked up in the "very close vicinity" of where the woman was found, police said.

Maiden Gully is an urban neighbourhood about 13 kilometres from One Tree Hill, an area of thick bushland where the woman had gone for a run after class about 3pm on Wednesday.