Police at the the spot along the Pacific Highway where the body was found. Credit: James Brickwood The grim discovery follows weeks of daily police searches of the bushland around Sydney's northern suburbs, since Ms Qi was reported missing on June 9. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Detectives from Campsie Police Area Command established a crime scene on Wednesday morning and spent around seven hours investigating the scrubby roadside area, which is about a kilometre from the Berowra exit. Although the scene is only about 200 metres from Mount Ku-ring-gai train station, there is no direct access from the station to the spot where the body was found.

The location where police found the body believed to belong to missing woman Qi Yu. Credit:Google Maps However, the scene is very close to an emergency stopping lane, which has been cordoned off. Investigators on Wednesday afternoon could be seen working a few metres inside the guard rail, under a yellow wattle tree. At about 3.20pm, the team could be seen retrieving the body and placing it inside a van. The body believed to be missing Campsie woman Qi Yu is retrieved. Credit:James Brickwood

One of three northbound lanes of the Pacific Motorway has been closed to traffic but is expected to reopen around 4.30pm. The crime scene will be held under police guard overnight, and investigations will continue in the morning, a NSW Police spokesman said. The body believed to be Qi Yu is loaded into a van. Credit:James Brickwood Ms Qi was last seen at her share house in Campsie, in Sydney's south-west, on June 8. She was speaking to her mother in China by phone about 7.15pm when she hung up abruptly. That was the last time anyone is known to have spoken to her, and her female housemate reported her missing to police at 9am the next day.

Less than 12 hours later, her car was found in Burwood about four kilometres from her home. On June 13, Ms Qi's male housemate Shuo Dong, 19, was charged with murder. At the time he was not believed to be assisting police with finding her body. Police used phone records to track the movement of Ms Qi's car, which travelled around the Hornsby, Berowra, Cowan and Mount Ku-ring-gai the night she went missing. Qi Yu's father Zhihe Yu and mother Qing He appealed to the public for information about their daughter's disappearance last month. Credit:Louie Douvis Police believed she had been transported in her car, but would not confirm if she was alive at the time.

They also conducted an extensive search of bushland in Sydney's north in hopes of finding her body. Loading Her parents flew to Sydney from China late last month to appeal for information about their daughter’s disappearance. "Both of us cannot sleep every night. My wife's tears run dry," her father Zhihe Yu told a media conference. "We went to Ku-ring-gai national park to search our daughter.