Detective Inspector Le Bas said a formal identification had yet to be completed, but the deceased woman was believed to be Tracey Lee Morris (46), of Papanui.
A forensic post mortem examination will be conducted this morning.
A jogger found the body slumped in the back seat of an abandoned car on Grays Rd, behind Christchurch International Airport, yesterday morning.
Police arrived at the scene at 9am to find the body in the rear of a blue Honda Civic, which was parked on a grassy roadside verge.
The investigation team has been speaking to Ms Morris' friends and associates, including work colleagues from the Phoenix Bar, on Main North Road, in an effort to establish her movements in the hours before her death.
"Tracey worked as a barmaid at the Phoenix Bar and was also patron there", says Detective Inspector Le Bas.
"The information we have to date is that Tracey was last seen on the afternoon of Tuesday, 3 January 2012, at the Phoenix Bar.," he said in a statement.
"We request the assistance of people who know Tracey to come forward and to provide information as to her whereabouts in the following days."
Police are also appealing for information on the movements of her car, a blue Honda Civic with the registration RN7333. .
A forensic examination of the car will be conducted, along with a wider area search around the Grays Road area.
Information should be directed to Christchurch Central Police Station Ph: 3637400, Operation Gray investigation.
