At a press conference in Dubbo on Wednesday afternoon, NSW Deputy Commissioner Geoff McKechnie said a 23-year-old female died in the motor vehicle collision on Ophir Road.

Just after 11pm officers from Canobolas Local Area Command were conducting patrols when they observed a vehicle and turned around to follow it.

A short time later, police located the vehicle crashed off the roadway. A woman was located deceased inside the rear passenger seat.

There was a male passenger who remained at the scene, the driver and another were believed to have fled, Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said.

“All of those people have now been spoken to and will be processed in accordance with any offences they may have committed,” he said.

“A male is in custody at Orange Police Station who we will allege was the driver of that vehicle. He’s currently in a time out process and will more than likely be charged [Wednesday afternoon] with offenses in relation to the death of that young woman.”

He said police arrived minutes after the collision but were not in pursuit of the offending vehicle.

“We’re obviously talking to all the witnesses talking to the police officers but at this stage the police certainly didn’t witness the crash of the offending vehicle and there was obviously some significant distance between the two vehicles,” the Assistant Commissioner said.

As he hadn’t seen the detail of the police officers’ statements at the time of the press conference, Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said he was unsure what drew the attention of police to the vehicle.

“In terms of what we know to date, the police were patrolling as part of their normal course of duties and at this stage there’s nothing to indicate otherwise,” he said.

The woman has yet to be formally identified.

“To leave the young woman in the rear of the vehicle, obviously as mortally wounded as she was, it’s beggars belief that someone would do that, but it’s not surprising,” Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said.

The critical incident team from Orana Local Area Command is looking into the matter, he said.