NSW man arrested over woman's murder

A man has been charged with murdering a mother found dead after she was taken while cooking dinner for her children on the NSW Central Coast.

Police on Thursday morning charged a 66-year-old Windale man with the murder of aged-care worker Renee Mitchell,38, after his car was stopped in Cardiff.

A passerby called police after finding the woman's body in Bangalay Reserve in Windale, near Lake Macquarie, on Wednesday morning.

The mother of four is yet to be formally identified by police, but Fairfax media have identified her as Ms Mitchell.

Police said she suffered injuries before her death, but they don't yet know if she died at the park or somewhere else.

Dylan Granger, who is a friend of the woman's son, said she was just wearing boxers and a baggy t-shirt.

"She had to go to work and was in the middle of cooking dinner for her little kids," he told the ABC.

The 66-year-old man was refused bail and will appear in Newcastle Local Court on Thursday.