The owner of the vehicle, a man from Aurskog-Høland,has been reported missing.

”We don’t know the identity of the man who was found dead but we do have information we can work with. We hope to have an identity over the course of the day, or tomorrow at the latest,” said police inspector Hanne Kristin Rohde at a Friday press conference.

A police spokesman said the owner of the vehicle was reported missing on Thursday night.

”His wife contacted the police,” Einar Svendsen told newspaper Romerikes Blad.

The woman was not known to the police, Svendsen added.

Hanne Kristin Rohde said police had not yet ascertained how long the body had been in the car, or for how long the car had been parked at Sondrevegen in Montebello, western Oslo.

”We’re very interested in getting tips from members of the general public who may have seen something unusual in the area at any time over the last week. The fact that we’re going back a week is a bit of a shot in the dark since there’s much we don’t yet know,” said Rohde.

A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out later on Friday or on Saturday, Rohde said.

The dead man’s body was found at 9.30pm on Thursday, three hours after a neighbour contacted the police to report a car that had been parked in a turning area.  

Police continued to work at the scene all through the night.

”Personal injuries and finds made at the site led us to open a murder investigation,” said Rohde.

The car in which the body was found was a station wagon, police said, without revealing any further details.

One person living in the area said the car had been parked illegally in a turning area for several days, newspaper Dagbladet reports.