A man has been arrested after a woman’s body was found at a Hunter Valley home on Friday night following a suspected domestic violence incident.

Police found the body of the 39-year-old woman at a home at Kearsley, near Cessnock, after a child walked 300 to 400 metres from the home seeking neighbours’ help, Hunter Valley Police District Commander Superintendent Steve Laksa said on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, detectives commenced a manhunt and made an appeal to the public to find 37-year-old Christopher James McLoughney, who lived with the 39-year-old woman and had been in an intimate relationship with her since June.

Police arrested McLoughney on Saturday night after he was spotted in Bellbird, six kilometres south-west of Cessnock.

Police seized a 2008 black Hyundai Tuscon SUV whic

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