Stephen Boyd, 51, was arrested and taken into police custody at 4.55pm on Monday after police spotted him driving down the Kings Highway at Braidwood. 

The driver took a wrong turn into lower Wallace Street and ran into a dead end. 

The man is understood to be the partner of Tina Kontozis, who was bashed to death with a cricket bat in Bundeena on Sunday.

Stephen Boyd, 51, was arrested and taken into police custody at 4.55pm on Monday after police spotted him driving down the Kings Highway at Braidwood. 

Police were called to the home in Beachcomber Avenue about 3.30pm on Sunday after neighbours heard fighting and screaming. It is believed Ms Kontozis, 51, was bashed to death with a cricket bat.

A 17-year-old boy sought refuge at a nearby home and is in a satisfactory condition in hospital. It's understood he suffered injuries to his arm trying to protect Ms Kontozis.

Police set up checkpoints and conducted an air search of bushland in the surrounding Royal National Park but Mr Boyd has not been found. He is thought to have been driving a silver 2002 model Holden Commodore sedan with NSW registration plates BZ 53 ZO.

As forensic officers gathered evidence from the home on Monday, those affected by Ms Kontozis's death left bouquets of flowers by the police tape cordoning off the street. "RIP Tina, a beautiful flower cut down too soon", one card read.

Handpicked flowers were also left outside the Goanna Patch Kindergarten, where Ms Kontozis cared for a generation of Bundeena's children.

A neighbour, Michael Vink, said the small community had been shocked by the violence, and saddened by the death of a popular resident.

"I don't think you would find anybody that had a bad word to say about Tina," he said. 

"She was delightful. We have a nine-year-old daughter who was taught by her at the preschool, as were so many children in the town. She always remembered every child by name and always had a kind word and a smile."

Detective Chief Inspector Terry O'Neill, the Sutherland Local Area Command Crime Manager, said Mr Boyd was known to police, but would not comment on whether there was a history of domestic violence in the case.

Earlier on Monday he urged Mr Boyd to contact police, saying they had concerns for his welfare.

"We have made a number of visits to friends and acquaintances of Mr Boyd in an attempt to establish where he is," he said.

smh.com.au