A mother was discovered with the rotting remains of her teenage son, who went missing more than a decade ago, hidden inside her car boot.

Tonya Slayton was pulled over by police in a routine check when they smelled the stench of decomposing flesh coming from her vehicle, Virginia State Police said.

USA Today reports the 44-year-old, of Richmond, was driving a Ford Mustang when she was stopped on the morning of June 6 on Interstate 64 in Hampton.

The trooper noticed a large white spot on the floor behind the driver's seat that Slayton said was from the beach, according to a search warrant.

The officer wanted to know what was in the boot and opened it.

The mother said there were just clothes in there, but the reality was far more gory.

The lid was opened and the trooper reported smelling "rotting flesh," according to the document.

Slaton began throwing clothes on top of the spare tire, which is where the trooper found two plastic bags wrapped in duct tape full of human remains.

No one has seen her son, Quincy Jamar Davis, since 2004 when he was in seventh grade at Virginia Beach Middle School.

Quincy would have just turned 25. 

Slaton was charged with concealment of a dead body and remains in Hampton Roads Regional Jail on remand.

Additional charges are pending as inquiries into the cause of death continue.