The body of a US woman whom neighbours say they last saw several years ago has been found in a sport utility vehicle parked in the garage of a foreclosed home northwest of Detroit.

An employee of a property management company working for a bank that now owns the house stumbled upon the body in the rear seat of the vehicle while doing a walk-through on Wednesday, the Oakland County sheriff's office said.

The home in Pontiac where the body was discovered. Credit:Fox News screengrab

The body was described by the sheriff's office as being "in a mummified state".

An autopsy performed on Thursday by the county medical examiner's office found no trauma to the body. A cause of death has yet to be determined.