Police investigating the suspected murder of a woman in Melbourne’s north are investigating whether she was followed off a tram from the city and attacked in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The woman, who has not been formally identified, was found by a passerby around 7am near the Polaris shopping centre car park, a short distance from the tram stop at the corner of Plenty Road and Main Drive in Bundoora.

“It’s apparent or it seems that the female has been assaulted,” Detective Inspector Andy Stamper said. “That’s really all I am prepared to say at this stage.”

Asked if she had been sexually assaulted, Stamper said: “That will be an active line of inquiry.”

He said homicide detectives were treating the death as suspicious.

He asked anyone who may have caught the No 86 tram from the city to Bundoora between 11pm and 1am on Tuesday night, and either saw something suspicious or noticed anyone get off at that stop, to contact police.

It is one of the tram stops used to access LaTrobe University.

“We really need the community’s assistance with this,” he said.

He has also asked anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage of the area covering that timeframe to contact police.

“We would ask for anyone that may have dashcam footage, CCTV, may have seen anything here, anything that could be a small piece in the jigsaw puzzle to contact Crime Stoppers,” he said.

It is seven months since the murder of Melbourne comedian Eurydice Dixon, whose body was found in Princes Park in Carlton early on the morning of 13 June. Dixon’s killer pleaded guilty in November.

Anyone with information has been asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.