A chilling encounter with “the shovel man” had become talk of the town of Mount Macedon in the days leading to Karen Ristevski’s body being discovered in bushland.

The Age reports a Gisborne man had told of his chance meeting with a man leaving the bush on the outskirts of Mount Macedon, carrying a shovel.

It’s reported the man had dropped his friends home in the town after a party in December 2016.

While turning his car at an intersection of dirt road, the car’s headlights shone on another man leaving the bush.

The motorist was so rattled it’s claimed he later reported the encounter to police.

On Monday, after police confirmed Ms Ristevski’s body had been found in the area, the man drove to the scene with homicide detectives.

The middle-aged man had reportedly said he had seen a person carrying a shovel with “expressionless eyes”.

View photos Police at the Mount Macedon scene. Picture: 7 News More

View photos Police and SES scoured bushland in December 2016 in the Gisborne, Mount Macedon area. Photo: AAP More

The Age claims the man was asked not to talk about the incident, however the story had done the rounds around the small town.

A motel owner in the town where Ms Ristevski’s body was discovered, reportedly urged the man to go to police, after hearing the story.

The motel owner claimed to be a friend of the witness: “He'd seen this man walking out of the bush carrying a shovel. It was close to midnight,” the owner told The Age.

"The guy walked straight into his lights and he put the window down and jokingly said 'where did you bury the body'?

"It was really uncomfortable the way he reacted.

"The guy looked at him and didn't say anything. He just looked at him with a stone face."

It’s claimed the man was so shaken by the encounter; he wound up his window and drove off.

"This guy [the motorist] is a fair strapping lad, he's a big guy, so it would take a bit to frighten him,” the motel owner claimed.

"He just thought it was super creepy."

7 News Online have contacted Victoria Police for comment.

A police spokeswoman told The Age they would not be providing running commentary on the case.





Soil samples and shovel seized

The "shovel man" tale comes to light as soil samples and a shovel have reportedly been seized from Ms Ristevski’s home in what police hope will be a major breakthrough.

The Herald Sun reports that testing revealed two distinct soil types. The first matches soil found near the Avondale Heights home Ms Ristevski shared with husband, Borce, while the other matched soil found in the Gisborne - Macedon area, where her decomposing body was found on Monday.

Story continues