He asked for anyone who may have been in the vicinity on Friday night or early Saturday morning, either driving past or walking in the area, to come forward with any information, no matter how small.

"Sadly at the moment we still don’t know who this female is, and we still don’t know the circumstance that brought her to the park or what happened," Detective Inspector Stamper said.

"We are very very keen for any members of the public who may have been in this area or overnight during the early hours of the morning to contact Crime Stoppers."

He made a particular point of appealing for information from rough sleepers, who are known to frequent the area.

"This is a horrendous crime, as all murders are," he said. "Our focus will be on catching the perpetrator of this horrendous crime."

The body was found by people who were walking their dog, which was off the lead at the time, he said.

Detective Inspector Stamper said it was too early to comment on the nature of the woman's injuries and whether the crime had occurred at another location.

The woman's death comes just under a year after the killing of Eurydice Dixon, whose body was found on an oval in Princes Park in Carlton North on June 12, 2018, several kilometres from Parkville. Ms Dixon was raped and murdered while walking home from a comedy club in the city.

It also follows the killing of 21-year-old Arab Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe in Bundoora in May this year. Ms Maasarwe had moved to Melbourne for a one-year exchange program to study at La Trobe University. She was killed walking from a tram stop to her home. Her body was found on grass near a Bundoora shopping centre.

"It's the death of a woman sadly again in our city," Detective Inspector Stamper said. "We get impacted as much as anyone else in the community."

Police have cordoned off part of Royal Park, between North Park Tennis Club and the Flemington Road Cricket Oval, with police tape and will conduct a line search of the area this afternoon.Officers have maintained a strict buffer around that part of the park, instructing media to stay around 50 metres away.

Earlier, there were two police vans inside the cordoned-off area parked next to a bicycle on its side.

Three forensic officers in face masks and gloves examined the area behind the police tape, which includes many trees and bushes.

One police officer indicated that the body was still at the scene, but would not say exactly where it was found.

A police helicopter arrived around 1pm and circled the cordoned-off area more than 10 times.

The police tape extends several hundreds metres up Elliott Avenue.

Around 10 police cars and vans, along with a State Emergency Service truck, are parked near the scene.

A damaged Audi was inside police tape around 400 metres north of the tennis club on Elliott Avenue.

Police said the silver sedan was already next to the road when they arrived this morning, and they are unsure who the car belongs to or how it arrived there.

Its passenger-side headlight area and bonnet are damaged.

Uniformed officers and detectives have been liaising near the tennis courts, where children and parents were playing tennis.

Traffic is busy on nearby Elliott Avenue, which remains open.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at crimestoppersvic.com.au