A WOMAN'S four-year-old son was at home when she was found dead after being the victim of what police have described as "a violent attack".
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Police and emergency services were called to a property on Doveton Street South on Saturday morning after relatives visited the house and found the 29-year-old woman.
The child is being looked after by family members as police investigate the circumstances of the death.
Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Snare from the Homicide Squad said the death happened some time overnight on Friday night and was being treated as suspicious.
He said he was waiting on a post-mortem to see how the woman died but asked the public to come forward if they heard or saw anything suspicious in the area.
"There are obvious signs of an injury, an incident has occurred. She has sustained a severe injury which appears to be violent," he said.
He said the police did not have anyone in custody over the incident.
"It's very early in the investigation and were still inquiring as to the exact circumstances. It would be too prejudicial at this stage to jump to any conclusions," he said.
Police were looking into the possibility of breaking and entering at the cream weatherboard house, he said.
A relative of the woman said she "felt sick" after finding out about the incident.
She said she believed the woman was shot, however police declined to confirm this.
"I don't know any more, I just wanted to know what's going on," she said.
Two properties including a podiatrist next door have been cordoned off as forensic police collect evidence from the crime scene.
Paramedics were called to the scene on Saturday morning with reports of an assault however Ambulance Victoria referred requests for information to police.
Nearby resident Mark Kelava said the neighbourhood was typically very quiet.
"I'm in shock, that's all I can say," he said.
"Normally this is a friendly street, we all know each other."
Patricia Hood said the people who lived in the house were quiet and only moved in last year.
"I got a shock when my husband woke me up and said 'the coppers are out here'," she said.
"We didn't think this would happen so close."
Ian Dwyer said he wasn't concerned about the safety of the area.
"We don't know what's happened across the street, but we're not concerned about the street or anything like that."
If you have information, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
