Police said it's possible the death of a woman on Sydney's northern beaches is not suspicious, after her body was found in a wheelie bin.
Officers were continuing to investigate the death on Thursday after they were called to Wyndora Avenue at Freshwater about 1.15pm on Wednesday after reports a body was located in a bin at the rear of a unit block.
The entire block of units was cordoned off with police tape as a crime scene was established in the afternoon, but police had left by early Wednesday evening.
Initially, police said the death was being treated as suspicious, however several hours after the woman's body was found, investigators were exploring the possibility the woman had died by misadventure.
One possibility was the woman had suffered a medical episode or fallen into the bin.
"Enquiries into the circumstances of the death continue, we await results of a post mortem examination," a police spokeswoman said on Thursday.
"However it is possible the death is not suspicious."
One neighbour, Jessie Jan, told Seven News the woman's legs were discovered sticking out of the bin when another neighbour went to put her rubbish out.
"She said she went to the bin, put rubbish in and she saw something and rang the police," Ms Jan said.
Another neighbour, Mary-Louise Parkinson, said the unit block was mainly occupied by older women who lived on their own.
"It's very, very shocking and terrible," she said. "I really feel for the family."
Police have not revealed the age of the woman.
About two dozen police, detectives and forensic police responded to scene, focusing on an area with bins and a car port at the end of a driveway on the Eric Street entrance to the units.
Some officers knocked on neighbours' doors while others in forensic suits walked back and forth from the rear of the unit block, examining and taking photos of the scene.
After several hours, they loaded brown paper evidence bags into the back of a police van, as well as a bulky item that appeared to be a green wheelie bin covered in brown paper and tape.
Neighbours walking their dogs and returning home on the quiet, leafy street were surprised to hear a woman had been found dead.
One woman appeared upset and spoke to detectives before she was led away and comforted by two friends.
The body was removed from the property at about 6pm, with police re-opening Eric Street and removing crime scene tape.
In a statement, police said detectives from the Homicide Squad were investigating the death with local police.
With Rachel Clun
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