The gruesome discovery of a decomposing, plastic-wrapped body near the nation’s busiest airport has sparked a homicide probe as investigators work to find out the dead woman’s identity.

Detectives were on Monday afternoon still working with local police to scour dense scrub close to Sydney Airport after a jogger found the remains in bushes not far from a road.

Police were yet to identify the body, nor did they know where the death might have occurred, how or when the woman died or how she came to be in the scrub near Foreshore Road in Botany.

But the death was being treated as “more than likely murder” because of the circumstances surrounding the find and items at the crime scene, Homicide Squad commander Danny Doherty said.

He called on anyone who might be concerned for a family member to consider contacting authorities to help them identify the victim.

“It’s a gruesome discovery … there’s someone who doesn’t know the news yet that their loved one has not only been killed, but more than likely been murdered,” Doherty said.

“It appears the body was disposed of off Foreshore Road in an attempt to hide the body. There may be people out there who are missing a loved one … it could be someone’s mother, daughter, sister, friend.”

The body was found in bushland near Botany Bay, between the airport and Port Botany, Sydney’s main shipping terminal.

The discovery was made very early in the morning when a runner spotted the plastic-shrouded remains, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.

The body was yet to be moved by the early afternoon because its decomposition was slowing processing of the crime scene, Doherty said.

“It’s a very tragic situation, a female has lost their life and has been dumped on the side of the road.”

-AAP