Karen Ristevski: Man seen standing with slain Kiwi mum's car near burial site

A witness has told Australian homicide detectives they saw a man standing next to murdered New Zealand woman Karen Ristevski's car near where her body was dumped in bushland.

The unidentified man was standing alone with the car in the Mt Macedon area - and came before the much-publicised discovery of her remains off a dirt road between two logs.

The man was seen about 1.5km away from where Ristevski was eventually found, eight months after she left her Avondale Heights home after an argument with husband Borce Ristevski.

The significance of the sighting before the body was discovered "cannot be overstated", a police statement said.

Police have been appealing to the public for sightings of Ristevski's black Mercedes Coupe on June 29 last year, the day she vanished.

They have received several calls about sightings of the car in recent days - all from the Mt Macedon area where the mother-of-one's body was found.

Karen Ristevski was last seen alive on June 29 last year.

Police from the missing person unit, search and rescue along with the SES will return to the Mt Macedon area today to continue the hunt for clues.

They will pay particular focus to the stretch of road they believe the killer would have driven before they dumped Ristevski's body.

Police have previously said Ristevski's husband was a suspect in the investigation, but he has strenuously denied any involvement.

He left home this morning without making any comment to waiting media.

News Corp revealed last year police had obtained evidence from the phones of Ristevski and her husband that showed the phones had "pinged" off transmission towers on the Calder Freeway, in the Mt Macedon area, on the day she disappeared.

Borce Ristevski's phone was also turned off for two hours on that day.