Police were today piecing together the final movements of Ms Milne, who could be the city’s latest drug fatality.

Russell McDonald, who lives in the block of flats at Whalers’ Close, said his son had been visiting last night and called up to him in distress as he was leaving.

“He found her lying on the stairs,” Mr McDonald said. “I went down to see if I could help. I knew she was dead the moment I saw her. She was white as a sheet.”

Neighbours alerted the emergency services.

The area was cordoned off last night while scenes-of-crime officers carried out inquiries.

Mr McDonald said that after giving a statement to police he was unable to gain access to his home until around 11pm.

CID chief Detective Chief Inspector Willie Semple said, “At the moment, we’re piecing together where the deceased was yesterday, and her movements up to the point of her death.”

DCI Semple said the death was being treated as suspicious and, while officers were keeping an open mind, the involvement of drugs was not being ruled out.

A post mortem is expected to be carried out tomorrow and, as with all sudden deaths, a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

The Tele recently revealed that 17 people have died of drug overdoses in Dundee since the turn of the year, with heroin a factor in the vast majority of cases. Among the casualties was 18-year-old Louise Boag, whose body was found in the stairwell of a multi-storey block in the Hilltown last week.