The sheriff's office got a 911 call from Temperance and McKinley - just east of Fresno city limits - at about 7:15 a.m.
It brought sheriff's deputies out for what initially seemed like a standard medical problem.
"There was a woman who was found down in the yard who appeared to be injured," said Fresno County Sheriff's Office spokesman Tony Botti.
Deputies found the woman not breathing and tried CPR, but couldn't revive her.
And before long, detectives believe they found evidence of something much more sinister than they expected.
"During the course of this investigation, we've noticed her injuries are not consistent with a natural death, so we have called our homicide unit out," Botti said.
Investigators aren't revealing exactly what kind of injuries the 44-year-old woman suffered.
They say the 911 call came from a male friend who lives at the house with the victim.
Detectives say a couple other people showed up at the house after they discovered the body, but as far as they can tell only the victim and the 911 caller live there.
"We have since contacted multiple people who were there on the property," Botti said. "We're interviewing them to find out anything they know about what may have led to this woman being injured."
Detectives say they haven't figured out when the victim was last seen alive, but that's one of the questions they're asking people connected to the house.
They're also asking neighbors for any surveillance video from Wednesday up through Thursday morning.
Deputies say they know the woman's identity, but they're not ready to release it publicly just yet.