LAKELAND — Physical evidence links the suspicious deaths of two women in Lanier County on Monday, investigators said.

The Lanier County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a written statement Tuesday that said the homicide of Jody Lynn Graham, 41, and death of Annette Anderson, 37, both of Lakeland, were connected.

“Physical evidence found while tracking as well as the tracking itself led investigators to link both scenes,” the release said. The tracking was done by the Georgia Department of Corrections K-9 team.

Graham’s body was discovered by her daughter around noon at the residence of Dana Giddens off the Valdosta Highway, according to Billy Giddens, Dana’s father.

Officials said, “She sustained apparent violent injuries, but the official autopsy results are pending.”

Graham’s 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier was reported missing from the residence also. Officers with the Brooks County Sheriff’s Department discovered the car around midnight south of Quitman, “heavily damaged by fire.”

Anderson’s GMC Jimmy was discovered overturned in a ditch at about 6:30 a.m. on Highway 135. Her body was discovered in a wooded area near her vehicle, which investigators said is approximately a quarter of a mile through the woods to the house where Graham’s body was discovered.

Both bodies were sent to the State Crime Lab in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The statement said law enforcement attempted to locate Walter Lee Anderson Jr., 33, 1616 Moore St., Valdosta, estranged husband of Annette Anderson. He was arrested on a parole violation related to a drug charge.

A Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office incident report said Anderson was arrested in the 300 block of Martin Luther King Drive, and he was charged with obstruction of an officer after he fled on foot before being caught.

Agencies involved with the collection of evidence and investigation of the case are: Lanier County Sheriff’s Office, Lanier County Coroner’s Office, Lakeland Police Department, Brooks County Sheriff’s Office, Quitman Police Department, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, Valdosta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol Post 31, Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia Department of Pardons and Parole, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Regional Offices of Douglas, Kingsland, Thomasville and Perry.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Lanier County’s Sheriff Office at 229-482-3540 or the GBI Douglas office at 912-389-4103.