MORGAN CITY - A man arrested for a woman's death 26 years ago was also found to be connected to another woman's death that happened just months before he was taken into custody. 

On Oct. 8. 1998, Morgan City police officers were called in response to a body that had been found in a wooded area near a park. The body was identified as Amber Lynn Jenkins Garcia, and as the investigation into her death continued, multiple leads turned cold. 

Just months later, on Dec. 25, 1998, another woman's body was found, identified as Jennifer Vedol. John Willis Pittman Jr., who was 18 at the time, was arrested and sentenced to 40 years at hard labor for manslaughter. 

The Morgan City Police Department said as the years brought more advancements in technology, specifically in DNA identification, evidence resubmitted from the Garcia case was able to link Pittman to her death, as well. 

Pittman is still incarcerated at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. He will face new charges relative to Garcia's death as well as further court proceedings. 

"The work that all these investigators have done has brought Justice to not only Mrs. Garcia, but to the family she had left behind," the MCPD said. 

Police also said Pittman was known to have traveled in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas in the months between the two murders, and are encouraging local agencies to revisit old case files.