WALTON COUNTY — Local authorities have arrested a Loganville man in connection to the woman found dead in a private lake on March 3.

According to a press release from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO), they, with assistance from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested 53-year-old Travis Abbott for allegedly killing and concealing the death of 54-year-old Collette Sease of Blairsville.

Sease’s body was discovered by a Covington man on March 3 in a lake on a private residence near 6872 GA Hwy 212 and Gibson Way. The case, first established as a possible drowning call, was ruled to be a homicide after preliminary investigation.

On Monday, March 10, the NCSO along with the WCSO and GBI executed a search warrant at a residence in Walton County on Broadnax Mill Road, where officers arrested Abbott.

Abbott is believed to be Sease’s ex-boyfriend, according to the NCSO. However, no information was made immediately available regarding Sease’s cause of death or Abbott’s motive for killing her. It also remains unclear where the murder took place and how Sease’s body came to be in the lake where it was discovered.

Abbott is currently being held at the Walton County Detention Center and charged with murder and concealing Sease’s death. He will be transferred to Newton County at an unspecified later date. The Covington News has reached out to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office for further information.

“Sheriff Ezell Brown extends his sincere gratitude to Sheriff Keith Brooks, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this case,” a press release stated. “He also extends his gratitude to the men and women of the NCSO Criminal Investigations Division for their dedication and commitment to solving this case and bringing justice to the victim’s family.”

According to the NCSO, the investigation is still active.