Police in two US states are investigating whether there is a link between the severed heads of two red-haired women found 150 miles apart.

Both the victims are described as white women of approximately the same age and both the heads were found in plastic bags near lakes.

The first head was found on 1 March near Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana by a prison inmate who was helping to clean up marshland.

Forensic analysis suggests the woman was between 25 and 40 years old with reddish/brown hair between 10 and 12 inches long.

The second head was found 150 miles away at Lake Houston in Texas on 24 March by local volunteers cleaning up the area.


Image: A sample of hair from the Lake Houston victim

Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences described this victim as a white or Hispanic woman, between young adulthood and middle aged. Her hair was dyed red and her eyebrows were tattooed.

Cameron Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana and Houston Police have acknowledged the similarities in the cases and are sharing information to see if there is a link.

A man in his early to mid-twenties seen throwing a black plastic bag off a bridge at Calcasieu Lake two weeks before the first discovery has been described as a person of interest.