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UPDATED: Two more arrests made in W.E. Willis armed robbery

UPDATE (11/14/2018):

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — Two more suspects were arrested in connection with with the armed robbery and beating of a Travelers Rest business owner and his wife, who was also shot during the attack, it was announced on Wednesday by Greenville County Sherif's Office.

Ronald Edmond, 20, and Kenyatta Foster, 42, were charged with accessory after the fact in the case, according to Lt. Ryan Flood.

Flood said investigators discovered evidence from a November 7 search warrant that implicated Edmond and Foster in an attempt to cover up the crimes, allegedly lying to investigators about their knowledge of what occurred during and following the September 25 robbery and assault.

Both Edmond and Foster were arrested and transported to the Greenville County Detention Center where they are being held on no bond.

UPDATE (11/11/2018):

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — A third suspect was arrested in connection with the armed robbery and beating of a Travelers Rest business owner and his wife, who was also shot during the attack, it was announced on Saturday by Greenville County Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown.

The news comes following last Thursday's press conference at which Sherriff Brown announced the first two suspects charged in the case. (See update below.)

Sheriff Brown said the third suspect, identified as 38-year-old Jermaine Bernard Williams, of Greer, was previously arrested on marijuana charges during the execution of search warrants related to the Willis Case.

Williams bonded out after no further charges were immediately issued, but the sheriff’s office continued their investigation and "learned information that enabled them to establish probable cause connecting Williams’ to the crimes," a sheriff's spokesman said in a media release.

According to the release, Williams is being charged with: burglary, assault and battery, two counts of Kidnapping, arson, criminal conspiracy, grand larceny, and two counts of armed robbery.

Investigators previously said that Warren Willis was attacked by five suspects in the morning hours of Sept. 25 at his W.E. Willis convenience store on Highway 414 in Landrum. Investigators said he was brutally beaten and driven to his home in Green Valley in Travelers Rest, where his wife, Ann, was beaten and shot. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken from the residence.

The investigation is still ongoing and the sheriff's office asks for anyone with any additional information to call Crime Stoppers of Greenville at 23-CRIME.

UPDATE (10/08/2018):

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — Two suspects were arrested in connection with the armed robbery and beating of a Travelers Rest business owner and his wife, who was also shot during the attack, it was announced on Thursday morning by Greenville County Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown.

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Sheriff Brown said evidence recovered at the scene of where Willis' stolen and burned vehicle was found on South McKinney Road as well as evidence recovered along Bates Crossing Road was used to help identify the two people who were charged.

Mark Allen Wright, 49, of Travelers Rest, is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping (x2), grand larceny, armed robbery (x2), possession of a weapon during a violent crime, criminal conspiracy, assault and battery, burglary, and arson, according to warrants.

Jack Foreman, 38, of Pahokee, FL, is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping (x2), grand larceny of $10,000 or more (x2), armed robbery (x2), assault and battery, burglary, arson, criminal conspiracy, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to warrants.

Sheriff Brown said the investigation was ongoing and at least three other suspects are being sought in the case.

Ann Willis remains in the hospital in critical condition, Brown said.

If anyone has additional information regarding the case, they are urged to call the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division at 864-467-5240 during normal business hours or Crime Stoppers of Greenville at 23-CRIME.

ORIGINAL STORY (09/25/2018):

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — Greenville County deputies are asking for the public's help in the search for five suspects who investigators say attacked the owner of a business, drove him to his Travelers Rest home at gunpoint, then shot his wife while ransacking the residence.

Deputies said they responded to a potential robbery at W.E. Willis Grocery 5, part of a Travelers Rest-based chain of convenience stores, on Highway 414 around 5 a.m. Tuesday after an employee who was coming to work found the store in disarray.

Sheriff's Office Lt. Ryan Flood said deputies went to the owner's home in the Green Valley community and found the man and his wife tied up. The wife had suffered at least one gunshot wound.

Flood said the store owner was at the business between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Tuesday before the store opened. He was reportedly in the parking lot when he was met by five masked men who brutally attacked him before forcing him into his car and driving to his home.

According to reports, the wife was in critical condition and the husband was also hospitalized.

The suspects reportedly left the Green Valley home in the store owner's car, which has since been located. Flood said that various items were taken from both the store and the victims' home.

No suspect descriptions were given.

Investigators ask anyone in the Green Valley Community that has surveillance cameras to check their footage between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. Tuesday.

If anyone has information regarding this vehicle, please call the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division at 864-467-5240 during normal business hours or Crime Stoppers of Greenville at 23-CRIME.