Two Charged With Murder In Travelers Rest Missing Person Case

For the last three months, investigators say the body of Tammy Lewis lay in a hole behind a vacnt house owned by Donald Cox, who received a call Wednesday night.

“One of the fellows told me they thought it was a body back there,” Cox said.

When Cox came back Thursday morning, “to see if it really was a body,” he learned police were right.

Working under a blue tent, investigators spent the morning recovering the remains thought to be Tammy Lewis. 

Greenville County Coroner Karie Cain confirmed Thursday afternoon the body is that of Tammy Lewis. Cain says the caus of death is blunt force trauma to the head.

Her sister, Tiona Perry, got the news last night and spoke to us by phone from North Carolina.

"Just the thought of her being out there somewhere cold, wet, alone, without a proper goodbye from our family and without us, you know, sending her home to God," Perry said.

Lewis vanished from her Travelers Rest home sometime in mid-March.

Investigators found blood but no body there.

In April, police got a break. A tip that Stephanie Bailey and Antwon Quarles may have killed Lewis and they had left town headed to Ohio.

That’s where Chief Lance Crowe sent a detective.

“Information gained on that trip really got us focused and got us onto this particular track, and that was extremely beneficial to where we are today,” Crowe said.

Both are now charged with murder and are in custody.

Crowe says they knew Lewis and they beat her to death in her home and brought her miles away to dump her body on Donald Cox’s land.

Cox says he doesn’t come out to the property much, but that’ll change now.

“Oh yea, I'm going to be watching, quite often, about every other day,” Cox said.

Meanwhile, Lewis’ family says they’re finding closure in Thursday’s discovery.

Read the complete release from the Travelers Rest PD below:

For immediate release:

On June 1 an arrest was made (and another is pending) in the Travelers Rest Police Department’s missing person case involving Tammy L. Lewis.

On June 1 Detective Clark Brazier obtained two warrants for murder (copies attached) for the following suspects:

Bailey, Stephanie Lynn: white female, DOB 01-14-86, address 101 Elizabeth Ln., Travelers Rest, SC (booking photo attached) Bailey was arrested on June 1 and is currently being held in the Greenville County Detention Center with no bond.

Quarles, Antwon Michael Jr.: black male, DOB: 04/28/84, address: 1008 White Horse Rd., K6, Greenville, SC (booking photo attached) Note: Quarles is already in federal custody for a federal parole violation and it is our understanding that we will not be permitted to serve our warrant until that issue is resolved.

Information gained yesterday led Detective Brazier to an address on Clement Rd. in Greer, SC as a possible location where Ms. Lewis’ body may be located.  The Greenville County Forensics unit and Sheriff’s Office investigators and uniform patrol deputies are assisting the TRPD with processing that scene at this time.  Unidentified human remains have been recovered and transported from that site.