Wadesboro Police are still seeking an eighth man in connection with a home invasion that took place in April.

Preston Lamont Lewis is wanted in connection with the first of two home invasions that occurred in April and May.

Police are "encouraging anyone who knows of his whereabouts to call us and let us know," Chief Janie Schutz said Monday.

"Preston is a dangerous man," she said. "We aren't asking the community to do anything but let us know about his possible whereabouts."

In the incident, six men armed with handguns were let in by someone at a residence, which was occupied by two men, a woman and her three children, each under the age of 4. The residence belonged to the woman.

The two men were pistol whipped and one of them was stripped and locked in a closet. The female victim was taken outside and held while the suspects looked for valuables.

The incident was not reported until mid-May. "The victim feared for her life," Schutz said June 19. Schutz said then that the woman kept silent because she and her children were threatened.

Roughly two weeks after the first incident, another similar incident occurred. This time four men were involved. A woman in the second home was strangled to the point of unconsciousness. When the woman awakened after an unknown period of time, she went to a neighbor's house and called police. She had also been robbed.

One of the two suspects involved in both incidents was Anthony Markee Allen, 18, who was charged June 14 with the murder of 31-year-old James Pickett, whose body was found May 3 lying in his front yard, shot once in the face and once in the back.

"There is no connection in my mind between the murder and the home invasions," Schutz said June 19.

The other suspect charged in connection with both invasions was David Bernard Wall, 19, of Wadesboro.

Allen faces two felony counts of first degree burglary, two felony counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one felony count of second-degree kidnapping. His trial date is set for July 21 in Wadesboro, where he will also be tried in connection for the earlier charge of first-degree murder.

Anyone with more information should call the Wadesboro Police Department at 704-694-2167.