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Friday morning around Eliza Fletcher went for a run in her town of Memphis, Tennessee.
She frequently ran, and this was a normal thing for her to do.
Eliza “Liza” Fletcher is a 34-year-old pre-kindergarten teacher and the mother of two children.
When Eliza did not return from her morning jog, her family reported her missing.
Fletcher was last seen jogging from her home in Central Gardens to near the University of Memphis around 4:20 am on Friday morning.
Eliza Fletcher is the granddaughter of Joseph Orgill III, who inherited and ran a hardware company that now claims over $3 billion in annual sales, and Eliza is heir to this fortune.
As it happened, there was someone waiting for Eliza as she ran by.
A man grabbed Eliza as she ran and forced her into an SUV.
Police quickly found a video of the abduction which showed him forcing her into the vehicle.
The man charged in the kidnapping of #ElizaFletcher pled guilty to the same crime in 2001. He was sentenced to 24 years in jail. So why was he prowling our streets? Those responsible for letting this man out of prison should be facing charges, too. #Memphis pic.twitter.com/8RqAKfSO7D
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) September 4, 2022
Eliza had been abducted by unknown assailants, according to Sputnik News.
The New York Post reported:
Tennessee authorities viewed the footage, which allegedly shows a man running “aggressively toward the victim, and then force the victim Eliza Fletcher into the passenger’s side of the vehicle,” police documents said.
“During the abduction, there appeared to be a struggle,” according to the affidavit, which cited “noticeable damage to the back-passenger taillight area” of the GMC Terrain.
Police said after Fletcher – who is still missing – was forced into the Black SUV, “the vehicle then sat in the parking lot with the victim inside for approximately four minutes before it drove off.
It is unclear what happened during that time.
“As the abduction was violent with, as captured on video, the suspect waiting for, then rushing towards the victim, then forcing the victim into the car, where she was confined and removed and continues to be missing, it is believed and supported by the facts and physical evidence that she suffered serious injury,” the affidavit said.
“Further, it is probable and apparent from witness statements that these injuries left evidence of blood in the car the defendant cleaned.”
On Friday, the family offered a $50,000 reward for her safe return.
On Sunday, Cleotha Abston, the man in the abduction video, was seen by witnesses scrubbing down his car with Clean at a car wash and washing his clothes in a sink.
Tipped off by the sighting, police then on Sunday arrested Cleotha Abston, 38, in the kidnapping of Memphis mother and heiress Eliza Fletcher.
In addition to the video showing the struggle, police found that call records show Absom’s cell phone in the same area at the same time as the abduction.
The police were able to collect evidence such as Eliza’s cell phone and water bottle.
At 6:45 am a good Samaritan was riding his bike when he found Eliza’s cell phone and some sandals in the area.
The man, unaware of what had occurred, was able to identify the phone from its contents and gave the items to the Fletcher family, who then turned them over to the authorities.
So police arrested Cleotha Abston in the disappearance of Eliza Fletcher. Abston was charged in 2001 with kidnapping and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A repeat offender. Shocker. pic.twitter.com/8SsfYpOGhu
— Joe Has Dementia (@RokerGlasses) September 4, 2022
The sandals, Champion slides, that were left at the scene of the struggle provided DNA of the kidnapper, Abston.
The police were also able to find video footage of Absom wearing Champion slides the day before the abduction.
The police were also able to ID the license plate of Abston’s vehicle, caught on the unreleased video.
Police arrested Abston after finding him standing in the doorway of his home.
A witness said she saw Abston “cleaning the interior of the GMC Terrain with floor cleaner” just before 8am Friday and reported to police that “he was behaving oddly.”
He was also spotted washing his clothes in a sink.
Abston has pleaded guilty to Especially Aggravated Kidnapping and Tampering With Evidence and is being held.
This is not his first time with charges such as this.
In 2001, Abston was charged with Especially Aggravated Kidnapping.
He was then sentenced to 24 years and 11 years in prison, but it is unclear how long he actually remained incarcerated.
In the last 24 hours, a relative of Abston has been arrested on gun and drug charges but is not believed to be involved in Eliza’s kidnapping.
But even though police are now confident they have the kidnapper under arrest, there is still no sign of Eliza Fletcher.
Abston has declined to give any information about Eliza’s whereabouts.
How about instead of saying “she shouldn’t have been jogging at 4:30 in the morning”…we say that no one should be fearful of being abducted or killed on a run. She did nothing wrong. #bebetter #ElizaFletcher
— Donna Auter (@dkauter) September 5, 2022
Police are sharing still photos of Eliza in hopes someone has seen her, Gateway Pundit reports.
One person in authority stated,” We have concerns about her well-being.”
Saturday night Eliza’s church held a vigil, praying for her safe return.
A friend stated of Eliza, “She’s got a lot of tenacity. She’s strong.”
Eliza’s family made a tearful statement pleading for any information as to Eliza’s whereabouts, “More than anything, we want to see Eliza returned home safely,” they beseeched. “We believe someone knows what happened and can help.”
Court is set for Tuesday morning for Abston.
Source: The Republic Brief