A body found in a Memphis neighborhood Monday was confirmed to be a Tennessee woman who was kidnapped late last week, police said Tuesday. Eliza Fletcher, 34, was seen on surveillance video being forced into an SUV while jogging near the University of Memphis on Friday morning.
The suspect arrested in the case, Cleotha Abston, 38, is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder for committing a kidnapping, police said. Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis told reporters it was possible that others could be charged in the case, but as of Tuesday morning no one else had been identified.
Abston has not provided much information to investigators, Davis said. “We are still working with this suspect,” he said.
According to the chief, it was too early for investigators to determine how and where Fletcher died. Her body was found behind a vacant duplex, Davis said.
A police affidavit said officers noticed vehicle tracks on the side of the duplex’s driveway and smelled an odor. Purple shorts compatible with the shorts Fletcher was wearing were found in a trash bag nearby, according to the affidavit.
Steven Mulroy, the district attorney for Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said Abston would be arraigned on the murder charges Wednesday.
“We have no reason to believe that this was not an isolated attack by a stranger,” Mulroy told reporters.
Abston appeared before a judge on Tuesday on charges of kidnapping, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. Fletcher’s relatives and more than 20 members of the media were in the courtroom.
Abston received a $510,000 bond. Abston said he couldn’t afford bail and couldn’t afford a lawyer. General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi appointed a public defender to represent Abston.
U.S. Marshals arrested Abston on Saturday after police detected his DNA on a pair of sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen, according to an arrest affidavit.
Cell phone records allegedly pinged Abston in the area at the time of the abduction, CBS News correspondent Elise Preston reports. According to records, Abston’s brother told police he saw Abston acting strange and washing the inside of his car with a floor cleaner.
Police also linked the vehicle they believe was used in the kidnapping to a person at a home where Abston was staying.
Late Monday, police tweeted that a body had been found, but that the person’s identity and cause of death were not confirmed. A large police presence was reported in the area where authorities reported finding the body just after 5 p.m. Memphis police had searched several locations with dogs, all-terrain vehicles and a helicopter during the long Labor Day weekend.
Fletcher, a mother of two and a school teacher, is the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a Memphis hardware entrepreneur and philanthropist. The family offered a $50,000 reward for information about the case.
In a statement Tuesday, the family said they were “grateful beyond measure” to authorities for finding Fletcher and arresting a suspect.
“We are heartbroken and devastated by this senseless loss,” the family said. “Liza was a joy to so many… Now is the time to remember and celebrate how special she was and support those who cared for her so much.”
Fletcher taught kindergarten at the Episcopal School of St. Mary’s in Memphis. On social media, the school said faculty and staff began Tuesday in the chapel. “We lit candles to remember Liza, who was a shining light in our community,” the school said on Twitter.
Abston previously kidnapped a prominent Memphis attorney in 2000, the Commercial Appeal reported. When he was just 16, Abston forced Kemper Durand into the trunk of his own car at gunpoint. After several hours, Abston pulled Durand out and forced him to drive to a Mapco gas station to withdraw money from an ATM.
At the station, an armed guard from the Memphis Housing Authority entered and Durand called for help. Abston fled but was found and arrested. He pleaded guilty in 2001 to aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, according to court records. He received a sentence of 24 years.
Durand, in a victim impact statement, wrote: “I was very lucky to have been able to escape the custody of Cleotha Abston… It is very likely that I would have been killed if I had not escaped,” in the ‘commercial appeal. reported
Durand died in 2013, seven years before Abston was released in November 2020 at the age of 36. In the two years since his release, there were no further documented charges against Abston in Shelby County before his arrest Saturday, the Commercial Appeal reported.
During Tuesday morning’s news conference, Mulroy appeared to refer to Abston’s criminal record, saying: “Any kind of violence, of course, is unacceptable, but repeat violent offenders especially deserve a strong response, and that’s what they will get from the district attorney’s office.”