The man arrested on suspicion of the disappearance of a Tennessee teacher while jogging last week near the University of Memphis has already spent 20 years in prison for kidnapping.
Cleotha Abston, 38, was arrested Saturday after police identified traces of DNA on sandals found near where Eliza Fletcher was last seen, according to an affidavit.
Police also linked the car allegedly used in the kidnapping to a person who lives in the same residence where Abston was staying.
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Although Fletcher has not yet been found, police suspect she was seriously injured during the kidnapping, which was caught on surveillance video, the affidavit says.
Fletcher, 34, a nursery school teacher at St. Mary's Episcopal School, was jogging around 4 a.m. Friday when a man approached her and forced her into a pickup truck after a brief struggle. .
She was reported missing when she did not return to her house that morning.
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Abston was convicted of kidnapping a prominent Memphis lawyer in 2000, the Commercial Appeal reported.
When he was just 16 years old, Abston forced Kemper Durand into the trunk of his own car at gunpoint.
After several hours, Abston took Durand out and forced him to drive to a gas station to withdraw money from an ATM.
An armed guard from the Memphis Housing Authority entered the gas station and Durand yelled for help.
Abston escaped but was subsequently arrested.
According to court records, he confessed to the kidnapping and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Cleotha Abston.
AP
"I was very lucky to be able to escape," Durand said, "it's very likely that he would have killed me if I didn't get away."
Before that kidnapping, as a minor, Abston had already been accused of robbery, assault and rape, according to Durand.
Durand died in 2013, seven years before Abston was released in November 2020 at age 36.
In the two years since his release, there have been no criminal charges filed against Abston in Shelby County, according to the newspaper.
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Fletcher is the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a Memphis philanthropist and businessman.
The family has released a video statement asking for help finding Fletcher and offering a $50,000 reward for information on the case.
With information from AP and
NBC News.