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They identify the body of the teacher kidnapped in Memphis when she was jogging

2022-09-06T14:41:46.418Z


Eliza Fletcher was forced into a car while playing sports in Tennessee. The arrested man, who spent 20 years in prison for kidnapping, has now been charged with murder.


By Chantal Da Silva —

NBC News

Memphis police reported Tuesday that the body located in the Tennessee area where Eliza Fletcher disappeared while jogging on Friday morning corresponds to the 34-year-old teacher.

The man arrested Sunday for the disappearance was charged Tuesday with murder, authorities said.

The body was located on Monday, but the cause of death has not yet been reported.

Cleotha Abston, 38, was initially charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence, and first-degree murder charges were added Tuesday. 

On Sunday, Memphis police announced that Cleotha Abston, 38, was charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence in connection with Fletcher's disappearance.

Police said that around 4:20 a.m. Friday, a person approached Fletcher and forced her into a dark-colored sports car.

Sandals found in the area where Fletcher disappeared contained traces of DNA that matched Abston's, according to an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint.

Police linked the car allegedly used in the kidnapping to a person who lives in the same residence where Abston was staying.

Fletcher was a nursery school teacher at St. Mary's Episcopal School, and the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist from Memphis.

Abston was convicted of kidnapping a prominent Memphis lawyer in 2000 when he was just 16, the Commercial Appeal newspaper reported, and spent 20 years in prison.

He forced the man, identified as Kemper Durand, into the trunk of his own car at gunpoint.

After several hours, he 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.

Security video from the scene showed a “black GMC Terrain truck driving past and then waiting for the victim to run by,” according to the document.

A man then got out of the car, ran over to Fletcher and forced her into the passenger seat, the document says.

"During this abduction, there appeared to be a struggle," the document said.

“Champion sandals were found in this area.

The vehicle then sat in the parking lot with the victim inside for approximately four minutes before driving away."

Cellular records obtained by investigators would have determined that Abston's cell phone was near the location where Fletcher was forced into the vehicle.

Agents arrested Abston on Saturday after finding the GMC Terrain with a matching license plate number in a parking lot next to Abston's residence, according to the affidavit.

Mario Abston, 36, the brother of Cleotha Abston, was also taken into custody but is not believed to be connected to Fletcher's kidnapping, according to authorities.

He was charged with drug and firearms offenses, police said.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-09-06

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