Update September 6:Police sources are confirming that a body found in the search for the missing mother-of-two, elementary school teacher has been identified as Eliza Fletcher. She was found seven miles from where she was last seen.
A man has been accused of kidnapping a woman in Tennessee while she was jogging. He allegedly grabbed her at about 4:30 in the morning on her daily run on Friday, and pushed her into an SUV. A violent struggle followed, according to video footage of the scene, which shows that she was in the stationary vehicle for four minutes before the driver fled off with her inside.
The woman, Eliza Fletcher, 34, a married kindergarten teacher and mother of two children, was missing as of Monday, but reports on Tuesday indicate that her body has been found and multiple sources have confirmed the information.
A pair of sandals were found near the University of Memphis and analysis of DNA revealed the identity of a man, Cleotha Abston, 38, whom police arrested and suspected of being the kidnapper. Police had been following his previous movements and found evidence of him wearing the sandals on video footage on a previous day. Police were also able to connect the SUV vehicle with the suspect.
Robert Fletcher, the woman’s husband, called police, concerned that she was missing at about 7 a.m., when she didn’t return from her routine 4 a.m. run.
A man who was riding his bicycle that morning found Eliza’s cell phone and Abston’s sandals and gave them to the Fletcher family, who turned them over to police.
When US marshals arrived at Abston‘s residence, he tried to escape, but he was apprehended.
According to police, two witnesses said they saw Abston cleaning the inside of his SUV and washing his clothes after the abduction.
It has also been revealed that Abston was charged in 2001 with kidnapping an attorney and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was release in 2020 and has a long history of criminal behavior.
When interrogated, the suspect refused to say anything about what happened to Fletcher.
Abston’s arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday, September 6.
Anyone with information in relation to the abduction is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.