Tuesday, police verified that a corpse discovered in a Memphis neighbourhood on Monday was a Tennessee woman who was kidnapped late last week. Early Friday morning, security footage captured Eliza Fletcher, 34, being pushed into an SUV while jogging near the University of Memphis.
The accused suspect, 38-year-old Cleotha Abston, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in the commission of a kidnapping, according to police.
Tuesday morning, Abston stood before a court on counts of abduction, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft, and fraudulent credit card usage. There were more than 20 media members and relatives of Fletcher present in the courtroom.
Abston was awarded a bond in the amount of $510,000. Abston said that he could neither afford bail nor an attorney. A public defender was assigned to represent Abston by General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi.
According to an arrest document, U.S. marshals detained him on Saturday after authorities discovered his DNA on a pair of sandals located near where Fletcher was last seen.
Police also connected the car believed to have been used in the abduction to a resident of the house where Abston was residing.
Monday night, police announced that a corpse had been discovered, but that the name and cause of death were unknown. A substantial police presence was reported in the area where the corpse was discovered just after 5 p.m. Throughout the long Labor Day weekend, the Memphis police searched many places using dogs, ATVs, and a helicopter.
The schoolteacher Fletcher is the granddaughter of the late Memphis hardware merchant and philanthropist Joseph Orgill III. The family has issued a video message pleading for assistance in locating Fletcher and has offered a reward of $50,000 for information in the case.
In 2000, Abston abducted a famous Memphis attorney, according to the Commercial Appeal. Abston pushed Kemper Durand into the trunk of his own automobile at gunpoint when he was 16 years old. After a number of hours, Abston ordered Durand to drive to a Mapco petrol station and take cash from an ATM.
At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard entered, prompting Durand to call for assistance. Abston fled, but was located and arrested. According to court documents, he pled guilty in 2001 to particularly severe abduction and aggravated robbery. His punishment was 24 years in prison.
Durand, in a victim impact statement, wrote, “I was extremely lucky that I was able to escape from the custody of Cleotha Abston…
It is quite likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped,” the Commercial Appeal reported.
Durand passed away in 2013, seven years before to Abston’s release in November 2020 at the age of 36. Prior to his arrest on Saturday, Abston had not been charged in Shelby County in the two years since his parole, the Commercial Appeal said.
Tuesday, police verified that a corpse discovered in a Memphis neighbourhood on Monday was a Tennessee woman who was kidnapped late last week. Early Friday morning, security footage captured Eliza Fletcher, 34, being pushed into an SUV while jogging near the University of Memphis.
The accused suspect, 38-year-old Cleotha Abston, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in the commission of a kidnapping, according to police.
Tuesday morning, Abston stood before a court on counts of abduction, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft, and fraudulent credit card usage. There were more than 20 media members and relatives of Fletcher present in the courtroom.
Abston was awarded a bond in the amount of $510,000. Abston said that he could neither afford bail nor an attorney. A public defender was assigned to represent Abston by General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi.
According to an arrest document, U.S. marshals detained him on Saturday after authorities discovered his DNA on a pair of sandals located near where Fletcher was last seen.
Police also connected the car believed to have been used in the abduction to a resident of the house where Abston was residing.
Monday night, police announced that a corpse had been discovered, but that the name and cause of death were unknown. A substantial police presence was reported in the area where the corpse was discovered just after 5 p.m. Throughout the long Labor Day weekend, the Memphis police searched many places using dogs, ATVs, and a helicopter.
The schoolteacher Fletcher is the granddaughter of the late Memphis hardware merchant and philanthropist Joseph Orgill III. The family has issued a video message pleading for assistance in locating Fletcher and has offered a reward of $50,000 for information in the case.
In 2000, Abston abducted a famous Memphis attorney, according to the Commercial Appeal. Abston pushed Kemper Durand into the trunk of his own automobile at gunpoint when he was 16 years old. After a number of hours, Abston ordered Durand to drive to a Mapco petrol station and take cash from an ATM.
At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard entered, prompting Durand to call for assistance. Abston fled, but was located and arrested. According to court documents, he pled guilty in 2001 to particularly severe abduction and aggravated robbery. His punishment was 24 years in prison.
Durand, in a victim impact statement, wrote, “I was extremely lucky that I was able to escape from the custody of Cleotha Abston…
It is quite likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped,” the Commercial Appeal reported.
Durand passed away in 2013, seven years before to Abston’s release in November 2020 at the age of 36. Prior to his arrest on Saturday, Abston had not been charged in Shelby County in the two years since his parole, the Commercial Appeal said.