$50,000 is being offered by the well-to-do family of a 34-year-old school teacher who was kidnapped in Memphis while out jogging.
Eliza Fletcher, a 34-year-old wife, mother of two, and junior kindergarten teacher, was kidnapped by an unidentified assailant in a black SUV near the University of Memphis.
Less than a day after she vanished, Memphis police were seen removing her family automobile from her house. Investigators were also seen labelling a PC and a set of garden shears as evidence.
The family’s residence was heavily policed the whole evening. A sizable crowd was also reportedly present in Overton Park in Memphis, which is close to the family home, according to local media.
Fletcher, also known as Liza, shares a house in Memphis’ Midtown neighbourhood with her two kids and husband of eight years, Richard “Richie” Fletcher III.
Reporter Melanie Moon tweeted that Richie had “reportedly lawyered up” while the hunt went on.
Fletcher’s last moments before being taken were chillingly recorded on security video, along with a blurry picture of the automobile that stole her.
Fitness enthusiast Fletcher, who often ran the same route, had her phone thrown to the ground and broken as a result of the crime.
Police subsequently found it and are looking into the unsettling disappearance.
Both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI are now investigating.
Fletcher, who is 5’6″ tall, weighs 137 pounds, and has blonde hair, is seen wearing running gear, such as vibrant shorts and a sports bra, just before she was kidnapped.
Action News 5 said that when police arrived at the site at about 7:45 am, they discovered Fletcher’s water bottle and broken cellphone in front of a house close by.
After a short battle, Fletcher was approached by an unknown person and coerced into a black SUV.
A few hours later, when she had not arrived home, she was reported missing. Who reported her missing is unknown.
The kidnapped lady is the granddaughter of late hardware tycoon Joseph “Joe” Orgill III.
Adele, Fletcher’s mother, is Orgill’s offspring. Orgill Inc., their family-owned wholesale hardware firm, reports $3 billion in yearly sales on its website.
Orgill is referred to be “the world’s biggest independent hardlines distributor with annual sales of $3 billion” in the business description on the website. The business is privately held.
The firm employs more than 5,500 workers.
A friend of Joe Orgill III described him as being a mix between Bono and Mr. Rogers in the hardware community in an obituary story that appeared in the Memphis Commercial Appeal in 2018. An apparent allusion to his warm personality and charitable deeds.
The family of Fletcher made the following short statement while announcing the reward money: “We look forward to Eliza’s safe return and hope that this payment will help authorities arrest those who perpetrated this tragedy.”
Fletcher said in a picture on Instagram in February that she had gone to the Orgill trade exhibition in Orlando, Florida.
At St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Fletcher teaches pre-kindergarten. She and her husband are members of the Second Presbyterian Church in East Memphis.
The school’s students apparently received word through letter on Friday that a teacher had been abducted.
We haven’t mentioned Mrs. Fletcher to our younger pupils. According to Fox News, Albert Throckmorton, the school’s head, said in the letter, “We are supporting the older pupils when they hear of this news.”
Fletcher was described as as a person whose “smile illuminates every space she visits” in a Facebook post on the school’s page in 2021.
She is a compassionate and dedicated teacher who is always seeking for innovative methods to educate to all learners, it continued.
She knows each pupil personally and does all in her power to motivate them to study, the post’s conclusion said.
She often acknowledges both significant and insignificant accomplishments in the classroom.
She graduated with her class of 2006 from Memphis’ Hutchison School. Fletcher received a degree in fitness and sports science from Baylor University. She graduated from Belmont University with a master’s degree in education.
Fletcher taught and coached soccer at the Promise Academy in Nashville before beginning his employment at St. Mary’s.
She was an accomplished runner who had earned a spot in the Boston Marathon. With a time of three hours and 26 minutes, Fletcher completed the St. Jude marathon in 2019 and placed 22nd overall.
Police have not yet indicated a possible motivation or whether they think Fletcher was kidnapped by an opportunistic predator or by someone who was familiar with the young mother’s favourite jogging path.
Her neighbourhood has been shaken by Fletcher’s abduction. A Facebook group named “Eliza Fletcher Missing in Memphis, Tennessee” had more than 2,000 members by Friday afternoon.
Near the University of Memphis, she was seized. “Me and my friend were probably one the first to see the police vehicles come out but we had no clue,” said Sam Sparrenberg, a student at the school, to WREG.
I’ve never heard of anything like occurring, he continued. I went to college for a while. I’ve attended the Universities of Tennessee and Mississippi, and I’ve never heard of anything like this occurring.
In a magnificent magical woodlands-themed wedding ceremony in 2014, Fletcher wed Richard ‘Richie’ James Fletcher III, as Memphis Magazine reported. The bride is characterised as “outdoorsy, sporty, and warm” in the profile.
Venture Libre, a firm that creates “bespoke tailored storage solutions for adventure vehicles,” is where Richie works.
The family had a long trip in early August, according to photos on his Instagram feed.
According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the senior pastor of the church that Fletcher and her husband, George Robertson, attend characterised the missing lady as being “full of life.”
She and her husband Ritchie are both extremely involved and outstanding leaders in our church, Robertson continued. Every week, I get a hug from their two small sons who live there.
She and her spouse, he said, are simply inspirations in that they both love to exercise and participate in sports.
The pair, according to Robertson, “have a deep and sincere confidence in Christ.” That is Ritchie’s current trust, he said.
On its Facebook page, the Second Presbyterian Church said that it was available for prayer at all times.
You don’t want to hear that that’s happening, Hart Robinson, a friend of Fletcher’s, said in a statement to WREG. We need to track her down.
Robinson said, “We have no idea what’s going on, but everyone is searching furiously for her, and the local police are looking into it. As you can see, there is a lot of activity.
If you have any information or believe you saw anything early this morning, please contact us.
Richie celebrated the couple’s anniversary in March of this year on Instagram, writing: “[Eight] years in the making with this blazing sexy girl.” No other method is what I would like. even if our whole family is suffering from the stomach flu.
He said on Instagram a year prior: “Yesterday celebrated 7 years married to this beautiful!”
“We definitely would have responded NO if you had asked us whether we would make it to year 7 at that point,” he said.
We clearly missed the notice that having a happy marriage is not going to be simple.
Fortunately, we prioritised God and recovery, were open to believing in each other, and sought assistance.
We are extremely grateful for friends, recovery, couples counselling, and individual therapy, he continued. Sincerely, we can state that we wouldn’t want it any other way!
Richie has been arrested many times for alcohol-related charges, including public intoxication and drunk driving, according to records.
Police have recognised the suspect as a guy, but no further suspects have been located as of yet.
Memphis has had at least 100 occurrences this year that have been classed as kidnappings, according to publicly accessible safety statistics on the city’s website.