A body found in a Memphis neighborhood Monday, August 5 was confirmed to be a Tennessee woman who was abducted late last week, police said Tuesday. Eliza Fletcher, 34, was seen on surveillance video being forced into an SUV while she was jogging near the University of Memphis early Friday morning.
The suspect arrested in the case, 38-year-old Cleotha Abston, is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping, police said.
Abston appeared before a judge Tuesday morning on charges of kidnapping, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft, and fraudulent use of a credit card. Relatives of Fletcher and more than 20 media members were in the courtroom.
Abston was issued a $510,000 bond. Abston said he could not afford a bond and he could not afford a lawyer. General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi appointed a public defender to represent Abston.
According to an arrest affidavit, U.S. marshals arrested him Saturday after police detected his DNA on a pair of sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen.
Police also linked the vehicle they believe was used in the kidnapping to a person at a home where Abston was staying.
Fletcher, a school teacher, is the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a Memphis hardware businessman, and philanthropist. The family has released a video statement asking for help in finding Fletcher and offered a $50,000 reward for information in the case.
Abston previously kidnapped a prominent Memphis attorney in 2000, the Commercial Appeal reported. When he was just 16 years old, Abston forced Kemper Durand into the trunk of his car at gunpoint. After several hours, Abston took Durand out and forced him to drive to a Mapco gas station to withdraw money from an ATM.
At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked in and Durand yelled for help. Abston ran away but was found and arrested. According to court records, he pleaded guilty in 2001 to especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery. He received a 24-year sentence.
In a victim impact statement, Durand 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 died in 2013, seven years before Abston would be released in November 2020 at age 36. In the two years since his release, there were no further documented charges against Abston in Shelby County before his Saturday arrest, the Commercial Appeal reported.
