MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee said Tuesday that the body found during an intensive search lasting more than three days is that of a female runner who was kidnapped and forced into an SUV while she he did his morning exercise near the University of Memphis.
Investigators have identified the body of Eliza Fletcher, 34, a school teacher and granddaughter of a prominent Memphis businessman, Memphis police reported on their official Twitter account.
The body was found Monday following a series of searches over the Labor Day weekend. The woman was abducted around 4 a.m. Friday, police said. A man approached her and forced her into a pickup truck following a brief struggle, police said. Fletcher was reported missing following she failed to return home following her usual morning jog.
Agents arrested Cleotha Abston, 38, on Saturday following police detected her DNA on a pair of sandals found near where the woman was last seen, according to an arrest affidavit. The man is charged with aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
Abston will now also face charges of first-degree murder and aggravated murder during a kidnapping, Memphis police tweeted Tuesday morning.
Family members of Fletcher and more than 20 journalists were in the courtroom Tuesday morning for his arraignment, which was Abston’s first appearance before a judge on charges of kidnapping, tampering with evidence, robbery, identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. He was set on $510,000 bond. The suspect said he mightn’t afford bail or a lawyer. Judge Louis Montesi appointed a public defender to represent him.
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