Authorities said the body was found on surveillance video about 20 minutes after 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher, a mother of two, was forced into a car.
CNN reached out to the coroner’s office for comment.
Authorities believe a man chased Fletcher and forced her into a black SUV as she was jogging around 4 a.m. in a neighborhood near the University of Memphis.
According to surveillance footage obtained from the incident, Black GMC Terrain passed Fletcher first. After that, a man got out of the SUV and ran “aggressively” towards her, pushing her into the passenger seat of her car, according to footage cited in her affidavit obtained by her CNN. was witnessed pushing into
According to the affidavit, the SUV remained in the parking lot for about four minutes after the two were inside and began to drive away.
Abston, 38, is being held in Shelby County Jail on $500,000 bail and is due to appear in court on Tuesday, according to prison records. It is unknown whether he has a lawyer.
Fletcher was last seen wearing a pink jogging top and purple running shorts, police said. According to police, she is Caucasian, she is 5 feet 6 inches tall, has brown hair and green eyes. Her weight is 137 pounds.
evidence of the incident
In an affidavit, investigators presented the evidence that led to Abston’s arrest.
According to the documents, cell phone records show that he was at the location where Fletcher was kidnapped on the Friday morning.
Additionally, DNA found in sandals found near the scene helped investigators identify and arrest Abston, the affidavit said.
Surveillance footage taken from a local theater the day before Fletcher went missing showed Abston wearing what authorities believed were the same Champion slide sandals found at the crime scene, according to the affidavit. It was shown that
GMC SUV police also believe that Fletcher was kidnapped near Abston’s residence, with the same identifiable damage and partial license plate seen in surveillance footage from Fletcher’s abduction. He had the information, the affidavit said.
Other surveillance footage, consistent with Abston’s employer’s statement, confirmed that the vehicle in question belonged to a woman associated with Abston’s home address.
Police also gathered details from witnesses who said they encountered Abston after the abduction.
According to an affidavit, a witness said he saw Abston at his brother’s house after the abduction. He said he was behaving strangely.
Abston was accused of kidnapping in a previous incident.
Following Abston’s arrest on Saturday, additional charges unrelated to Fletcher’s kidnapping were filed against him.
The charges included identity theft, theft of property worth $1,000 or less, and unauthorized use/illegal possession of credit or debit cards worth $1,000 or less, Shelby County Jail records show.
The new charges relate to a theft report filed Thursday by a woman who reported someone used her CashApp card and Wisley Card at a gas station without her knowledge.
CNN has reached out to the Shelby County District Attorney and the Memphis Police Department about the additional charges.
Court records reveal that Abston served time in prison more than 20 years ago after being convicted of aggravated kidnapping.
In November 2001, Abston pleaded guilty to the charges and was released in November 2020, court records show.
CNN’s Tina Burnside, Hannah Sullison, Anne Clifford and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.
Source: www.cnn.com
