The man accused of kidnapping billionaire heiress Eliza Fletcher was recently released from prison after serving a 20-year sentence for a similar crime.
Cleotha Abston, 38, was arrested and convicted in 2000 of kidnapping Memphis attorney Keber Durant.
Around 2 a.m. on May 25, 2000, Abston approached Durand from behind on Beale Street in Memphis and robbed him and forced him into the trunk of his car, according to the Memphis Flyer.
Abston then drove Durand around for several hours, then forced him into an ATM and asked him to withdraw cash. While at the ATM, Durant spotted a housing authority officer and shouted for help, prompting Abston to flee.
Abston was convicted of that kidnapping and released from prison in July 2020, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, US Sun reported.
On Sunday, Abston was charged with aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence after Fletcher disappeared on Friday.
In addition to surveillance footage showing the entirety of the “violent” abduction in which Fletcher was forced into a black SUV with a broken taillight, an affidavit showed officers identified Abston as the kidnapper by a pair of sandals he left behind behind him on stage.
Abston lost the sandals – a pair of Champion brand slides – in his struggle to force Fletcher into the car, and authorities were able to recover his DNA found on them.
Investigators also found that Abston’s cell was near the abduction at the time Fletcher was arrested.
The affidavit described an interview with a woman who said Abston’s behavior in the hours after the abduction was “strange.” The woman said Abston was in a “strange mood” and that she saw him frantically cleaning the interior of his car with carpet cleaner and washing his clothes in the sink at home.
Authorities went to Abston’s last known address and found the same black SUV with a damaged tail light. The affidavit said Abston was standing in the doorway when police arrived and began to run away, but was soon apprehended.
Abston still hasn’t said where Fletcher is or what he did to her. The affidavit said evidence, including blood, found in Abston’s car led them to believe Fletcher suffered “serious injury.”
“The investigation into Eliza Fletcher’s abduction is still active and ongoing. Investigators are continuing to investigate and are following up on all leads,” police said in a statement Sunday after Abston’s arrest was announced.
Police were also seen searching through trash cans outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Memphis on Saturday night as they searched for the preschool teacher and mother.
Eliza Fletcher, 34, was kidnapped after being forced into a black SUV on Friday. The driver of that SUV, Cleotha Abston, was arrested over the weekend
Missing mother Eliza Fletcher was pictured with her husband Richie and their two children
A resident of the area around the McDonald’s told KWAM: “They were knocking on doors with cameras to see if we had anything useful on our ring.
“We have been told to check our hardware since 4:30am yesterday. to 6:30 a.m. and send them anything of value through a phone number they left us.”
Shortly before this investigation, police raided an apartment complex where they had been involved in a standoff with a person inside a unit.
A resident of the complex posted a photo showing members of the Memphis Police Department’s SWAT Team preparing for the raid Saturday night and said police were in a standoff with a person inside the apartment. Officers kicked in an apartment door and brought in a woman, her daughter and a baby, according to the witness.
Another resident of the complex – The Lakes at Ridgeway – who was surrounded by a massive police presence, said she also saw an ambulance at the scene.
According to ABC24’s Ian Ripple, the SUV wanted in connection with the case was found after it was involved in a car wreck with an Alcohol Tobacco Firearms vehicle near the complex.
Shortly after the raid, police were seen searching trash cans outside a McDonald’s restaurant along South Perkins Street in the city
A different resident posted this photo showing members of the Memphis Police SWAT Team preparing to raid the complex in search of Eliza Fletcher
According to ABC24’s Ian Ripple, the SUV wanted in connection with the case was found after it was involved in a car wreck with an Alcohol Tobacco Firearms vehicle near the complex.
After the car was discovered, Fletcher’s family, her father, Beasley, mother, Adele, brother Gill and her husband appeared on camera with their lawyer, Mike Keeney.
In the statement, Keeney thanked law enforcement for their search efforts and said, “We believe someone knows what happened and can help.” At this station, Fletcher’s husband was overcome with emotion.
On Friday, police searched a park near the site where a wealthy heiress was abducted and forced into the vehicle as they searched for clues in the complicated case.
Eliza Fletcher, 34, was last seen at around 4.20am. on Friday when she was jogging in Memphis and a man approached her and forced her into an SUV after a brief argument, police said.
Fletcher is heir to a family fortune from hardware company Orgill, which her grandfather built into a global brand, although the family’s net worth is unclear.
Fletcher’s family offered a $50,000 reward Friday night through Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance.
“We look forward to Eliza’s safe return and hope this award will help the police catch those who committed this crime,” Fletcher’s family said in an earlier statement.
After the car was discovered, Fletcher’s family, her father, Beasley, mother, Adele, brother Gill and her husband appeared on camera with their lawyer, Mike Keeney.
Eliza Fletcher’s husband, Richard Fletcher III, was spotted Saturday morning with several other people outside his family’s home in Memphis
Eliza Fletcher’s family issues statement thanking community and law enforcement. Investigators say they have located a vehicle of interest in her disappearance and a man who owned the SUV has been arrested. Eliza Fletcher has not been located. @3onyourside pic.twitter.com/7UMAik74BZ
— Shay Arthur (@ShayA_WREG3) September 3, 2022
That’s the SUV police say Fletcher was abducted from, identified as a dark-colored GMC Terrain
Eliza Fletcher, 34, (left) was last seen at around 4.20am. on Friday when she was jogging (right) in Memphis and a man approached her and forced her into an SUV after a brief argument, police said.
The media gathered Friday night as Shelby County sheriff’s deputies spent several hours searching a wooded area of Overton Park, a vast green space less than 1.5 miles from where Fletcher was abducted.
Memphis police officers were seen towing Fletcher’s family car, a white Jeep Wagoneer, from her home Friday afternoon
On Friday night, Shelby County sheriff’s deputies spent several hours searching a wooded area of Overton Park, a vast green space less than 1.5 miles from where Fletcher was abducted.
The search was called off with no results as darkness fell and investigators were reportedly looking into a tip related to the kidnapping case, according to WREG-TV.
Late Friday, state police said the suspect vehicle in the case was a dark-colored GMC Terrain, providing a blurry surveillance image of the SUV speeding away from the crime scene.
Memphis police officers were seen towing Fletcher’s family car, a white Jeep Wagoneer, from her home.
Investigators also noticed a pair of garden shears and a computer marked as evidence. A heavy police presence remained at the family’s home throughout the evening.
Fletcher, who plays Lisa, is a kindergarten teacher at St. John’s Episcopal School. Mary’s.
According to Richie’s LinkedIn page, he works as a manager at a boat dealership in Memphis. He previously worked as a project manager for a construction company and as a Crossfit trainer.
Between October 2001 and October 2005, Ritchie served in the US Coast Guard as a machinist.
Members of law enforcement work at the scene where Eliza Fletcher, 34, is believed to have been abducted
Members of law enforcement work the scene where Eliza Fletcher, 34, is believed to have been abducted around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, near the corner of Central Avenue and Zach H. Curlin Street.
She was reported missing when she didn’t return home from her usual morning run, and her cell phone and water bottle were discovered in front of a home owned by the University of Memphis, authorities said.
Fletcher, a keen exerciser who regularly jogged the same route, threw her phone to the ground and it broke during the crime.
The mother of two is described as 5-foot-5 and 137 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink jogging top and purple running shorts.
The kidnapped woman is the granddaughter of hardware tycoon Joseph ‘Joe’ Orgill III who died in 2018.
Eliza Fletcher, pictured, was abducted during a 4:30 a.m. jog. near the University of Memphis campus Friday morning
Fletcher’s mother, Adele, is Orgill’s daughter. Their family-owned wholesale hardware business, Orgill Inc., has annual sales of $3 billion, according to the company’s website.
The company’s description on the website calls Orgill “the world’s largest independent distributor of hard drives with $3 billion in annual sales.” The company is privately owned.
More than 5,500 people are employed in the company.
In an op-ed published in the Memphis Commercial Appeal in 2018, a friend of Joe Orgill III referred to him as a cross between Bono and Mr. Rogers in material circles. Obvious reference to his philanthropic activities and warm…
