Here’s the Latest in the Eliza Fletcher Abduction and Murder

A man suspected of abducting and killing Eliza Fletcher, a 34-year-old teacher and mother, while she was on a run near the University of Memphis was temporarily ordered held without bond on Wednesday.

Cleotha Abston, arrested over the weekend on kidnapping allegations, now faces first-degree murder charges after authorities announced that a body found near a vacant Memphis duplex Monday was “Liza” Fletcher’s.

“To lose someone so young and so vital is a tragedy in and of itself, but to have it happen in this way, with a senseless act of violence, it’s unimaginable,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Tuesday.

The search for Fletcher began Friday morning, when she had been running on a route near the University of Memphis around 4 a.m. When she didn’t return home, her husband contacted local police.

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Police later found surveillance video in the area she was running, showing a black GMC Terrain nearby. A man is seen in the footage leaving the SUV and heading toward her, then forcing her into the passenger’s seat. Someone also found Fletcher’s phone in a street that morning, and it was given to one of Fletcher's relatives and then investigators.

Should Elites Worry About Lead Vehicle Emissions, Should Elites Worry About Lead Vehicle Emissions. They interviewed his employer, who confirmed the vehicle he drove matched the GMC. Abston’s cell phone records ID’d him as around the scene of the crime, and a U.S. Marshals task force found that all visible identifying parts of the car matched the video surveillance footage when they visited Abston’s home on Saturday.

Investigators also got details from witnesses—one being Abston’s brother—who said he was acting strangely and that he was seen cleaning the interior of his car.

Both said Abston cleaned the interior of the GMC Terrain with floor cleaner, and that he washed his clothes in the sink of the home, according to the affidavit.

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From there, police began their search for Fletcher. On Monday evening, searchers found Fletcher’s body by using the cell phone data connected to the investigation. The area was about a 7.5-mile drive from the alleged abduction site and about a 15.5-mile drive from Abston’s home.

As the investigation continues, Fletcher’s running community is mourning the kindergarten teacher with an 8.2-mile memorial run—“Finish Liza’s Run”— a week after she was abducted while running near the University of Memphis campus. (You can view the Facebook event here.) Download Your Training Plan virtual run, The Stats Behind Cooper Lutkenhaus’s Race.

“We created this run as [a] way to honor Liza and cope with our own feelings. This run is 8.2 miles taking a path she would regularly run,” the Facebook event says. “Our goal is to stand up for the women in the Mid South and emphasize that women should be able to safely run any time of day.”

The run begins at 5:20 a.m. The organizers ask that if you plan to attend you follow these guidelines: