Share
News

New Court Document Reveals Disturbing Trail of Clues That Led Police to Eliza Fletcher's Body

Share

New documents explain how police found the body of Eliza Fletcher, 34, of Memphis, who was abducted while jogging early Friday.

Ex-con Cleotha Abston, 38, has been charged in connection with her kidnapping and death.

According to WHBQ-TV, citing a police affidavit, Fletcher’s body was found Monday when law enforcement officials searching the area saw car tracks in an area of high grass.

When an officer neared the area, the odor of decay was noticeable, WHBQ reported.

Fletcher’s body was next to a set of steps to a vacant house.

A discarded trash bag was found near a home in which Cleotha Abston had been with his brother, Mario. Inside the trash bag, police found purple running shorts that appeared to be the same ones worn by Fletcher when she was last seen, WHBQ reported.



According to WREG-TV, surveillance video showed Abston’s vehicle in the area about 5:48 on Friday.

Related:
Daniel Penny's Defense Rests with Huge Courtroom Point About 'Victim': Here's What Cops Would Have Seen Running Neely's Info

The video shows Abston leaving the SUV and opening the back of the GMC Terrain. He appears to take something from the SUV with him when he enters an apartment.

Abston emerges and then spends about an hour cleaning the passenger side of the SUV. Witnesses have said he was cleaning the SUV.

The timing of the video showing Abston cleaning car roughly matches the timeframe of witness accounts saying Abston was acting strangely while visiting his brother, according to the New York Post.

April Jackson, 30, who was among those watching the police operation to recover Fletcher’s body, said the crime moved her.

Do you think this suspect is guilty?

“That could have been anybody out jogging that morning, a student, anyone,” she said, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.

During the initial search to learn what happened to Fletcher, police obtained surveillance video showing a black GMC Terrain passing Fletcher, according to CNN.

The video showed a man getting out of the SUV. The man eventually forced Fletcher into the passenger’s seat, the affidavit said. The SUV was parked in a parking lot for about four minutes before driving away, the affidavit said.

Abston, who had served almost 20 years in prison on a kidnapping charge before being released in 2020, has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , ,
Share
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation