Body Identified As Eliza Fletcher

Topline

A body found in Memphis has been identified as 34-year-old elementary school teacher Eliza Fletcher, an heiress to the Orgill company fortune, who was abducted while on a run Friday, police confirmed in a tweet Tuesday morning.

Key Facts

Memphis police officers on Monday found the body that matched Fletcher’s description, but did not confirm at the time the identity of the victim, writing in a tweet the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s investigation is ongoing.

Fletcher had been missing for four days, after being last seen on a run shortly after 4 a.m. Friday morning, appearing in surveillance footage to have been abducted by a man driving a black GMC Terrain SUV.

There “appeared to be a struggle” during the abduction, according to a police affidavit, which also stated the police found “physical evidence that she suffered serious injury.”

Memphis police on Tuesday also charged 38-year-old Cleotha Abston with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping.

Abston had also been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence, after attempting to flee when U.S. Marshalls arrived at his house Saturday.

He is being held on $500,000 bail and scheduled for arraignment Tuesday.

Key Background

Fletcher is the grandaughter of Joseph Orgill III, who founded Orgill, the country’s largest independent hardware and home improvement product distributor, which Forbes reported is the 143rd largest private company in the U.S. with a revenue of $3.2 billion. In a video message posted online in the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Saturday, members of Fletcher’s family offered a reward for her safe return, asking anyone with information on the crime to report it to the police. By Saturday night, Memphis police found the SUV and detained Abston, after matching DNA found on a pair of slides at the crime scene to a DNA sample taken of him after a previous arrest, the Commercial Appeal reported. Abston was released from state prison in November, 2020, after serving 22 years for kidnapping a Memphis attorney.

Big Number

$2 billion. That’s the value of Orgill, Inc., with the family owning the majority of the company, according to Forbes.

Further Reading

Man Charged in Abduction of Billionaire’s Granddaughter, Police Say (New York Times)

Officials are working to identify a body recovered after a Memphis schoolteacher was abducted. The suspect is set to appear in court today (CNN)

Man charged in disappearance of Eliza Fletcher; police say still no sign of missing Memphis teacher (Commercial Appeal)