Police in Tennessee said Tuesday that a body found during an exhaustive search lasting more than three days is missing billionaire heiress and teacher Eliza Fletcher, who was abducted and forced into an SUV while jogging last week near the University of Memphis.
Her body was found Monday in South Memphis about two miles from where the man charged in her disappearance was seen cleaning out a vehicle tied to the abduction case.
Memphis police said on Twitter Tuesday that investigators identified the body of Fletcher, 34, a school teacher and granddaughter of a prominent Memphis businessman.
“The deceased victim that was found yesterday in the 1600 block of Victor has been identified as 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher,” the police department announced on Twitter Tuesday. “Additional charges for 38-year-old Cleotha Abston have been added for first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping.”
Police have not yet officially reported Fletcher’s cause of death.
There was a heavy police presence for several hours Monday afternoon at the South Memphis location near where the 38-year-old suspect in the case, Cleotha Abston, was seen cleaning out the SUV connected to the case and “behaving oddly,” reports The Washington Examiner, quoting an affidavit made public by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Abston had already been charged with “especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence,” the Memphis police said on Twitter. He is being held on $500,000 bail pending a court appearance.
