- A Tennessee teacher was abducted while jogging near the University of Memphis on Friday morning.
- Eliza Fletcher's family has put up a $50,000 reward for information that helps them find her.
Police in Memphis, Tennessee, said a man was arrested in connection to the abduction of a teacher who went missing after a morning run.
Memphis Police said they've detained and charged Cleotha Abston, 38, in connection to Fletcher's abduction, but she has not been found yet. Abston has been charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
"MPD Investigators and officers, along with our local and federal partners, continue searching for Mrs. Fletcher," police said in a tweet.
—Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) September 4, 2022
Eliza Fletcher was abducted while jogging on Friday morning in Memphis. Her family offered $50,000 for information that could help find her.
The Memphis Police Department said Fletcher was forced into a vehicle while running near the University of Memphis at around 4:30 a.m. on Friday.
"We look forward to Eliza's safe return and hope that this award will help police capture those who committed this crime," Fletcher's family said in a statement released Friday night through Crimestoppers, the Associated Press reported.
CBS News citing a police affidavit reported that an investigator said Fletcher's husband reported her missing when she didn't come home from her usual run. A witness found her phone and sandals nearby and gave them to her family who then gave them to police.
Additionally, surveillance footage showed a black SUV with the right tail light damaged waiting in the spot where Fletcher's phone and sandals were found.
The video shows a man running toward Fletcher and coercing her into the SUV, CBS News reported, citing the affidavit.
Police also previously said Fletcher briefly struggled with the man who forced her inside the dark-colored GMC Terrain.
The car waited for four minutes in the area before driving off, CBS News reported.
The Daily Beast reported that Fletcher is the granddaughter of Joseph Orgill III, who co-ran the Memphis-based hardware distributor Orgill Inc and is the heiress of the business.
CBS News, citing the affidavit reported that US Marshalls found the SUV on Saturday and after a short chase arrested Abston. Officials found Abston's DNA on the sandals and also learned that the SUV was similar to the one owned by a woman he was staying with.
The woman he was staying with told police she saw Abston cleaning out the car as well as his clothes on the morning that Fletcher disappeared. She told police Abston was "acting very strangely," CBS News reported citing the affidavit.
Fletcher, 34, was wearing a pink jogging top and purple running shorts. She's 5′6," and weighs 137 pounds. She also has brown hair and green eyes.
Hart Robinson, a friend of Fletcher's family told Fox13Memphis that Fletcher, a teacher at St. Mary's Episcopal School, was "just a great lady" and a mom to two boys.
"You don't want to hear that is going on. We just want to find her," Robinson told the outlet.