A 38-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the kidnapping of Tennessee teacher and billionaire heiress Eliza Fletcher, police said on Sunday. Cleotha Abston was charged Sunday with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence following Fletcher's mysterious disappearance on Friday morning.
Fletcher, 34, a billionaire's granddaughter and a mom of two went missing on Friday after she was abducted and bundled into an SUV while she was out for an early morning jog. Police arrested Abston hours after he was found inside the black SUV wanted in connection with Fletcher's disappearance.
Suspect Nabbed and Charged
Police are still clueless about Fletcher's disappearance although they claimed to have made the first major breakthrough in the case on Sunday morning following the arrest Abston. Fletcher was forced into a black GMC Terrain while out for a morning jog on Friday. Her shattered phone and water bottle were also discovered nearby.
"The investigation into the abduction of Eliza Fletcher is still active and ongoing. Investigators are continuing the search and following all leads," police said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Memphis police are still trying to trace Fletcher.
A second man was also arrested and charged on Sunday during the inquiry but is not now thought to be related to Fletcher's kidnapping. The second man, Mario Abston, 36, was accused of possessing a prohibited substance with the intent to manufacture and sell fentanyl, possessing a controlled substance with the goal to manufacture and sell heroin, and possessing a firearm while committing a serious crime.
He was apprehended after he was involved in a car wreck with an Alcohol Tobacco Firearms vehicle Saturday. "The vehicle of interest has been located and a male who was occupying the vehicle has been detained. Eliza Fletcher has not been located," police said.
Although a second suspect was detained, police stated that he was "currently not believed to be connected" to the early-Friday kidnapping of Fletcher.
The Shelby County Jail received bookings for both men early on Sunday. The family of Fletcher has offered a $50,000 reward for information that would result in her return.
Search Continues
On Saturday night in Memphis, police could also be spotted looking through trash outside a McDonald's restaurant in their hunt for the mother and kindergarten teacher. A resident of the area around the McDonald's told KWAM: "They were knocking on doors of houses with cameras to see if we had anything helpful on our Ring. They told us to review our footage from yesterday 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. and send them anything valuable via a phone number they left with us.
"It's just a matter of waiting and hoping and praying," her father-in-law, Richard Fletcher Jr., who spoke to The New York Post. Fletcher said he visited his son, Richard Fletcher III, and they talked "about his wife [being] missing and how hard it is and how unexpected it is and how hard it is to cope with something that seems so random."
Meanwhile, before searching the dumpster outside McDonald's, police raided an apartment complex where they were engaged in a standoff with a person inside a unit.
A complex resident shared a picture of the SWAT Team of the Memphis Officers Department getting ready for the raid on Saturday night and said that there was a standoff between police and the occupant of the apartment. According to the witness, police entered an apartment through the door and brought a lady, her daughter, and a newborn.
Another resident of The Lakes at Ridgeway condominium, which was completely surrounded by law enforcement, reported seeing an ambulance at the scene.
Police "detained" a suspect and discovered the car they were looking for. The identity of the person who is being detained has not been made public by the authorities.
Fletcher's grandfather was hardware tycoon Joseph Orgill III, who built the privately held family business, Orgill Inc., with 5,500 employees and $3 billion in annual sales.
