MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis Police Department confirmed that a body found near the original abduction crime scene late Sunday has been identified as missing teacher Eliza Fletcher, Fox News reported.
Fletcher, a wife and mother of two young children, was snatched from the street while she was out for an early morning run near the University of Memphis on Friday, Law Officer reported.
Investigators quickly began to solve the mysterious crime and Cleotha Abston, 38, was arrested on Saturday after his DNA was matched to a pair of sandals found near the scene. He was originally charged with aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
Late Sunday, prosecutors added three more charges against Abston, which included identity theft, theft of property of $1,000 or less, and illegal possession of a credit or debit card of $1,000 or less, according to records.
Abston’s charges were upgraded Tuesday morning to include first-degree murder, Fox reported.
Bail was previously set being set at $500,000, but grew to $510,000 overnight. It it likely to increase further given the new charge of murder.
Further details regarding a cause of death for Fletcher were not immediately available with an autopsy still to take place.
Abston previously served 20 years for violently kidnapping a prosecutor, according to court records, the New York Post reported.
The accused murderer has a juvenile record dating back to when he was just 12 — with charges including aggravated assault with a weapon and rape, according to court records, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.
Abston was only 16 when he kidnapped prosecutor Kemper Durand at gunpoint in the early hours of May 25, 2000, reports from the time show. Durand had testified that only luck had saved him from being killed that day.
