A 38-year-old man who spent much of his life in prison was charged with kidnapping teacher Eliza Fletcher—after his sandals, with his DNA, were found at the scene of the violent abduction, Memphis Police said.
Fletcher, 34, a married mom of two boys whose grandfather was a wealthy philanthropist and business magnate, was still missing as suspect Cleotha “Pookie” Abston was held in jail ahead of a Tuesday arraignment.
A police affidavit laid out how investigators identified Abston as a suspect in Friday’s kidnapping, which was caught on surveillance video—and a pair of Champion slides played a major part.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the document, just before 7 a.m. on Friday, a passerby found Fletcher’s cellphone and the sandals on the street where the prekindergarten teacher was jogging when she was forced into a black GMC Terrain.
Forensic investigators matched DNA on the slides to Abston, 38, and then detectives found surveillance video that showed he was wearing the Champions a day before the kidnapping.
The owner of the cleaning service where Abston worked gave detectives his phone number, and police were able to use pings to place the phone at the kidnapping scene, the affidavit says.
When police showed up to arrest Abston, the GMC Terrain with a tell-tale broken taillight was parked at the home. He tried to flee but was taken into custody.
Investigators learned that Abston had been seen at his brother Mario’s home after the abduction, and police say that Mario told them he saw Cleotha cleaning the inside of the Terrain, washing his clothes, and “acting very strange.”
Cleotha Abston “declined to provide investigators with the location of the victim,” the affidavit says.
While it appears Mario Abston was helpful to police, he was also arrested, though not in connection with the abduction. Instead, he was charged with possession of fentanyl and heroin and with having a gun as a felon.
It appears that Cleotha Abston has a lengthy criminal history that began when he was a teenager.
According to the Memphis Flyer, in 2001, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping a local attorney and forcing him to withdraw money from an ATM; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. State prison records show he was released in 2020.
“Eliza Fletcher has not been located at this time. MPD Investigators and officers, along with our local and federal partners, continue searching for Mrs. Fletcher,” Memphis cops said.
Fletcher graduated from the Hutchinson School in Memphis in 2006 and got a teaching degree from Belmont University. She has been married for eight years.
Her family has offered a $50,000 reward for her safe return. Fletcher’s late grandfather was co-owner Orgill, the hardware supply giant started by his family that racks up $3 billion in sales a year.
