Found Deceased TN - Eliza "Liza" Fletcher Abducted While Jogging Near University of Memphis #2

[NanZDrew]

Did anyone see the video of Liza's family...Mother, dad, Brother, and husband that was posted this morning?

 

[Mrs Shibbles]

I'm sorry. Late to threads. Who works where? I'm a bit lost.

There was a police search behind Memphis boat center , where Richie Fletcher is a manager. It is right off the interstate.

 

[Mariposa]

Or perhaps more simply Henderson is one parent’s surname, and Abston is the other’s name. Presumably Abston is his legal surname, but plenty of reasons why he might utilize the other time at times. That’s why aliases are often listed.

Yep I was thinking an alias too, or maybe a family name he used as a juvenile as we know he had extensive juvenile records according to media accounts of his 2000 crime he went to prison for.

 

[Teche]

This whole thing is just heart breaking.

About the internet... I’m in Louisiana, and I had a former student who was in jail for some major stuff. Drugs, robbery, and attempted murder. I could NOT believe it when his girlfriend(who was pregnant with his child) told me they talked via Facebook often!!! I thought so MY tax $ are providing that?? Anyway, don’t know if it’s the same everywhere, but it sure sounds like it!

I don’t even know what to say except I’m praying for a miracle for Eliza and her family, but I know it doesn’t look good.

Definitely in LA, my state.

 

[elmomom]

Is it possible the Henderson is the name of the attorney representing him?

 

[kspoon45]

I keep thinking about the affidavit that states the car was seen in the area 24 minutes before Eliza was abducted. And then, according to the affidavit, the car passed her by and then stopped, waiting for the victim to run by. I am not familiar, thankfully, with the thoughts of kidnappers, but do you think he was patrolling that area specifically to look for a victim? That time of day seems weird - it's too late in the morning for people in bars or at parties to be leaving and it's too early for most people to be waking up. And if you left home that morning intent on abducting someone, if you cruised around and didn't find anyone... wouldn't you just go do something else? I still have a lot of questions.

ETA: Let's just say that, for whatever reason, this was planned. If she left home around 4am, it means he was in that area beginning around that same time (intentionally?). I wonder what he did during those 25 minutes.

 

[Charlot123]

Well

Well, maybe a crazy thought here but being in prison he may have met a trafficker. Trafficker may have told him that "x" pays "x" amount of money for women. Dude, being in need of cash, sees EF and grabs her, with the plan being to sell her to trafficker.

<modsnip - LE has said not related>

Don't know how much blood was found in vehicle so perhaps this is way off thought but who knows. If they are searching water ways many traffickers will take their victims by boat to another country.

They’d know by the amount of blood. I think that mentioning Liza being hurt means something more than a shot.

<modsnip - reference removed from quoted post>

She is not quite the age, even looks, for being trafficked (too athletic and not childish), but the fact that someone in a dark car was harassing students several days before, makes this version possible, theoretically. JMO.

 

[asyousay]

He is like 3 times the size of her and was obviously very aggressive and she probably didn’t even have a chance to run.


It was 4am and she wasn’t expecting to be attacked and the element of surprise and his sheer size means it wasn’t a battle she was going to win.


MOOO

 

[Unsolved]

Not sure if this has been posted but Heavy reports that her uncle works for the same law firm as the prvious kidnapp viction in 2000. Another strange coincidence

I was just coming to post that also - here's a link with proof so Mods will allow it to stay:

Keeney - Lewis Thomason

Mr. Keeney, of counsel, is at Lewis Thomason’s Memphis office. He practices in the area of civil litigation, handling matters in state and federal court. He has extensive trial experience, as well as experience in handling appellate matters. Mr. Keeney is also active in the community and serves...

www.lewisthomason.com

Video with him as family spokesman where he identifies himself as uncle:

RAW: TN: FAMILY OF ELIZA FLETCHER RELEASES VIDEO STATEMENT

The family of Eliza Fletcher made a video statement Saturday asking for the public’s help in finding her.

www.ktbs.com

 

[Eloise]

Not always true. As a runner I remember reading that an out of shape man could catch a fast conditioned woman runner.

The male perpetrator has strength, adrenaline and the element of surprise. There are of course exceptions.

It's 100% true, and I often read people say they're surprised when a fit woman is overcome by an average or even below-average fitness man, but it shouldn't be surprising at all. There are many examples of extremely well trained and fit women being beaten by average men in various fitness tests. Men are stronger than women, it is simply biological fact and there's no getting around it.

 

[Bravo]

I was getting ready to post something similar. Why would they remove a computer and her car (and garden shears, possibly) yesterday morning if they already had pretty significant leads on what/who they were looking for? By that time, they had seen the video of the abduction and the violence involved... why would they be looking for other things that seem unrelated?

That's what I am wondering as well. Trying to get caught up here.

 

[vaporlass]

Sickening.

Cleotha Abston kidnapped Kemper Durand in 2000, when he was 16.
Abston was charged with aggravated robbery and especially aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. In 2003, he filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which was denied. Durand had written an impact statement depicting his personal feelings of being the victim of the kidnapping.
Durand wrote that it took over a year for Abston to sign the guilty plea, citing the refusal as "jailhouse braggadocio."
Durand also detailed Abston's lengthy history in the juvenile court system prior to his conviction for the kidnapping, the earliest of which, Durand said, dated back to 1995 when he was no older than 12 years old. Abston also appeared in juvenile court records in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 for charges including theft, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, and rape, according to Durand's statement.
Durand died in early February 2013, seven years before Abston would be released in November 2020 at age 36.
Posted by: Memphis Commercial Appeal

 

[kccorona]

I keep thinking about the affidavit that states the car was seen in the area 24 minutes before Eliza was abducted. And then, according to the affidavit, the car passed her by and then stopped, waiting for the victim to run by. I am not familiar, thankfully, with the thoughts of kidnappers, but do you think he was patrolling that area specifically to look for a victim? That time of day seems weird - it's too late in the morning for people in bars or at parties to be leaving and it's too early for most people to be waking up. And if you left home that morning intent on abducting someone, if you cruised around and didn't find anyone... wouldn't you just go do something else? I still have a lot of questions.

ETA: Let's just say that, for whatever reason, this was planned. If she left home around 4am, it means he was in that area beginning around that same time (intentionally?). I wonder what he did during those 25 minutes.

This is a really insightful post. Timing is very tight all around in this case, and this is a prime example. Very interesting and more than likely coincidental, but wild coincidences nonetheless.

 

[Researchgirl]

Well

Well, maybe a crazy thought here but being in prison he may have met a trafficker. Trafficker may have told him that "x" pays "x" amount of money for women. Dude, being in need of cash, sees EF and grabs her, with the plan being to sell her to trafficker.

Considering someone was busted for fentanyl and heroin at same time he was arrested perhaps once subdued they shoot her with heroin which would eliminate her ability to fight back and make it easier to transfer her to trafficker.

Don't know how much blood was found in vehicle so perhaps this is way off thought but who knows. If they are searching water ways many traffickers will take their victims by boat to another country.

I did think about the trafficker possibility. Nowadays you never truly know.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Or perhaps more simply Henderson is one parent’s surname, and Abston is the other’s name. Presumably Abston is his legal surname, but plenty of reasons why he might utilize the other time at times. That’s why aliases are often listed.

ETA: and small chuckle that all the speculation is about fathers’ names / married names. Lots of folks carry their mother’s surname.

Absolutely. Just strange to me that it's not listed as one or the other at his age. If it was legally changed... but maybe it wasn't and at times he went by his birth surname and at other times by his mother's or stepfather's, hence the name in parens.

 

[cuffem]

Low risk victims aren't kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking, despite viral Facebook posts. The last thing they want is someone everyone will be looking for, which is why they tend to target high risk individuals (drug addicts, runaways, homeless, mentally ill).

Typically it's a drawn out grooming process, one that can even take years.

There's no need to grab women off the street, and it tends to be much more insidious.

Myths, Facts, and Statistics

Traffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will.

polarisproject.org

Wish we could sticky this somewhere to easily find and post whenever we unfortunately have cases like this.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

This is a really insightful post. Timing is very tight all around in this case, and this is a prime example. Very interesting and more than likely coincidental, but wild coincidences nonetheless.

Yes... possibly waiting for one particular person to run by, knowing that was her route.

 

[vls12345]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1566553336689659904

 

[tigerteeth]

It's 100% true, and I often read people say they're surprised when a fit woman is overcome by an average or even below-average fitness man, but it shouldn't be surprising at all. There are many examples of extremely well trained and fit women being beaten by average men in various fitness tests. Men are stronger than women, it is simply biological fact and there's no getting around it.

Even as someone who bikes (road, gravel, mountain) people always tell me “at least you’d be faster than a running attacker” and there is no way I would be, especially once tired at all, if uphill, on a trail, or on low-resistance wheels (knobby mountain bike wheels).

 

[Knox]

If a big tall violent man who was probably been lifting weights in prison for 20 years suddenly aggressively (as described by police who have seen the footage)runs at you on a deserted street intent on grabbing you that is a severely frightening situation. I don’t like the implication that Eliza coulda shoulda outrun him. I don’t care that she was a runner who could do however many minutes miles. She was prey.

IKWYM and what you're saying is true. Just wanted to add he's 5'9 so not really tall, FWIW.