Eliza Fletcher: Kidnapping suspect facing new theft charges as police search continues
Cleotha Abston is refusing to assist police find Eliza Fletcher, who was last seen being violently forced into an SUV on Friday morning
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A man accused of kidnapping Eliza Fletcher has been hit with three new theft charges, as police continue to search for the missing heiress.
Cleotha Abston, 38, was charged with identity theft, theft of property under $1,000 and fraudulent use of a credit card by Memphis police on Monday.
The new charges are connected to Ms Fletcher’s disappearance, according to police.
Abston, 38, was arrested on Saturday and charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence in relation to Ms Fletcher’s disappearance, police said in a tweet early on Sunday morning.
Abston has refused to give police any information about Ms Fletcher’s whereabouts, according to a police affidavit.
Police say Abston was driving a black 2013 GMC Terrain that was identified as a vehicle of interest by police and was spotted near the University of Memphis where Ms Fletcher was abducted from.
According to a police affidavit, surveillance footage showed a man run “aggressively” towards Ms Fletcher and force her into the dark-coloured SUV.
Footage recovered by police from the day before Ms Fletcher’s disappearance allegedly shows Abston wearing a pair of Champion slide sandals recovered from the scene.
DNA on the sandals has been matched to Abston, according to the police affidavit.
According to the affidavit, statements from Abston’s employer confirmed the vehicle used in the kidnapping is owned by a woman associated with his address.
Police also said they traced Abston’s cellphone records and found it was in the vicinity when Ms Fletcher was abducted.
Abston is reportedly refusing to cooperate with police or offer any information about Ms Fletcher’s whereabouts, according to the police affidavit.
On Monday, officers from the Memphis Police Department were spotted on all-terrain vehicles searching a wooded area in south Memphis, about two miles from Abston’s home, according to WREG3.
Investigators have searched Martin Luther King Riverside park and Pine Hill Park for Ms Fletcher.