Police set up mobile command center in area where Eliza Fletcher’s alleged abductor lives
Memphis police and mounted police with horses set up a mobile command center and gather at Pine Hill Community Center in the area where Eliza Fletcher’s alleged abductor lives.
The Memphis, Tennessee, mom who was abducted while jogging last week is reportedly an heiress to a private hardware company that her prominent Tennessee family founded.
Eliza Fletcher, 34, went missing on Friday at 4:30 a.m. at the 3800 block of Central Avenue in Memphis and was forcefully taken into a GMC Terrain, according to police who say that there was a struggle. Court documents state that the GMC Terrain sat in a nearby parking lot for four minutes with Eliza Fletcher inside before driving off.
Fletcher’s late grandfather was Joseph "Joe" Orgill III, who ran Orgill Inc., a hardware supply company that Forbes ranked last year as the nation’s largest independent distributor of hardware and home improvement tools. Forbes listed the company as the 143rd largest private company in the country, pulling in $3.2 billion in revenue in 2021.
Fletcher is an heiress to the company, the New York Times reported.
ELIZA FLETCHER ABDUCTION: MEMPHIS JUDGE SETS BOND FOR MAN CHARGED IN RELATION TO KIDNAPPING
Authorities are offering a $50,000 reward to help find the mother who was kidnapped while jogging. (Memphis Police Department/TBI)
Under Orgill’s leadership, the company grew from a regional business to a company that shipped hardware tools worldwide, the New York Post reported. He joined the company as a salesman before serving as the company’s president from 1968 to 1980 and chairman of the board until 2005, according to announcement on his death in 2018.
"Though he had not been active in Orgill’s day-to-day management for a number of years, Mr. Orgill played a prominent role in the growth of the distribution company," the company said in a remembrance post after his death. Ancestors of Orgill founded Orgill Inc. in 1847.
Orgill was described in his obituary as a philanthropist who rarely put himself in the public spotlight despite his deep roots in Memphis.
Eliza Fletcher's family attends a vigil at Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis. (Fox News Digital)
"Yes, he may have come from a point of privilege, but it didn't mean that Joe didn't believe in equality," Dr. Scott Morris, CEO of Church Health, was quoted in a local report on Orgill's death. "And it was driven by his position of faith. He did a daily devotional with him and his wife."
A representative for Orgill Inc. did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on Fletcher's abduction.
Fletcher resides in Memphis' Central Gardens neighborhood, a historical area of the city known for its sprawling old homes.
Eliza Fletcher's home in Memphis, Tennessee. The teacher and mother was abducted during her morning jog near the University of Memphis on Sept. 2, 2022. (Matt Symons for Fox News Digital)
Police are still searching for the missing teacher and mother of two.
Sheriff Emergency Services at a mobile command center in the search for Eliza Fletcher. (Matt Symons for Fox News Digital)
A 38-year-old suspect in the case, Cleotha Abston, was arrested and charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering of evidence. A Memphis judge set his bail at $500,000 on Sunday.
ELIZA FLETCHER'S ABDUCTION: TIMELINE OF THE MEMPHIS TEACHER'S DISAPPEARANCE
A booking photo shows Cleotha Abston. (Tennessee Department of Corrections)
Video surveillance in the area of the abduction allegedly shows the GMC Terrain "passing and then waiting for the victim to run by" before suspect Abston ran "aggressively toward the victim," according to police.
Police said Fletcher "suffered serious injury" and "left evidence, e.g., blood, in the vehicle that the Defendant cleaned."
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People with information in relation to the abduction are urged to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH (2274).
Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
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