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U.S. NEWS Diaranson 7 september 2022

Memphis police ID body of abducted jogger Eliza Fletcher

(AP) — Police in Tennes- said. Abston previously kid-
see said Tuesday they had napped a prominent Mem-
found the body of a Mem- phis attorney in 2000 when
phis woman abducted he was just 16 years old. He
during a pre-dawn run, spent 20 years in prison for
confirming fears that Eli- that crime, but he had been
za Fletcher was killed af- sentenced to 24. Some prom-
ter she was forced into an inent Tennessee Republicans
SUV on Friday morning. on Tuesday were quick to ar-
gue that had Abston served
The news followed an ex- his full sentence, Fletcher
haustive search throughout would still be alive.
the long weekend with dogs,
ATVs and a helicopter in a The statute requires serving
case that has drawn national entire sentences for various
media attention and is already felonies, including attempted
becoming a source of parti- first-degree murder, vehicu-
san controversy over criminal lar homicide resulting from
sentencing and parole. the driver's intoxication and
carjacking.
U.S. Marshals arrested Cleo-
tha Abston, 38, on Satur- Fletcher is the granddaughter
day after police detected his of the late Joseph Orgill III,
DNA on a pair of sandals a Memphis hardware busi-
found near to where Fletcher 20 years for a previous kid- ford bond and he could not gation to determine how and nessman and philanthropist.
was last seen, according to napping. On Tuesday morn- afford a lawyer. General Ses- where Fletcher was killed. Her case is the latest that re-
an arrest affidavit. Police did ing, he made his first court sions Judge Louis Montesi Davis said the body was inforces the fears of many fe-
not find Fletcher's body until appearance on charges of appointed a public defender found behind a vacant du- male athletes when it comes
just after 5 p.m. on Monday kidnapping, tampering with to represent Abston. plex. A police affidavit said to working out alone, at night
and did not publicly confirm evidence, theft, identity theft, officers noticed vehicle tracks or in secluded places. Crime
that the body was Fletcher's and fraudulent use of a credit Court records showed next to the duplex's driveway, statistics show these types of
until Tuesday morning. The card. Abston also has been charged and they "smelled an odor of attacks are exceedingly rare.
34-year-old Fletcher was a with first-degree murder. decay." Women out for a run face
school teacher and the grand- Several of Fletcher's rela- He is scheduled to appear in much greater dangers from
daughter of a prominent tives were in the courtroom court again Wednesday. Purple running shorts whose traffic. But the fear they in-
Memphis businessman. along with more than 20 appearance was consistent spire is real, as are smaller-
media members as Abston Memphis Police Director with those Fletcher was wear- scale episodes of harassment
Abston was released from was issued a $510,000 bond. Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said it ing were found in a discarded or assaults on women, even
prison in 2020 after serving Abston said he could not af- was too early in the investi- trash bag nearby, the affidavit in well-populated areas.

Uvalde students go back to school for 1st time since attack

(AP) — Students in Uval- though a timeline has not en state troopers on Uvalde school, while others pulled school board fired district
de went back to school been set. Fundraising is un- campuses. But that was of their kids out of the district police Chief Pete Arredondo,
Tuesday for the first time derway for the construction no comfort to some fami- and enrolled them in private who McCraw and the House
since a gunman killed 19 of a new elementary campus. lies since more than 90 state schools. One teacher who report accused of failing to
children and two teachers troopers were present during was shot in the abdomen and take control of the scene and
in a classroom attack that Teachers hugged students the attack. survived, Elsa Avila, is still re- wasting time by looking for a
shocked the country and climbing out of cars in the covering. key for a classroom door that
helped fuel passage of a drop-off line and guided More than 100 families in was likely unlocked.
landmark national law on them toward a line of teach- Uvalde signed up for virtual Last month, the Uvalde
gun violence. ers who were waiting behind
the fence.
Children began arriving at
Uvalde Elementary before School started weeks ago in
dawn, walking through new- many parts of Texas, but dis-
ly installed 8-foot (2.4-me- trict officials pushed back the
ter) metal fencing that sur- first day of class in Uvalde
rounds the campus and past after a summer of heart-
a state trooper standing guard ache, anger and revelations
outside an entrance. of widespread failures by law
enforcement officers who
Colorful flags hung inside allowed an 18-year-old gun-
the hallways, and teachers man to fire inside adjoining
wore turquoise shirts that fourth grade classrooms for
read "Together We Rise & more than 70 minutes.
Together We Are Better" on
the back. State troopers were Uvalde school officials said
parked on every corner out- several enhanced security
side the school. measures are still incomplete,
including installing addition-
The district announced in al cameras and new locks.
late June that the scene of
the assault, Robb Elementary, The Texas Department of
would be permanently closed Public Safety has committed
and eventually torn down, to putting nearly three doz-