True Crime with Kendall Rae - Abducted on Her Morning Run by Pure Evil: The Murder of Eliza Fletcher

Episode Date: June 26, 2025

In the early hours of September 2, 2022, 34-year-old wife and mother of two Eliza Fletcher went out for a ten mile run. She had been training for a marathon, and found that the earlier she went out for her runs, the more time she had later in the day to spend with her two young sons. But in the middle of this run, she was shot and killed. Her body was found three days later, and the culprit, 40-year-old Cleotha Abston, was caught and charged for killing this woman for no reason at all. TrailblazHers Running Co: https://www.instagram.com/trailblazhe... GirlTREK: https://www.girltrek.org/  Rising Hearts organization: https://www.risinghearts.org/ Rising Hearts Running with Purpose Collective: https://www.risinghearts.org/rwp-athl... Jordan Daniel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nativein_la... — This episode is sponsored by: Earnin - When you download the app, type in True Crime with Kendall Rae under PODCAST. Skylight Nutrafol - promo code: KENDALLRAE Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr  True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of True Karma with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much as always for joining me today and if you're new to the show then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. Thanks for stopping by and today we have a case that is just guaranteed to make your blood boil. I mean, oh my God, the rage that has coursed through me while preparing for this episode. I think you will all understand very quickly what I mean by that, because I'm going to be telling you about the horrific murder of Eliza Fletcher, who was a wonderful human. And when I tell you that she was failed by the system she was failed I mean there's just no other way to describe it what

happened to her was completely preventable and when you hear the details of how our system failed her I think you are just going to be floored and I mean I'm sure we talk about cases where the system fails our victims constantly, but this one just especially stood out to me because it was, yeah, completely preventable. And Eliza was just such a good person. She was a mother, she was a teacher,

and she truly seemed to add so much joy and value to everyone's life around her. And over the last couple years and beyond, but I think especially lately, there's been a lot of talk about the dangers of running outside as a woman and how often we see horrific things happen when women are just exercising and enjoying the outdoors. And in Eliza's case, she was training for the Boston Marathon. She was a serious runner. And I have recently gotten into running over the last year.

I've gotten, I never thought I would ever run, but I actually really enjoy it. And I record this show on Fridays. And so every Friday morning over the past month or so, I've been trying to run a 5K just because it, I don't know, gets me kind of zoned in and focused and just kind of pumped up to record. And God, when I was doing my run this morning, I could not help but think about Eliza. And I got so, so emotional just thinking about how that was something that she loved so much, how much joy she got from running, how much, you know, the endorphins and the accomplishment and how she was so excited for the Boston Marathon coming up, the fact that she had qualified for it and that was all taken from her.

And it must have just been so, so shocking to be completely in the zone like that, focused on her run. And then just out of nowhere, the unimaginable happened to her. I personally only run inside on my treadmill. And I hate to say it, but it's cases like this that make me afraid to run outside. And I've been trying to get up the courage to actually go out and run. But you know, then I hear stories like this and it is such a scary, scary world for women.

And I certainly don't want this case to scare other people who get so much joy out of exercising outside. That's not my intention. I'm just trying to be honest about my personal fears as a woman living in this country. And I guess really this applies to women all around the world. I just can never understand how someone could be so cruel, and especially to someone like Eliza. All right guys, let's go ahead and jump into this case. And as always, I want to start out by telling you what I've learned about Eliza Fletcher. So Eliza Walford, her maiden name, otherwise known as Liza, was born on November 9th, 1987 in Memphis, Tennessee to her parents Adele and James Welford. And she had one brother named Gil. She was raised in Memphis and at an early age she attended an all-girls school called St. Mary's Episcopal.

And after that she went on to attend Hutchinson, which is an all-girls college preparatory school where she really shined both academically and athletically. Liza was a particularly talented soccer player, very, very dedicated to her sport. And after high school, she actually went to play at the University of Memphis. And she was even part of their championship winning team her sophomore year. And I wanted to share a quote from her coach. He said, it might sound cliche, but she literally always had a smile on her face. Even when I would have to get on her, she still had a smile on her face. That's just who she was.

As a soccer player, she was very athletic and had track like speed. She was just a worker. She always looked at things as the glass being half full, not half empty. Her attitude was infectious. And despite being scouted to play for that university, she ended up transferring to Baylor where she completed her degree in sports and exercise science. And then she actually went on to get her master's degree in teaching from Belmont University. And after that that she went on to become a kindergarten teacher and a soccer coach at a school called Promise Academy and then most recently she had gotten a job as a junior kindergarten

teacher at St. Mary's Episcopal which if you remember is the same school where she was a student at all those years ago which I'm sure was a really full circle moment and by all accounts I mean everyone, Liza was an incredible teacher who was truly passionate about teaching and about children in general. I mean she would do whatever she could to get her students excited about what they were learning and I think we've all had teachers like that over the years. I mean hopefully at least one teacher in your education who made you feel heard and excited and yeah, just supported through your education journey. And it's been said by many that she sort of had this childlike spirit and that energy

I think is what made her so good at what she did. She was also super, super patient and kind. And a friend of hers actually said that Liza had taken her own struggles with reading from when she was a kid and used that as an inspiration to help her students. Life doesn't happen bi-weekly, so why should payday? The money that you earn can be in your hands today with Earnin'. Earnin' is an app that gives you access to your pay as you work, up to $150 per day with a max of $750 between pay periods.

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Oh, and I loved this. I think this really tells you about how passionate she was about education and her students. Her house was actually filled with artwork made by her students. And from everything I've read about her specifically when it comes to being a teacher, I get the vibe that she was sort of like Miss Honey from Matilda. And if you haven't seen Matilda, you probably don't understand what I mean by that, which you should. Matilda is one of the best movies of all time in my opinion, but she seemed to just truly, truly care about her students, you know?

Even during the pandemic, during the remote learning in 2020, Liza would make videos for her students, including this really sweet one of her singing, "'This Little Light of Mine,' and I just had to play it for you. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Miss you girls. Now you need to let the light shine at your house and I will see you later.

But wait one second. I heard somebody that you might want to meet. Jamie come here girl. Come here Jamie. Come here Jamie. Hey look girls this is Jamie. And Jamie is the girl in our house because there's two little boys and a Mr. Fletcher and so there's just me and Jamie. And I don't think it'll come as a surprise to hear that her kindness and positivity really extended outside of the classroom too. She just was nice to everybody in her life. And one friend actually described her as a breath of fresh air and then I love this,

she also described her as a walking smile. Liza seemed to really be able to spread joy in every community that she was part of, and that included her church as well. She was a very active member of Second Presbyterian Church, and it was actually there that she met her husband, Richard. And the senior pastor at their church said that Liza and Richard were both really leaders in the community.

And the two of them ended up getting married on March 8th, 2014, in the very church where they had met. Their wedding was even featured in Memphis magazine and everything about it seemed really really cool and beautiful, of course. I mean both of them really loved outdoors, so their reception was woodland themed and their cake was decorated with hand-spun sugar in the shape of mushrooms and ferns and oh they even hired a local artist to paint on-site portraits of the event which I feel like is something more people are doing these days it's really really cool and I think in that way they were sort of ahead of their time and that magazine also

reported that Liza's parents happily gave her the wedding that she envisioned which actually brings me to a point that I want to touch on and it's something that's reported a lot in this case and it's not super relevant to the case actually but Liza was kind of an heiress. I mean she she was an heiress. Her grandfather on her mother's side was Joe Orgill III and maybe some of you have heard of him but he was a Memphis businessman and philanthropist as well who founded Orgel, which is a hardware supply company. And today the company is valued at $3.2 billion and employs roughly 5,500 people. It's described as a family-run business and is reportedly the world's largest

independently owned hardline distributor. And so as you can imagine, Liza's family was blessed with a lot of financial privilege. That being said though, I feel like if you just had met her, you would never really get that vibe from her because she was so down to earth and she wasn't active in the business either. And she was so much more than just an heiress. I mean, instead of going into the family business, or I guess potentially if she wanted to, I imagine she wouldn't have to work, but she

wanted to give back to the community in the way that she felt drawn to, which was teaching. I mean, she chose a harder career path. Being a teacher can be very, very difficult. And she wanted to spread joy and light to children. I think that just says so much about who she was. And by all accounts she absolutely loved her job. One of the moms at the school said that Liza always had a smile and a positive attitude and was just such a good influence on her

daughter and then she became an amazing influence on her own children when she and Richard had their two sons Richard and Harry. Now I couldn't pinpoint exactly when they were born but I do know that they were incredibly young when everything happened. And everyone that has spoken about her publicly said that she was a extremely dedicated and loving mother who was so passionate about being a mother and being there for her children and making sure they had the best lives possible. And I feel like as a kindergarten teacher, it sort of goes without saying, but she was really born to be a mother, it seemed. She was patient and nurturing,

and not to mention really, really fun. She and Richard were both very active people, and they really brought that into their parenting style as well. As a family, they would go hiking, boating, biking, play water sports, you name it. And like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, Liza's passion for being active

does play a role in this case. As I explained, she was an avid runner and very good at it. And I'm guessing that stemmed from playing soccer for the most part. And as an adult, she participated in running several marathons actually. This included the Princess Half Marathon at Disney World

in February of 2022, which I've heard is a blast, as well as the annual St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Marathon, where she finished 22nd out of all the women with a time just under three and a half hours, which absolutely blows my mind. I do not understand how anyone runs a marathon in general, let alone in that time. That's just insane to me and so inspiring. That's what qualified

her for the Boston Marathon, which is definitely not an easy accomplishment. And then something else I learned about Liza that just gave me chills as soon as I read about it is that she was really interested in true crime and she'd like to listen to it while she ran. And she would post about listening to popular shows like Crime Junkie, which I think is the most popular true crime show in the world, pretty sure. And also Tom Brown's Body, which I've never heard about. I'm interested in learning about that potentially. But in 2020, she had

actually made a social media post asking for recommendations for other true crime podcasts. And so I'm sure you guys are already having the same thoughts as me. It's not lost on any of us that just two years later, she would devastatingly become the center of her own national crime story. If you're like me and your brain is already at full capacity with all the to-do lists and the errands, birthdays coming up, dinner plans with your family on Tuesday night, gymnastics class, swim lessons, all the things, let Skylight Calendar handle the rest. It syncs your entire family schedule onto a sleek digital display so you can focus on more important things like remembering where

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do it as early as possible is that she could maximize the time with her sons that way. You know, if she could get the run done before they even woke up, then she would have all this extra time with them. But this was part of her Boston Marathon training and that morning she planned to take her typical eight mile route and that route had her running into areas of the University of Memphis campus. So this was very much part of her normal routine and training, especially as she's approaching the Boston Marathon and it wasn't some like crazy secluded area.

The thing is though, Liza never made it home. Now her husband Richard was pretty aware by this point how long it would take her to go for these runs and so when she didn't make it back, he started to really worry and by 7 45 a.m. he was already on the phone with police reporting that she had never returned and I don't get to say this often unfortunately and I do have a lot of things to say about this later on but in this case the police took her

disappearance very seriously immediately and they jumped into searching for her right away and thankfully it actually wasn't long until they found something. It turns out that around 6 45 a.m. a biker who was riding near the college campus came across a cell phone and the phone was badly, very badly shattered and clearly left behind by someone. And when investigators went to go check it out, they quickly learned that the phone belonged to Liza. And as you can imagine, the fact that it was shattered was a horrible sign.

It obviously suggested that something may have happened to her, like maybe a struggle and the phone was dropped or destroyed as a result. And that wasn't all that they found. They also discovered a water bottle and a pair of men's champion slide sandals, all of which were immediately sent off for an expedited DNA test. Meanwhile, there was a heavy police presence going door to door to see if anyone saw or heard anything.

And can you imagine if all crimes were treated this seriously right off the bat? How many cases that we cover here and just cases in general would be solved?, cases that aren't solved or have taken forever to solve. It would be a much different story if they were all treated the way that Liza's case was. Because when you hear how quickly they were able to solve this case, it really makes you realize the power of an active and effective investigation that happens with urgency. Because listen to this, investigators ended up very quickly getting access to surveillance footage

from a nearby camera and through that they were able to see what happened to her. And that's another note. So often in the cases that we cover here, the surveillance cameras just aren't working or aren't turned on or whatever bullshit may be in that specific case. But thankfully in this case they they weren't working and they were able to figure it out very quickly. Now the entire footage was not released to the public thankfully and even if it was I'd obviously never show it to you but here's a description of it so you can get an idea. At 4 20 a.m. just 20 minutes after leaving her home, Liza was captured jogging along Central Avenue near the intersection of Zach Curlin Street and this is when a dark-colored

2013 GMC Terrain drives past her, pulls over, and waits for Liza to run by. And when she does, a man gets out of the car and starts running towards her. Then they say there was a brief struggle between the two of them before Liza was ultimately overpowered and forced into the car. And then sources also say that this man then parked for about four minutes with Liza in the car before taking off. And while we don't know exactly what happened in those four minutes, all I can say is it was nothing short of evil and I cannot imagine how terrified and confused she must have been. And whoever it was, and luckily we do know who it was, they definitely planned to do

this. It turns out that that same car was also spotted on surveillance driving around the area about 24 minutes before the abduction. He was even spotted passing Liza at one point, meaning that he was seeking someone out, sort of hunting. And get this, all of this information was discovered by 9 a.m., which blew my mind. That, just to give you some perspective here, is a little over an hour after Richard had reported her missing. So by 9 a.m., the Memphis PD was already issuing a city watch and released photos of Liza, as well as photos of that GMC terrain,

which local media was very quick to share. They didn't have a super clear image of the car. They couldn't even see the full license plate number, but they could see that it had a broken taillight, which made it a bit easier to distinguish from other cars. And then around that same time, an alert was sent out to students, could see that it had a broken taillight, which made it a bit easier to distinguish from other cars. And then around that same time, an alert was sent out to students informing them that an abduction had taken place near campus.

And apparently, in the last few weeks, there had been reports of someone who was harassing members of the women's cross-country team. So there was obviously fear that they could be related, but they did announce in a news briefing that it wasn't connected. And then another thing that was really surprising to me, and I wish would happen in all cases where they need the extra support, multiple law enforcement agencies got involved very quickly, including the FBI and the TBI. And in so many cases, we sometimes see months before the FBI gets involved. So the fact that they were on it from that first day, I'm very grateful for that. But at the same time, I wish that was just always the case.

They were really, really on top of it. And what's interesting too is the public was not aware of how much work was going into the case. I mean, it blew up all over social media. A lot of people wanted to get involved in helping find Liza, which as we probably all know can be a good thing and a bad thing. I mean, attention to a case is incredibly helpful, vital,

but it also does come with a lot of speculation sometimes, and sometimes it is detrimental speculation. And because all of it was so new and people were freaked out and wanting answers, and there was such little information out there as it was first breaking, people on social media began to look at those closest to her right away, specifically her husband, Richard.

And so rumors quickly began to swirl that Richard had murdered her either to get a hold of her inheritance from her grandfather, or because in a fair they thought that he was having with a nanny. People even had the nerve to compare this poor man to Chris Watts and Brian Laundrie. People were analyzing video clips of him where he was crying and saying he was faking it and I just it makes me so mad and I can't even imagine what this must have been like for him I mean here he is terrified his wife is missing the mother of his children and

he has two very young children to console during all of this and then total strangers online start to speculate that you did the worst thing imaginable kill your own wife. Thankfully though, this didn't last long because answers as to who actually did this came very quickly. I always get really excited when I have Nutriful as a sponsor of an episode because it's a product that I truly stand by, something that has transformed my hair and helped me bring back so much confidence into my life. After I had my daughter, man, my hair was shedding like crazy and I remember sitting down after I had gotten out of the shower and realizing

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He also went by the last name, Abston, and I believe that's his mother's maiden name possibly, but based on everything I've seen, his legal name is Henderson. And they even found surveillance footage of him wearing those same champion sandals just days prior to her abduction. Investigators learned that he worked for a cleaning service and when they reached out to his boss, they learned that he had been sent to clean a local movie theater

and that is where they ended up seeing him wearing the flip-flops in surveillance footage. They also confirmed with his boss that he did in fact drive a GMC terrain, the same car involved in Liza's abduction. And they also learned that the vehicle didn't belong to him. It was registered to a woman, but they were able to connect him to her and therefore connect him to the car. Plus on top of all of that, which is already looking like he's their man immediately, they also got his phone number and they were able to confirm that he was in the

vicinity of the abduction site when it occurred. So given all of that evidence, he is definitely looking like their guy and they needed to track his ass down very quickly. And like everything else so far in this case, it didn't take long. That same day, September 3rd, US Marshals located the GMC train parked outside of an apartment complex. The vehicle had that damaged taillight and matched the partial license plate that was seen on surveillance footage. And of course, this idiot did try and run, but he was thankfully quickly detained and charged with aggravated kidnapping, tampering

with evidence, theft, identity theft, and fraudulent use of a credit card and therefore was held on a $500,000 bond. And by the way, I'm sure you're wondering about those other charges. They actually were not related to Liza's disappearance. It turns out that he had committed all kinds of crimes before that. And so when they got him, they were able to add those additional charges to. Remember that surveillance footage from the movie theater that showed him wearing the champion slides?

Well, that same theater also caught him on camera stealing a wallet from an employee there and apparently he had found her wallet after she left. And instead of doing the right thing, what most of us I would hope would do and giving it back to her or returning it to the theater, whatever the case may be, he decides to go on a little shopping spree and he actually spent over $900. So to say that this guy is a bad dude, I mean before what he did to Liza, it doesn't even begin to describe it. There's so much more that I need to tell you about how horrific this man is. And after his arrest, neighbors who lived at his brother's apartment complex even spoke

out about how Cleota had made them feel very uncomfortable. One neighbor said that he once tried to pay her $100 in exchange for sex, and when she denied him, he propositioned her 20 year old niece with the same offer. She described him to the press as creepy and as a pervert and I'd say that he is that at a minimum. His mom though, and not shocking here, I mean we see this all the time right, but she said that she didn't believe that he did anything and that he was being quote railroaded. Ridiculous.

And when you hear about his criminal history, I think you're gonna have a very different opinion. It turns out that Cleothas crimes date back to when he was just 11 years old. And between 1995 and 2000, he was arrested 16 times. That's 16 times in five years. And if I went over each one of those, we would be here all day.

So I'll just give you some of the details. So when he was 14 years old, he was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a man. And because he was a minor, there isn't that much information on this, but here's what I do know. It was also during the time that he was arrested for theft, aggravated assault, and unlawful possession of a weapon.

He was also reportedly a member of a gang and picked up the prison named Pookie. And then when he was 16 years old, he kidnapped a man at gunpoint. Get this. On May 24th, 2000, Cleota and his friend approached a Memphis attorney named Kemper Durand while he was in his vehicle. Then they forced him into the trunk of his own car at gunpoint and drove around with him for several hours. After that, they get him out of the trunk and then drove him to a gas station to withdraw money from an ATM and thankfully though while they were there Kemper was able to scream for help and

despite them fleeing the scene, they were later found and arrested. Cleotha did end up pleading guilty but in all honesty I don't think he had any remorse and I know that's how Kemper felt. He actually told authorities that while in the trunk of the car he could hear Cleotha's friend pleading with him to let him go but Cleotha refused and in his victim impact statement he said said, quote, it is quite likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped. And I completely agree with him. I think he was very, very lucky to be able to get away.

And if that wasn't crazy enough, listen to this. Kemper actually worked as a defense attorney for the law firm Lewis-Thomason. Now, weird side note here, Liza's uncle actually ended up working at that very same law firm and there was never any connection found between this, but I just wanted to share that with you because it seems like a strange coincidence, right? But it definitely doesn't seem that Cleota was trying to learn from his mistakes and better himself once he was incarcerated. He received a 24-year sentence for that ab. And while in prison, he was accused of 19 different incidents

of indecent exposure, with one guard later describing it as if he couldn't help it. Yet despite this, and this is the reason why I bring all of this up, is he was released early from prison in 2020, which was just two years before Liza's abduction. And I'm sure you've already put two and two together, but that means that if he had actually served his full sentence, Liza would still be here today, which is infuriating to think about.

Well, let's jump back into the timeline because I've definitely veered off here a little and I there will be several times where I need to do this in this episode to explain everything fully, but we still have a lot to go over. So even though Cleopatra was arrested, what exactly happened to Liza was still a mystery because he, no surprise here, refused to talk and wouldn't give any information as to where she was. So everyone, including her family, was just desperate for answers on how to find her. And on the day of his arrest, they actually made a statement and offered a $50,000 reward for

information leading to her safe return. And a vigil was also held at her church where people came together to pray. And this is just maddening, but even with someone behind literal bars, some people were still trying to point the finger at her husband. I think that's mainly because, I mean, people love a good scandal like that. And also, I think people have trouble admitting when they're wrong. But yeah, some were even going as far as saying that his crying during the statement was just an act and that he was still acting suspicious. And I will say that most people online that were speculating these things about Richard came to their senses and realized he had nothing to do with it and actually apologized, but

there were a few people who took a while to admit that they were wrong. But let's be real, this is not the first time that we've seen online speculation like this that is incredibly damaging to people who are already in extreme amounts of pain. So I bring all this up because I hope instances like this can teach people how important it is to wait for the facts before just throwing out these wild, extremely hurtful accusations. And that's actually why, with a lot of cases, I purposely choose to wait to cover them, depending on the case. But I just think getting as much of a picture of what actually happened, getting as many facts as possible before reporting on something is really, really important.

But anyways, getting back to Liza, these search crews were putting their best foot forward. And I mean it, they were truly looking high and low. Search teams looked in dumpsters, in ponds, in parks, and they also brought in dogs, ATVs, and even a helicopter. And through all these efforts, investigators ended up speaking with Cleotha's brother, whose name is Mario, and he ended up being really helpful.

It turned out that Cleo had gone to Mario's house just the day before Liza was abducted. And according to his brother and also an unnamed witness, Cleotha was behaving oddly, which was actually confirmed by surveillance footage. While he was there, surveillance cameras outside of the apartment captured him cleaning the inside of his car for over an hour, starting only hours after Liza was taken. And this was confirmed by his brother Mario, who also mentioned that Cleota was washing

his clothes in the sink. And because of this, investigators did have reason to believe that there might be evidence inside of Mario's Apartment and ultimately there wasn't but they did end up finding some other stuff and arrested Mario for intent to Manufacture and sell fentanyl and heroin as well as possession of a firearm But Mario's apartment or I guess I should say the area of his apartment, wasn't a total dead end because it turns out that cell phone data that was taken from the day of the abduction actually showed that Cleoza was at an intersection less than a mile from Mario's place. So they decided to focus their search efforts on that area.

And while they were out there, one officer noticed tire tracks near an abandoned house, as well as a strong smell of decay, which is ultimately when they made the incredibly devastating discovery. Around 5 p.m. on Monday the 5th, just three days after her abduction and only seven miles away from the abduction site, the body of Eliza Fletcher was discovered in the tall grass near a set of steps behind

the vacant home. And also, purple lululemon running shorts that were consistent with the pair that Eliza was wearing were also found in a trash bag about a quarter mile from where she was located. Her body was then sent to West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center for an autopsy and it was ultimately determined that she died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. They also found that she suffered multiple jaw fractures and injuries to her right leg. But what it couldn't determine was whether she was sexually assaulted.

And I know for everyone's sake, we're just praying that that wasn't the case. We did learn that there was fentanyl in her system, but the report didn't determine how long it was there. I will say though, and of course you can never truly know, but I'm sure most of you agree based on everything we know about Liza, everything that you know has been reported about her from her loved ones and just the life that she was living. I mean, she's running marathons and teaching and parenting. I highly, highly doubt that she was using fentanyl recreationally before her abduction.

I mean, it just doesn't make any sense, right? And so the following day, Cleothas' charges were upgraded to include first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping, and his bond was revoked. And then after this, law enforcement was able to confirm that the same GMC terrain was seen driving in the area where her body was found shortly after the abduction. So not only did his phone place him there, but his car did too. And as you can imagine, when the news broke on the 6th, everyone was absolutely devastated. I mean, obviously her family, but the community as a whole. I mean, never, never want to believe the worst in any situation, but the worst truly came true here.

The community was just broken, but they really tried to keep Eliza's light shining throughout it all. And the faculty and staff of her school had started their day in the chapel by lighting candles in her honor, which I thought was really beautiful. And they also offered counseling and chaplain support to any of the students who needed it, which I imagine a lot of them probably did, especially considering what a beloved teacher she was. The entire school also honored her by reading The Boy, mole the fox and the horse by Charlie MacKessie And they used an excerpt of the book in their official statement on Liza saying quote We don't know about tomorrow said the horse all we need to know is that we love each other

And then they ended up putting together a makeshift memorial at the abandoned home where Liza was found and the community support memorial at the abandoned home where Liza was found and the community support continued to stay strong. Losing Liza in such a horrific way hit Memphis as a whole so deeply, whether you knew her or not. This was a pain that was felt by everyone in the community. I mean, at least people that were following the case and no one could wrap their minds around how something like this could happen, especially to someone like her. And this poor community continued to go through so much because her murder wasn't the only one that week. On September 7th, there was a day-long shooting spree that resulted in the death of three

people with an additional three people who were injured. 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly shot multiple people, committed two carjackings, and live-streamed himself on Facebook. And I also wanted to mention the victims who lost their lives in that shooting. Starting with 24-year-old Dewayne Tunstall, a father of one with another on the way, who had actually just purchased a barbecue trailer with his business partner and planned on opening a food truck called Everybody Eats. And then there was 62-year-old Richard Clark, a correctional officer and security guard who was absolutely adored by his family and a beloved uncle to his nieces and nephews. And then finally, 38-year-old Allison Parker, a medical assistant and mother of three whose

oldest daughter was actually with her at the time of her death. And I cannot even imagine how traumatic that was for her. So the pain that this community was feeling during that week, I mean it's horrible, there's no other way to say it. But in times like tragedy, there's so often these little glimmers of beauty and hope within communities like this and a big reason that I wanted to talk about her story today, despite the pain that everyone was feeling is because Liza's community just came together in such a beautiful way to honor her memory and her loved ones wanted to do something with their grief and that's how Let's Finish Eliza's Run was born. A Facebook page was

created and one week to the day that her life was stolen, over 2,000 people showed up to finish her run. This event looked so inspirational, so beautiful, and I cannot imagine how everyone was feeling, especially with it being so fresh. Their Facebook page read, We created this run to honor Eliza

and cope with our own feelings. Our goal is to stand up for the women in the Mid-South and emphasize that women should be able to safely run any time of the day. As you can imagine, there was a ton of fear in the running community after what happened to her. And of course, this is a fear that has been there all along, but it's especially heightened

after something horrific happens like this. And, and I'm sure this won't shock you, but there was also some victim blaming. And this part really pisses me off. A professor at Harding University, which blew my mind that someone in that position would be unprofessional and disgusting enough to make a post like this, but he posted on Facebook saying, so a woman goes jogging by herself at 4 a.m. in Memphis, parentheses, but it could have been anywhere, and she is abducted. Shocker! exclamation exclamation. I am so, so sorry something bad happened to her. But she put herself in harm's way for being anywhere at 4 a.m. by herself.

Maybe her husband should have been more forceful. People everywhere, please remember this incident as you make decisions in the future. We all pray this ends well and God I have so many things to say on this First of all, I'm so so sorry something bad happened to her something bad That sounds like she like tripped and fell or like injured herself. So she was murdered bro. Maybe her husband should have been more forceful Disgusting. I hope everyone learns from this. And then to say, please, people everywhere, remember this incident as you make decisions in the future.

And we all pray this ends well. Bro, what the fuck are you talking about? This did not end well. I don't know how anyone gets on the internet and says such a horrific thing after something like this, but I guess I don't know how anyone gets on the internet and says such a horrific thing after something like this, but I guess I shouldn't be shocked. We see this all the time, right? But he later deleted his ridiculous post, his offensive post, and apologized, but I'm

sorry. Apology is not accepted. That is just the most foul thing someone could possibly say in the aftermath of this. And obviously the biggest problem with this post is they put zero blame on the person who's responsible, which is something we see in our society all the time. This idiot is really trying to suggest that Liza Deserve to die because she went on a run early in the morning and that her husband Also blaming him should have been more forceful and not allowed her to go. It is not a failure of Liza It is not a failure of her husband. It is a failure of the killer and of society as a whole for

of the killer and of society as a whole for the way that we raise men in my opinion and people who participated in let's finish Eliza's run definitely wanted that to be known so at 420 a.m. on September 9th people gathered to run 8.2 miles the distance that Liza was planning to run the day that she was killed Memphis PD helped by blocking traffic on Central Avenue to keep the runners safe, and they took the path where she had planned to go. And I love this, but so many people stopped along the way, leaving flowers or pausing to pay respects. And one of the runners there actually said

that she felt the safest part of the run was when they got to the University of Memphis campus and was just struck in that moment by how Liza could have been abducted in this area. And it wasn't just the runners who came out to show their support, it was also just people in the community, tons of people who lined the running path. They cheered on the runners, held candles and sang this little light of mine, the song that Liza was singing in that video I played for you earlier.

And a few of the reporters who were there that day said that they heard sentiments such as people were running for those who can't and that Eliza could have been any one of the women gathered there. And runners didn't just gather in Memphis. Let's Finish Eliza's run events were held in several towns throughout the country, which just goes to show how big of an impact her death had. A high school cross-country team in Vicksburg, Mississippi even dedicated a race to Liza

and wore bright pink headbands in her honor. Then just the day after Let's Finish Liza's Run, her funeral was held at Second Presbyterian Church. There were over 300 people in attendance to pay their respects, and a choir performed songs and hymns throughout the service, including, you guessed it, a rendition of This Little Light

of Mine. In her obituary, her family requested that memorials be made to the Liza Welford Fletcher Memorial Fund at St. Mary's Episcopal School, Christ Methodist Day School, and Second Presbyterian Church. So even after her death, Liza still gave back to her community, which is just really, really beautiful and powerful to think about. Now, while the community and all those who loved Liza were mourning this horrible loss, another brave victim came forward. And I wanted to share more of my thoughts about how quickly police moved in this investigation. But I, you know, I had those thoughts earlier, but I wanted to wait until we got to this section of the episode before really

Diving into that so it turns out that just a year before Liza was killed another woman named Alicia Franklin accused Cleo the of raping her and I think it's very important that we include this that we talk about this but I do want to warn you it's extremely upsetting. So what happened was Alicia was on the dating app Plenty of Fish and that's where she matched with a guy named Cleo. She says that they chatted for a bit and then they made plans to briefly meet at an apartment complex where he said he was a maintenance worker before getting dinner at Olive Garden. However, when Alicia got to the apartment, she said it looked like it was vacant. Well, it turns out he didn't actually work

at this apartment complex, but he actually lived there with his girlfriend and her young kids. And believe it or not, this was the same apartment complex that he would later be arrested at for Liza's murder. But anyways, when Alicia gets there, Cleoza ended up putting a gun to her throat and told her that he'd kill her if she tried to run away.

He then put a T-shirt over her head and brought her to his car where he forced her into the back seat and assaulted her. And to make matters even more horrific, Alicia was actually four months pregnant at the time. And despite her begging him to stop, this sick, twisted, worthless fucking monster refused. And if that weren't enough, Alicia faced even more suffering when she attempted to get justice. She had the courage after going through this surprise brutal attack where thankfully she

survived. I mean, I feel like it could have been even worse. surprise brutal attack where thankfully she survived. I mean, I feel like it could have been even worse, but she went to the hospital, drove herself there, and was treated there, and also received a sexual assault kit, and I'm very, very proud of her and glad that she did that, because it's not easy to do after going through something as traumatic as that.

But she also spoke to authorities and was able to provide a detailed description of what had happened to her. She shared his name, the dating profile, phone number, described his car, and the location of the crime scene. She even left the hospital with authorities and took them right to the apartment complex, yet the officers took no physical evidence from the scene. The police did do a photo line up with her, but the photo they used was over 10 years old, so she wasn't able to identify him. And they did tell her that they were gonna do

another photo lineup with a more updated photo, but surprise, surprise, they just never did. And even though she did everything right here and supplied them with everything they could possibly need to get her justice, I mean, this should have been a slam dunk, right? They didn't take it seriously and justice was not served. And for months, Alicia would regularly check in with the police. She would call them trying to ask for updates and they were extremely

dismissive with her about why an arrest was taking so long. And in an interview, she later said, I was just an average black girl in the city of Memphis, you know, I just think it wasn't a priority. And I think most of us with a functioning brain and just awareness in the true crime space in general or the news can agree with her there, right? I mean, I'm very confident in saying she absolutely was not a priority. Countless women, and in many, most instances, women of color are treated as though their cases and their trauma just isn't a priority. Which is fucked up for so many reasons. I mean, not only is it unfair and dangerous and dehumanizing to a victim, but it also

allows monsters like Cleotha to continue offending. And that's exactly what happened here. In Alicia's case, authorities had her rape kit for months. They had everything they needed. And had they tested it in just a reasonable amount of time, they would have been able to have the proof that they needed to arrest Cleotha. But instead, and this is going to enrage you, but that kit just sat in storage for ten months. I mean there's just no possible excuse for that.

They did finally test it in June of 2022 but the official results weren't returned until September 5th. And if you haven't already put two and two together that is three days after Liza was killed. Just imagine if they had tested it as fast as they tested that champion sandal. Liza would still be here, and Cleotha would have been in jail before any of this could have ever happened. And I know there are some people that will try

to make excuses and defend law enforcement and whatever. I really don't understand why anyone would do that because you just cannot ignore the reality that here we have one case where a missing white woman gets immediate attention of local and federal authorities. And in that instance, DNA gets processed in 24 hours, which is fantastic, should happen all the time. And then in the other case, we have a black woman who can provide explicit details of her assault with proof of what happened to her. And it took months before anything was done about it.

And I want to be so clear here that Liza absolutely deserved every ounce of the effort that was poured into her case. And I wish all cases could get the same attention and urgency. But Alicia deserved that same attention and urgency and she didn't even get a fraction of that. It wasn't until September 9th of 2022 that he was finally charged with aggravated rape

and aggravated kidnapping related to what happened to her. It just makes me sick that she had to go through all of that and at the end of the day, even though she did do everything right, how grossly mishandled her case was and unfortunately it just gets worse. So Alicia, and I'm damn proud of her for this, ended up bringing a lawsuit against the city of Memphis, which basically accused them of negligence, which I hope we can all agree absolutely applies here. But what's infuriating is the city filed to dismiss the suit, saying they quote, did not owe a duty to Miss Franklin to investigate her rape. They actually said that. That's right. You heard that right. They also said that imposing this general duty to investigate by the courts would infringe upon the Memphis Police's constitutional rights to direct the use of limited police

resources. As much as I have tried to understand what they were trying to say in that statement, I don't know what the fuck any of that means and what makes it even worse is the judge agreed. So in 2023, Alicia's lawsuit was dismissed. The good news here though is there was still a trial and thankfully that did go in her favor. It started in April of 2024 and it lasted three days but in the end despite the defense trying to pull some incredibly offensive accusations including that this was about prostitution. The jury found Cleoza guilty. In the end he was sentenced to 40 years for aggravated rape, 20 years for

kidnapping, and another 20 years for having a firearm while being a convicted felon. All of which would be served consecutively. And I'm sure this won't be surprising but Alicia's assault wasn't the only crime that Cleoza had committed during the time leading up to Eliza's murder. He was actually a suspect in four other crimes between July of 2021 and September of 2022. Those crimes included robbery, embezzlement, and identity fraud. The good news is the justice system actually saw him for what he truly is, which is a monster. On January 25th, 2023, he was indicted by a grand jury on the charges of first degree murder,

aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence. And on February 3rd, he pleaded not guilty. His trial was originally set for the end of 2024, but that ended up changing when the DA announced that they were going to seek the death penalty. But ironically, Mr. Bad and Brave over here didn't wanna die, so he did end up changing his plea to guilty.

That way he would get life in prison instead of facing the death penalty, and Liza's family was actually supportive of this agreement. So ultimately, in October of 2024, Cleotha officially pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and during the hearing he reportedly

Like kept his head down and remained expressionless emotionless which doesn't really surprise me because he's a little bitch but it breaks my heart for Liza's family that he couldn't even offer Any ounce of remorse or emotion or feelings? I mean, he's just any ounce of remorse or emotion or feelings. I mean, he's just... the dude is straight up evil. Now, as for Liza's family, they were in court for every hearing on the case and I wanted to read a statement that they released about Cleotha through the DA. It states, We have no idea what happened to you to turn you into someone so filled with a desire to hurt people. Whatever it was, it does not excuse or explain what you have done. You have changed our lives forever and nothing will ever be the same. You murdered Liza even though she did nothing to deserve it.

She did not hurt you. In fact, she would have been the first to help if you needed it." Which that last part is so powerful and I couldn't agree more. I mean based on everything I know about Liza, I absolutely think she would have been the first to help him if he ever needed it. And as much as I hate to say it, this situation isn't that unique. And I'm sure many of you know that. I mean, in the years leading up to Liza's murder, there were many similar incidents.

And just to name a few of them, in 2018, Wendy Martinez was fatally stabbed seven times on a jog in the Washington DC area and Molly Tibbets was abducted and murdered while out running in Brooklyn, Iowa. Then in 2020, Sydney Sutherland was abducted and murdered while out for a run in Jackson County, Arkansas. And of course, this doesn't just happen to female runners. In 2020, the case I'm sure most of you hopefully are familiar with, Ahmaud Arbery was horrifically murdered in a racially motivated crime while out for a

jog in Georgia. And just listen to these stats. In 2023, the company Adidas conducted a survey of 9,000 runners about running safety. And in that survey, 38% of those who identified as female say they have experienced physical or verbal abuse while out on a run. In a 2019 survey conducted by the non-profit Stop Street Harassment found that 68% of women have reported being harassed in public spaces like streets, trails, and parks. And a 2021 study conducted by Runners World showed that female runners have had to take action by changing their habits out of fear of what could happen to them. Among the results, 47% of respondents say that they run with their phones.

15% say they run in baggy clothes to avoid unwanted attention. And 37% say they limit their runs to only daylight hours. And of course, if you're a runner, I'm not saying this to scare you. And I wish I, I don't know, it's such a difficult thing because I wish the world was so different, I think it's important it's such a difficult thing because I wish the world was so different. I think it's important to be aware if you're going to run outside and, and, you know, practice running outdoors as safely as you can. And as someone who covers these cases all the time and just knows a lot about crimes,

yeah, there's, there's a reason why I run inside. And I really hope that doesn't discourage anyone from running outside because I know that it is a huge part of the passion for so many. And I wish this was not the reality of the world that we live in. But unfortunately, this is the world that we live in. Runners and everyone else deserves to leave their house without the fear that something horrible could possibly happen to them, that they won't make it home to their families. But I didn't want to just leave you with the doom and gloom and fear of it all.

I think it's important to talk about and bring awareness to. But I wanted to leave you with some positive notes as well. And so there are some running organizations that are working to combat these issues. Trailblaze Hers is an inclusive running group based in Boston that aims to empower all women to feel safe while running in neighborhoods. They have annual events like Take Back the Night, which I actually went to every year when I was in college,

and that event is to highlight women's safety in numbers, as well as the Bra Run, which is a group run that invites women to join in their sports bra to help them feel comfortable running in public. There's also Girl Trek, which is a national movement encouraging black women to walk and run in their communities to promote health and safety. And then there's Rising Hearts, which is an indigenous-led organization that works to elevate native communities.

And one of their projects is the Running with Purpose Collective, which according to their website, intersects advocacy and passion for running. Rising Hearts founder Jordan Daniel also works to spread safety tips to female runners. And I think community efforts like this are just so important and such a strong way to keep runners safe. And I will leave any other good resources that I come across as well as information about all of these organizations in the show notes or description box. And I really think that part of Liza's legacy is making sure that we have these discussions

about runner safety and promoting actions to them. And of course, another part of her legacy is let's finish a Liza's run, which is something that they have continued to hold every few years since her death, which I think is beautiful and God if I ever have the opportunity, I would love to to go to one of those events. And this is really cool. One of the organizers said that the first run was about grief,

but the second year was about healing saying, quote, Some days are a little harder than others, but every day is a day forward. And then also after her abduction on their campus, the University of Memphis received $5 million in funding to go towards enhancing security measures, which actually wasn't the only measurement the government took after this case. For starters, a newly elected Shelby County Commissioner started a campaign called Shine Blight. And yes, that's Shine Blight, not bright. And they aim to organize and clean

neglected lawns similar to the abandoned lot where Liza was found. This project cost about $100,000 and aimed to enhance an area of Memphis which has long been neglected. And you may have already figured this out, but the reason they named it Shine Blight was actually a nod to the song, This Little Light of Mine. And they used blight instead of bright because the project was specifically for blighted homes, which just means deteriorated. And another thing that Liza's case did, and Alicia's, was shine light on the problem with untested rape kits. A few weeks after Liza's murder, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and other legislative leaders

announced that they were going to fast track more money to hire 25 additional forensic lab workers throughout the state. And after pressure from lawmakers and detectives, the TBI announced that it planned to hire 50 more forensic employees. They also plan to offer overtime to their lab workers, keep labs open on the weekends, which is huge, and outsource kits to private labs. Because they had actually stated that the delays in testing was due to staffing shortages. So this was obviously aimed at helping to speed things up. And obviously this is just a start.

We need to see this on a bigger scale nationwide and worldwide. But hey, a start is a start. And the Tennessee legislature also passed a law requiring the TBI to release quarterly reports on kit testing times. And since the end of 2022, the TBI turnaround time for testing has gone from 44 weeks to 27 weeks. Still not fast enough, but hey, it's something. I guess the goal they're working towards is 8 to 12 weeks, so they've certainly got a ways to go, but it's just awesome to see something being done in a world where it feels like nothing is ever being done.

This case also drew attention to decisions on which prisoners should be released early. Even though Cleota had multiple prison infractions, 53 to be exact, he was released several years earlier than his original sentence because of sentencing credits for good behavior. So two groups, Families Against Mandatory Minimums and the People for Enforcement of Rape Laws, sent an open letter to Governor Bill Lee requesting an investigation into the untested kits and Cleothas release. And in May of 2023, a bill was passed to create a board that would determine which prisoners should be given sentencing credits based on good behavior and which previously given sentencing credits should be revoked upon review.

At the end of the day, the reality is if Cleoza had served his full sentence, Liza would still be here. She would be with her family. She'd still be teaching her students. And in that time, they would have realized that he was guilty of assaulting Alicia and he likely would have never been released to begin with. It's just such a massive failure that I'll truly never understand.

But it's just so important that we continue to carry on Liza's legacy, which the Memphis community certainly has been doing so beautifully. In 2023, Liza's alma mater, the Hutchinson School, awarded the inaugural Liza Welford Fletcher No. 5 award. Rather than retiring the number she had when she played on the soccer team, they are now awarding her number to a junior player at the end of the season to wear during their senior year, which I thought was so special. The school said it's awarded to a player who emulates the ideals of Hutchinson athletics

that Liza so beautifully demonstrated. In addition to striving for athletic excellence, she will demonstrate the kind of character, integrity and leadership that Liza personified. And I know I've mentioned a lot already, but I had to mention this too. Another really cool thing that is being done is that the University of Memphis announced that it would be building a new soccer and track field complex that would be dedicated to Liza and named the Liza Welford Fletcher Stadium.

It's going to be a state of the art facility for the university's men and women's soccer and also track and field teams. It's going to roll out in several phases and phase one is estimated to cost $7 million and I'm definitely going to link the page below so that you guys can check it out for yourself because it's really cool what they're going to do. But St. Mary's Episcopal School also wanted to build something in her memory. So last year, very recently,

they announced that they're going to be building a new library called Liza's Library. They plan to create a tree design in the space, which is such a cool way to honor her love for the outdoors. And I know this has been a long episode and I think it's been full of a lot of really important information. So thank you to the real ones out there who stayed through the entire thing. But before I go I wanted to end by sharing

parts of a statement that her family once made. Liza meant so much to so many and her smile radiated happiness, energy, and comfort. Her husband, her children, her parents, her brother, the rest of her family, her friends, her students, her school families, her fellow teachers, her church community, and so many others were moved by countless examples of her faith, kindness, and compassion. This entire case just really got to me. I mean every single element of it and Alicia's story too. I mean, these completely random and senseless acts of violence are so hard to wrap your mind around. And I mean, every case I cover, I

feel this way, you know, it's always hard to wrap your mind around this type of violence and evil that exists among us. And it's very scary. But there was something about Liza's story that really sort of broke me. Her light really did just seem to shine so bright. Going back to this little light of mine, I mean, she certainly had, I don't know if she had a little light. I feel like she had a really, really big light. And I'm so glad so many people got to bask in that light. I just really think the world needs more people like her, especially needs more teachers like

her and it's just, it's so devastating and so unnecessary. She was so kind, so well-intentioned and really cared about the future generation and it's a loss that is so hard to recover from. And my heart just truly, truly goes out to everyone who knew her and loved her and has to live the rest of their lives without her light. It's just, it's so heartbreaking. But that is going to be it for me today, you guys. I definitely want to hear your thoughts on this case and everything that we talked about today.

Especially, I want to hear from those of you who are runners and. You know how these cases make you feel or any tips that you have. And I hope it didn't scare anyone. The things I was talking about. I'm certainly not trying to, you know, make anyone's fear worse. And I really do want to gather the bravery to run outside myself because it does look awesome. And I know there was a reason that Liza loved doing it

so much, but yeah, it's a scary world we live in, man. That's all I'll say. That is gonna be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray.

I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.