Tag Archives: Abduction

Target closing stores, 3 dead in Roseville, MN boy’s viral alien abduction costume: This week’s top stories – FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

  1. Target closing stores, 3 dead in Roseville, MN boy’s viral alien abduction costume: This week’s top stories FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
  2. Is Target Really Closing a New York Store Over Shoplifting? New York Magazine
  3. Former Best Buy CEO speaks out about mass Target closures across America and weighs in on rampant retail… The US Sun
  4. Oakland Target to close after cops were called more than 100 times over smash and grab thefts, fights New York Post
  5. Residents alarmed as shoplifting incidents trigger store departures: ‘As a community we can’t allow this to continue’ Yahoo Finance
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Alabama Woman Admits She Lied About Abduction and Report of Wandering Child – The New York Times

  1. Alabama Woman Admits She Lied About Abduction and Report of Wandering Child The New York Times
  2. Carlee Russell, who went missing in Alabama after 911 call about child, says through attorney she wasn’t kidnapped. Authorities are mulling charges CNN
  3. Carlee Russell admits there was no abduction. Experts say the saga puts ‘real’ missing Black women at risk. Yahoo News
  4. Carlee Russell admits to making up kidnapping story Alabama’s News Leader
  5. Carlee Russell admitted to lying about her disappearance by Alabama freeway: police Fox News
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Carlee Russell update: Boyfriend begs public to stop bullying Alabama woman amid abduction hoax claims – The Independent

  1. Carlee Russell update: Boyfriend begs public to stop bullying Alabama woman amid abduction hoax claims The Independent
  2. There are thousands of unsolved cases of missing Black people. Carlee Russell’s unverified report is rare, advocates say CNN
  3. Carlee Russell’s boyfriend asks people to ‘stop bullying her’ amid suspicious abduction claims New York Post
  4. Johnson: Dear Black girls, they will believe you next time, no matter what Carlee Russell did, or why AL.com
  5. Carlee Russell’s Boyfriend Begs Trolls to Stop Bullying Her Online TMZ
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Man arrested in attempted abduction of girl, 14, inside Willow Grove Park Mall: police – FOX 29 Philadelphia

  1. Man arrested in attempted abduction of girl, 14, inside Willow Grove Park Mall: police FOX 29 Philadelphia
  2. Pennsylvania 14-year-old escapes abduction attempt inside shopping mall, police say Fox News
  3. 2 men wanted for attempted abduction of teen girl in Abington: police CBS Philadelphia
  4. Abington Twp. Police Chief blames ‘failed policies in Philadelphia’ while announcing arrest in attempted abduction NBC 10 Philadelphia
  5. Suspects in attempted abduction at Pennsylvania mall possibly approached another teen: Police 6abc Philadelphia
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14-year-old girl narrowly escapes abduction at Pennsylvania mall; 2 suspects sought – New York Post

  1. 14-year-old girl narrowly escapes abduction at Pennsylvania mall; 2 suspects sought New York Post
  2. ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION: Man arrested for allegedly trying to abduct 14-year-old girl at mall 6abc Philadelphia
  3. Pennsylvania 14-year-old escapes abduction attempt inside shopping mall, police say Fox News
  4. Abington Twp. Police Chief blames ‘failed policies in Philadelphia’ while announcing arrest in attempted abduction NBC 10 Philadelphia
  5. 2 men wanted for attempted abduction of teen girl in Abington: police CBS Philadelphia
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A woman escaped abduction in New Jersey after ‘year-long nightmare’ across several states, authorities say. The suspect is now charged with kidnapping – CNN

  1. A woman escaped abduction in New Jersey after ‘year-long nightmare’ across several states, authorities say. The suspect is now charged with kidnapping CNN
  2. Man charged with kidnapping after allegedly holding woman hostage for nearly a year WPVI-TV
  3. Woman escapes year-long, cross-country kidnapping. Captor arrested in N.J., cops say NJ.com
  4. AG Platkin and Colonel Callahan Announce Kidnapping and Aggravated Assault Charges Against Man Accused of Holding a Woman Hostage for Nearly a Year as They Traveled Across Country to New Jersey – New Jersey Office of Attorney General New Jersey Attorney General

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Central California kidnapping: Person of interest in custody in Merced abduction, 4 family members still not found

MERCED, Calif. (KABC) — A person of interest in the kidnapping of four family members in Central California’s Merced County was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, authorities announced.

The four family members, including an 8-month-old infant, have not been found. The family was kidnapped Monday at gunpoint from a business in Merced, the sheriff’s office said, without providing further details.

“We continue to ask for the public’s help with any information that may assist us in locating the family’s whereabouts,” the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office says 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado, the person of interest, is in the hospital in critical condition after he tried to kill himself.

Authorities say deputies were informed that one of the victim’s ATM cards was used at a bank in Atwater, a city about 9 miles north of Merced.

RELATED: 4 family members kidnapped from Merced business, picture released of suspect

Detectives received information that identified Salgado as a person of interest and that he attempted to take his own life before police arrived, a statement from authorities said, without specifying where he was taken into custody.

The sheriff’s office said his own family contacted authorities reporting that Salgado had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping of the family.

The sheriff’s office will hold a news conference Wednesday to give more details.

The kidnapper took the baby, Aroohi Dheri; the child’s mother, Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, said Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke in a video published Monday on Facebook.

Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands or contact of any kind.

Family members told KXTV-TV that the family, which has a trucking company, was taken from an office that they had only opened about a week earlier.

“My husband is very peaceful and calm person. We don’t have any clue why they kidnapped them,” said Jaspreet Caur, wife of the kidnapped uncle.

The sheriff’s department on Monday released two still images from surveillance footage of a possible suspect and asked for the public’s help in identifying the man. He’s seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark shorts and a light blue disposable face mask.

The sheriff said detectives believe the kidnapper destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement Tuesday that Amandeep Singh’s vehicle was found on fire Monday around 11:40 a.m. Merced police and family members were unable to contact him or the couple. Shortly after, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office responded to the business and determined they had been kidnapped.

The sheriff’s office said the FBI, the California Department of Justice, and other local law enforcement agencies are helping with the investigation.

Warnke says his investigators still don’t have a motive for the kidnapping, but he says this isn’t the first time that Salgado has held victims against their will.

According to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, there was a similar incident in December 2005. That landed Salgado in prison for charges of home invasion robbery with a gun, witness intimidation and attempted false imprisonment. The victims weren’t hurt.

He was released in June 2015.

Meanwhile, family members of the kidnapped victims are praying their loved ones will be found alive.

“Please, I have a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old kid, and they are waiting for their dad,” Caur said. “Please, please send my family back. Please return my family.”

KFSN-TV and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.



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Eliza Fletcher: Suspect in Memphis teacher’s abduction and death to be arraigned on murder charges today

Abston, arrested over the weekend on the kidnapping allegations, faces new charges including first-degree murder after authorities announced that a body found near a vacant Memphis duplex Monday was Fletcher’s.

“To lose someone so young and so vital is a tragedy in and of itself, but to have it happen in this way, with a senseless act of violence, it’s unimaginable,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Tuesday.

The teacher’s death, which authorities say was violent, still is surrounded by questions about where and how she was killed, and why.

Still, investigators “have no reason to think this was anything other than an isolated attack by a stranger,” Mulroy told reporters Tuesday.

As the investigation unfolds, Fletcher’s community is mourning the junior kindergarten teacher and mother of two.

She was “a joy to everyone who knew her,” her family said in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WHBQ.

“We are heartbroken and devastated by this senseless loss. Liza was a such a joy to so many — her family, friends, colleagues, students, parents, members of her Second Presbyterian Church congregation, and everyone who knew her,” the statement reads.

“Now it’s time to remember and celebrate how special she was and to support those who cared so much for her. We appreciate all the expressions of love and concern we have received. We are grateful beyond measure to local, state and federal law enforcement for their tireless efforts to find Liza and to bring justice to the person responsible for this horrible crime,” Fletcher’s family said.

At St. Mary’s Episcopal School, the faculty and staff started the day in chapel and lit candles in Fletcher’s memory, the school said Tuesday in a Facebook post.

“We are heartbroken at the loss of our beloved teacher, colleague, and friend Liza Fletcher,” the St. Mary’s Episcopal School said.

Fletcher was the granddaughter of hardware magnate Joseph Orgill III, who died in 2018 at the age of 80. Tennessee-based Orgill has annual sales of $3 billion, according to the company.

Abston, 38, was arraigned Tuesday on his initial charges: Especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence. He was being held in a county jail on those charges with bond set at $510,000.

A judge Tuesday appointed a public defender to represent him after he told the court he didn’t have an attorney or the money to post bond.

Abston is set to be arraigned Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder, premeditated murder and murder in the course of the perpetration of a kidnapping, Mulroy said.

How the four-day search for the victim unfolded

Fletcher had been jogging in a neighborhood near the University of Memphis around 4 a.m. Friday. Her husband told police Friday morning that she’d not returned, authorities said in an affidavit, which initially was filed Sunday and amended Tuesday.

Someone found her phone in a street that morning, and it was given to one of Fletcher’s relatives, who gave it to investigators, the affidavit reads.

Police then found surveillance video of that area, which shows a black GMC Terrain pass by her, according to the affidavit. A man is seen in the footage getting out of the SUV and “aggressively” running toward her before forcing her into the vehicle’s passenger seat, according to the affidavit.

The SUV remained in a parking lot for about four minutes after both people were inside and then drove away, the affidavit states.

Police also analyzed a pair of sandals that were found at the abduction site, near the victim’s phone. DNA found on the shoes matched Abston’s DNA, the affidavit reads.

Investigators interviewed Abston’s employer, who said he drove a GMC Terrain and verified his phone number. Investigators checked Abston’s cell phone records, which showed he was near the abduction scene during the time of Fletcher’s kidnapping, according to the affidavit.

Members of a US Marshals task force found a GMC Terrain near Abston’s home on Saturday morning — and it had the same distinguishable damage seen in the surveillance footage, and the license plate matched the partial plate information gleaned from the video, the affidavit reads.

The task force detained Abston near his home Saturday, the court document said.

Police gathered details from two witnesses — including Abston’s brother — who say they saw him acting strangely at the brother’s Memphis house after the abduction, according to the affidavit.

Both said Abston cleaned the interior of the GMC Terrain with floor cleaner, and that he washed his clothes in the sink of the home, according to the affidavit.

Body found near vacant home; clothing found discarded nearby

On Monday, searchers, acting on information from an FBI team that analyzes cell phone data, found Fletcher’s body just after 5 p.m., according to the affidavit.

The searchers, using the cell phone data, had focused on an area near an intersection less than a mile from the brother’s home. The team smelled an odor of decay coming from an area near a vacant home, saw vehicle tracks in the grass near the driveway and eventually found a body on the property, according to the affidavit.

“The scene investigation revealed that the female fit the description of missing person, Eliza Fletcher,” the affidavit states.

That property was in the 1600 block of Victor Street, authorities said. That’s about a half-mile drive from the address that authorities gave for his brother’s home, a 7.5-mile drive from the alleged abduction site and about a 15.5-mile drive from Abston’s home.

A little more than an hour after the body was found and about three tenths of a mile away, a detective found a trash bag with purple running shorts — consistent with the ones Fletcher was wearing when she was abducted, the affidavit reads.

Suspect also faces charges not related to Fletcher

Abston is also facing charges unrelated to Fletcher’s case, including identity theft, theft of property $1,000 or less and fraudulent use/illegal possession of a credit or debit card $1,000 or less, Shelby County jail records show.

Those charges are connected to a theft report filed last week by a woman who reported someone was using her Cash App card and Wisely Card at gas stations without her knowledge.

CNN has reached out to the Shelby County district attorney and Memphis police regarding the theft charges.

CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Anne Clifford, Jamiel Lynch, Chuck Johnston, Tina Burnside, Hannah Sarisohn and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.

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Eliza Fletcher kidnapping: Cleotha Abston, man charged in apparent Memphis abduction, previously kidnapped another

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — New details have emerged about the suspect charged with kidnapping a Tennessee jogger in the early-morning hours of last Friday.

This is not the first time the suspect has been charged with kidnapping.

Police have said the man accused of kidnapping kindergarten teacher Eliza Fletcher is refusing to say where she is.

“She’s just a beautiful person, and it’s awful to see the evil that’s in the world,” one woman said.

The 34-year-old, who’s also the apparent heiress to a billion-dollar company, was last seen jogging near the University of Memphis at 4 a.m. Friday.

According to investigators, surveillance video shows a man getting out of an SUV, then running “aggressively” toward Fletcher. She was then “forced into the passenger side.”

Authorities named Cleotha Abston a “person of interest” after identifying the SUV’s license plate and obtaining DNA from sandals found at the scene.

RELATED: Gabby Petito’s family marks 1 year since disappearance connected to boyfriend Brian Laundrie

He’s now charged with aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.

According to ABC station WATN, Abson served a 20-year prison sentence in another kidnapping case dating back to 2000, when he pleaded guilty to abducting a local attorney.

The victim in that case told a Memphis newspaper Abston approached him at gunpoint at 2 a.m., forcing him into the trunk of a car. The attorney said he was able to escape when Abston tried to force him to get cash from an ATM.

As of Monday morning, there’s no sign of Eliza Fletcher, who is the granddaughter of a prominent Tennessee businessman, who founded a $3.2 billion private hardware company.

Fletcher’s husband was seen wiping away tears as a family spokesman pleaded for her safe return.

“More than anything, we want to see Liza returned home safely,” her uncle Mike Keaney said.

Police said a witness saw Abston cleaning his clothes and the interior of his SUV after Fletcher’s abduction.

He’s due in court Tuesday.



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Eliza Fletcher abduction: A suspect has been charged but the Memphis teacher remains missing, police say

Cleotha Abston, 38, was charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence, according to a tweet from the Memphis Police Department posted early Sunday.

“Eliza Fletcher has not been located at this time. MPD Investigators and officers, along with our local and federal partners, continue searching for Mrs. Fletcher,” the post said.

Fletcher, 34, was jogging around 4 a.m. Friday when a black GMC Terrain SUV passed by her, according to surveillance footage obtained of the incident. A man was then seen getting out of the vehicle and “ran aggressively” toward Fletcher and forced her into the passenger side of the SUV. Once both individuals were inside the SUV, the vehicle remained in a parking lot for approximately four minutes before driving away, according to the footage cited in an affidavit obtained by CNN.

Abston was arrested Saturday after police found a vehicle they had been looking for in the case.

US Marshals located the GMC Terrain in a parking lot near Abston’s residence, according to the affidavit. The vehicle had the same distinguishable vehicle damage and partial license plate identification seen in the surveillance footage from Fletcher’s abduction.

Abston was located nearby by U.S. Marshals and attempted to flee but was taken into custody, the affidavit said.

It is unclear whether Abston has an attorney.

DNA recovered from a pair of sandals found near where authorities believe Fletcher was abducted helped investigators in Memphis identify and arrest Abston in connection with Fletcher’s disappearance, according to the affidavit.

Investigators discovered surveillance footage captured from a local theater the day before Fletcher’s disappearance, which showed Abston wearing what authorities believe are the same pair of Champion slide sandals found at the crime scene, according to the affidavit.

Additional surveillance footage matched with statements from Abston’s employer confirmed the vehicle believed to be involved in Fletcher’s kidnapping belongs to a woman associated with Abston’s home address.

Cell phone records also place Abston at the site during the time of Fletcher’s abduction on Friday morning, the affidavit said.

Fletcher’s damaged phone was found near the scene where she is believed to have been abducted, CrimeStoppers Executive Director Buddy Chapman said, according to a news release obtained by CNN affiliate WHBQ.

According to the affidavit, a witness said she saw Abston at his brother’s house after the abduction. Both the witness and his brother said Abston was behaving oddly as he cleaned the interior of his SUV and washed his clothes in the sink.

According to the affidavit, Abston declined to share Fletcher’s location.

Photos released by police show Fletcher running in the neighborhood near the University of Memphis. She was last seen wearing a pink jogging top and purple running shorts, police said in an alert.

Fletcher is White, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with brown hair and green eyes, police said. She weighs 137 pounds.

The family of the mother of two is offering a $50,000 reward through CrimeStoppers for information leading to an arrest in the case, WHBQ reported.

“We look forward to Eliza’s safe return and hope that this award will help police capture those who committed this crime,” her family said in a statement shared by Chapman.

In a post on Twitter, St. Mary’s Episcopal School said Fletcher is a junior kindergarten teacher.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a tweet it is assisting Memphis police in the investigation.



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