Thousands of women across America rallied together to complete the run Eliza Fletcher started, as the family of the murdered jogger prepares to lay her to rest at the same church where she met and married her husband.
Multiple runs took place in honour of the 34-year-old mother-of-two on Friday morning – on what marks the one-week anniversary of her brutal abduction and murder.
Ms Fletcher, a marathon runner and kindergarten teacher, was running her regular morning route close to the University of Memphis campus at around 4.20am last Friday morning (2 September) when she was attacked and dragged into a vehicle by a man.
Her body was found three days later behind an abandoned building in south Memphis. Investigators have described her murder as an “isolated attack by a stranger” – something that has shone a renewed spotlight on the dangers female joggers face and drawn parallels with the killings of other women in similar circumstances.
Before dawn on Friday, groups of women took part in organised runs in Tennessee cities including Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga as well as several other cities and towns across the country in support of Ms Fletcher and to draw attention to the issue women joggers face.
Many wore pink tops and purple shorts in the slain runner’s memory – matching the sportswear she was wearing when she was attacked – as they jogged in solidarity in the early morning dark.
In Memphis, members of Ms Fletcher’s own community gathered to complete the run she never got to finish.
The event, named “Let’s Finish Liza’s Run”, took runners along the mother-of-two’s regular 8.2 mile route down Central Avenue and back to Belvedere, where she lived with her husband and two sons.
It began at 4.20am on Friday morning, which was the exact same time that surveillance footage captured Ms Fletcher being violently snatched by her attacker.
Organiser Danielle Heineman told The Independent on Wednesday that she organised the event in protest that women should be able to go for a run at any time and wearing any clothes that they want without fearing their lives could be in danger.
“We want to stand up and say it’s okay for women to run at 4 o’clock in the morning and it’s okay for women to run in whatever type of clothing they feel comfortable in,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to be shunned to running on a treadmill or have to run with a man. I also wanted to finish what Liza started which is finish her run.”
The organiser said that she initially planned the run to be just around 15 to 20 women in the local community, but interest in the idea grew rapidly.
Around 2,500 people ended up attending the event with another 3,400 interested, according to the event’s Facebook group.
Several local running groups provided water stops, local churches volunteered at the event and offering parking lots and there was a strong presence from local law enforcement.
“Big thank you to City of Memphis, Memphis Police Department est.1827, Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Christian Brothers University, Breakaway Running, Fleet Feet Memphis, Diversifit, The University of Memphis, Start2Finish, and a special thank you to Charlie Hayden,” Ms Heineman wrote on the Facebook group after the run.
“Our city came together this morning at a time when we really needed it. Memphis Police have had a busy difficult week and still showed up in force to keep us safe this morning. If you see an officer tell them thank you, buy them lunch, or shake their hand.”
The event comes ahead of Ms Fletcher’s funeral, which is slated for 10am on Saturday morning at her local church Second Presbyterian Church.
The mother-of-two first met her husband Richard James Fletcher III at the church and the pair married there on 8 March 2014, according to her obituary.
Together, they “welcomed their two rambunctious, joyful boys Richard James Fletcher IV and Harry Wellford Fletcher”.
“Above all else, Liza’s most cherished role was that of wife and mother,” the obituary reads, describing how the family “enjoyed outdoor adventures including boating, water sports, hiking, running, and biking” together.
“She was deeply admired by her family and friends for her passionate dedication to motherhood,” it says.
On Wednesday, Cleotha Abston Henderson appeared in court charged with her murder. Police said that Champion slides found at the scene of the crime contained his DNA while evidence including blood was also found inside his vehicle.
Surveillance footage captured his vehicle both at the scene of the abduction and where Ms Fletcher’s body was later found.
Prior to Ms Fletcher’s murder, the 38-year-old suspect served 19 years in prison for kidnapping an attorney back in 2000. He was released from prison less than two years ago.
Abston Henderson also had a lengthy juvenile rap sheet, including a conviction for raping a man when he was just 14 years old.
As the community reels from the attack, tragic parallels have been made between Ms Fletcher’s abduction and death and the murders of multiple other women while they were out on jogs near their homes.
Ally Brueger, a 31-year-old nurse, would go on 10 mile runs near her home in Michigan every day. In July 2016, she was shot in the back and killed while on one of her usual runs. Her killer has never been found.
In July 2018, Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, vanished while out for a jog near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa. Her body was later found buried in a shallow grave in a cornfield, with only her bright running shoes visible. She had been stabbed to death.
In August 2020, 25-year-old nurse Sydney Sutherland was snatched in eerily similar circumstances while running near her home in Arkansas. Her body was found two days later. A farm worker pleaded guilty to her rape and murder last year.
Several people have taken to social media this week under the hashtag #ElizaFletcher, calling for an end to women running in fear and slamming the “victim blaming” from those online who have questioned why she was running in the early hours of the morning.
