MEMPHIS, Tenn — Now coming up on two years since her murder, people are remembering Memphis mother and avid runner Eliza Fletcher.
The Memphian was kidnapped and murdered while going on her morning run in her Midtown neighborhood in September, 2022.
Hundreds of runners showed up at the route of her run to finish it like Fletcher intended. Starting at 4:20 a.m. Friday, Aug. 30, runners followed the same 8.2 mile path the Memphian took along Central Avenue, starting at South Belvedere.
“So many people identified with her, it could have been any of us, it could have been any street, it could have been any hour," said Charlie Hayden, the director of Finish Liza’s Run. "I think that resonated with so many people, maybe originally out of fear, but as people got to know her spirit…they got to relate to her on so many different levels.”
The run started as a Facebook post two years ago by Danielle Heineman, an avid runner in the Memphis community to bring light to Fletcher’s murder.
Heineman posted on Facebook “Let’s Finish Liza’s Run,” and only intended to get a few friends to run and finish Eliza's route, but eventually the post spread like wildfire. Over the course of the two years it has been organized, the race has not only been held in Memphis, but across the world.
"This is an idea that is important to runners everywhere, because it absolutely struck a chord," Hayden said. "There were organized runs in cities across America. There were organized runs in cities around the world...Brisbane, Sydney, Singapore...People were taking pictures and posting...and the family got to see that, we got to see that. "
Anyone intending to run in memory of Fletcher was invited to post using #FinishLizasRun. There was no cost, nor time/speed requirements to participate.
Eliza Fletcher’s murder
Eliza Fletcher was running on the University of Memphis campus when Memphis Police said she was forced into a vehicle after a struggle at roughly 4 a.m. Sept. 2, 2022. Investigators said her body was found Sept. 5 behind a vacant home after a massive search lasting more than three days.
The investigation of her death resurfaced the issue of thousands of untested rape kits in Memphis as Cleotha Abston, the man facing charges in Fletcher’s abduction and death, has been identified in another rape investigation just one year prior.