US Kindergarten Teacher Disappeared While Jogging, Granddaughter of 'Billionaire'... Kidnapping Suspected

Local Police Focus on Kidnapping in Investigation
Ogil Family Offers $50,000 Reward to All Informants

The missing Eliza Fletcher / Photo by Tennessee Federal Bureau of Investigation Twitter

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] A female teacher working at a kindergarten affiliated with an elementary school in Memphis, Tennessee, went missing while jogging. It was later revealed that she is the granddaughter of a billionaire, prompting local police to focus on the possibility of kidnapping in their investigation.

According to foreign media including The Guardian on the 4th, Eliza Fletcher (female, 34), who was jogging on the University of Memphis campus in Tennessee on the morning of the 2nd (local time), disappeared.

A man approached Fletcher, and after a struggle, forcibly put her into a vehicle, according to investigations. Fletcher was known to jog regularly every morning.

Since there have been over 100 missing person reports in this city just this year, local police initially treated Fletcher’s case as a disappearance and investigated her whereabouts.

However, after it was revealed that Fletcher, who lives with her husband Richard Rich Fletcher III and their two children, is the granddaughter of Joseph Ogle III, the founder of the American hardware supplier Ogle, police have shifted their focus to investigating this case as a kidnapping.

Local police are concentrating their investigative efforts on finding Fletcher’s whereabouts. Her cellphone and water bottle were found near the campus.

The police have found the vehicle in which Fletcher was forcibly taken and have detained a man who was inside the car, but have yet to find any trace of Fletcher.

Fletcher lived with her husband and two children and worked as a kindergarten teacher locally. The kindergarten did not inform the children about Fletcher’s disappearance.

Ogle’s annual sales amount to $3 billion (approximately 4 trillion KRW), with about 5,500 employees. Joseph Ogle III passed away two weeks before Fletcher’s disappearance.

The Ogle family announced that they will reward $50,000 (approximately 68 million KRW) to anyone who provides information related to Fletcher’s disappearance.

In a statement, they said, "We hope Eliza returns safely," and "We hope our efforts will help catch the perpetrator."