TOLEDO, Ohio — The recent discovery of Tennessee teacher Eliza Fletcher's body has many runners, if not already, on alert. The story of a woman abducted while out jogging is sad but familiar.
"I was like not again," local runner Laura Seiverth said. "This is not the first story like this."
Seiverth says the conversation tends to steer into one that blames the women.
"The first thing you see is people online with their comments like 'why was she out there at that time' and immediately trying to blame her," Seiverth said. "She's just a mom with two little kids and trying to use good time management and get out there early and get her miles in."
The case also bears some resemblance to the Sierah Joughin case, in which the young woman was riding her bike home before being abducted by an offender with a record.
"Again, another senseless crime and another repeat offender, violent offender," Justice for Sierah founder Tara Ice said. "This is something that can be prevented and shouldn't be happening."
Joughin's murder led to the passage of Sierah's Law in Ohio, which created a public database of violent offenders, giving people the ability to know who was in their community.
Ice says similar laws should be passed in other states, as a way to prevent crimes like this from happening in the future.
"That's what's really important is making other states know that we have this law, it's available," said Ice. "We will see ... how we can get Sierah's Law implemented into their state and other states."
Ice said there are a few things runners can do to help protect themselves, such as running in groups, as well as carrying mace, or running with one headphone in, in order to be as aware of your surroundings as possible.
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