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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/AlfredTheJones on 2024-01-06 20:41:29+00:00.
Hello everyone! As always, thank you for your votes and comments under my last post about Laura Huebner. I hope that her case will be solved soon and her loved ones will find solace soon.
Today I wanted to share another case of a woman who was last seen with a strange man.
BACKGROUND
Gretchen Fleming was 27 when she went missing from Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA.
At the time of her disappearance, Gretchen has been living with her grandparents (or just grandmother; Sources differ) for six months after coming back from North Carolina, where she went to college. According to her grandmother, Gretchen was a joy to have in the house, and it was completely out of character for her to vanish. Gretchen has recently started a job at H&M at Grand Central Mall. Her grandmother described Gretchen as "(A) really a sweet lovely young lady and she’s so pretty. I’ve often told her she reminds me of Audrey Hepburn with her high cheekbones".
According to her stepmother, Jennifer Fleming, teenage Gretchen couldn't wait to leave for North Carolina and finally spread her wings.
Gretchens's high school friend, Jake Grimm, remembered laughing with Gretchen and talking about fashion together. They were both members of the student council of the Parkersburg High School. He also said that Gretchen "didn't dress anything like everybody else. She's always made a statement. She's so creative. Music is a big part of who she is. She's done all these different things. She's traveled, she's very well spoken, she used to be a writer and still does write”.
Gretchen's father, David, described his daughter as "(...) an amazing little girl. She’s very independent. You know, she’s my little girl. And she’s been a great girl, and everybody loved her. Everybody that came in sight with her loved her. She was unique and personable and had a great personality and she’s just a great kid". When asked what he wants to tell to Gretchen if she's listening, he said "I just want to tell her I love her and if somehow, she is somewhere and she hears this, I just want her to come home. And I’m hoping for the best. And I love my little girl. I just want her home". He also said that Gretchen loved to create new looks from thrifted clothes.
Phillip Fleming, Gretchen's uncle, described her childhood self as "a bubbly little child, (...) she was just a happy, go-lucky -- always smiling and giggling". He also said that Gretchen had a habit of walking around on the tips of her toes, earning her a nickname "twinkle toes". She kept that habit untill her adulthood.
Shortly before her disappearance, Gretchen was struggling with a recent breakup and her mother's death. This was the reason why she moved to her grandmother's house.
DISAPPEARANCE
Gretchen's grandmother has dropped her off at the mall at about 1:15 p.m on the 3rd of December, so that she could go to work. She said that her granddaughter didn't return that night, but she'd sometimes go spend a few days at a friend's house and was 27, so she didn't have to tell her grandmother about everything. After a week passed, her family became concerned.
The bartender of the nearby Front Row Sports Bar and Grill, where Gretchen was a regular, said that she was there on the 3rd of December at around 11 p.m with someone else. Gretchen's purse was turned to them the following morning and was picked up by Gretchen's father on the 11th of December, and was then turned over to the police. Gretchen has left the bar with someone else, who wasn't the person of interest.
Gretchen was last seen during the evening of December 3rd and the early morning of the 4th at My Way Tavern (also called a Lounge) in Parkersburg, West Virginia, with an older man. Gretchen didn't own a car and arrived to the bar with a different person.
Gretchen was reported missing on the 12th of December after she has not contacted her family in a few days. Oddly enough, the photo that was used in the innitial missing person bulletins was two years old, taken when Gretchen was about 25.
Around the 15th of December, the Vienna Baptist Church hosted a special time of prayer specifically for Gretchen and her family.
On the 15th of December, the Parkersburg Police Department executed multiple search warrants, including a house on Division Street with the assist of West Virginia State Police Crime lab. A crime scene van has been seen outside of said house.
A vigil has been held on the 19th of December in the Parkersburg City Park band pavilion.
At the time, police already had a person of interest, but they haven't shared his name to preserve integrity of the case and because he hasn't been charged with a crime. The person was at the My Way Lounge that night, and police believed that Gretchen left the place with him and went back to his house. Police has said that the man has given inconsistent statements. He admitted that Gretchen was in his car at some point, but didn't make it back to his home with him. There's no indication that they knew eachother before the night of 3rd/4th of December.
Security footage showed the two leave the My Way Tavern together but didn't capture them getting into a car due to where it was parked. More cameras captured the car going back to the man's house, around two miles away from the bar. His house, car and electronic devices have been searched. A "second location" was also searched- the place is believed to be a storage unit.
Around the 29th of December, multiple sources have confirmed to Eyewitness News that the man in question was Preston Pierce, previously Darrell Lott, 55, who used to be a law enforcement official at multiple departments in West Virginia. His career spans 12 year and ended in Belington Police Department in Barbour County. Police has still not called him a suspect or name him officially. He has since stopped working with the police, but haven't left the city.
On the 30th of December, police published photos of the car Gretchen was believed to enter (a Nissan Rogue Sport, with one Outer Banks sticker on the trunk window, a Pittsburgh Penguins license plate frame and Darth Vader stickers on each side of the rear seat windows) and asked everyone in Parkersburg to check their surveillance cameras from late night December 3rd through December 5th.
On the 4th of January 2023 the house of the POI has been searched again.
On the 4th o February, a large scale ground search has been carried out. Police expected about 300 people to show up, but over 200 more than that came, with some volunteers coming from out of state. The Mountwood Park was searched, which was about 25 acres of land; It was a recovery search due to multiple tips the police has recieved. Some items have been found that were analyzed to see if they were related to the case, but to this day there have been nothing oficially said.
On the 27th of February, a billboard with Gretchen's photos and contact info has been put up on Murdoch Avenue heading south.
CONCLUSION
I think that, sadly, it's the most likely that Gretchen isn't alive anymore. Allegedly, Gretchen's stepmother's friend has met up with Pierce and has woken up at his house without remembering how she got there, so it's possible that Pierce might've drugged Gretchen. It's also highly likely that she was drunk that night and someone decided to take advantage of that.
Throughout the sources, a big theme is just how many people were helpful and supportive of the search. Everyone in the My Way Lounge, the owner, the employees and a lot of frequent customers did their best to help the investigation. They've even put a candle in the front window and said they're working on increasing the security measures.
A reward of $32,500 has been offered to anyone with substantial information concerning Fleming’s physical location. A separate reward for the same amount has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in Fleming’s disappearance or physically harming the woman. The reward was originally 15,000$, but local buisness owners have added to the total. The reward for information on her disappearance has since grown to $100,000.
When she went missing, Gretchen Fleming was 27 and would be about 29 now. She was white, 5' 1" (155 cm), 110 pounds (50 kg) with brown hair and brown eyes. If you have any info regarding Gretchen's disappearance, contact detective Zimmerman’s number, 304-424-1072.
SOURCES:
- wtap.com
- wtap.com
- wtap.com
- woay.com
- wchstv.com
- nbcnews.com
- foxnews.com
- wchstv.com
- [wtap.com](https://www.wtap.com/...
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