The slow-moving city of Parkersburg is home to the historic Blennerhassett Island and nearly 30,000 West Virginians. Parkersburg is an area where there are few strangers and even fewer secrets. When something happens within the community, rumors immediately swirl and the community comes together to demand answers and seek justice.

On a brisk December 19 evening, roughly 150 people gathered at the Parkersburg City Park for a candlelight vigil to bring attention to Gretchen Fleming who disappeared under mysterious circumstances 15 days prior. Gretchen was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia on Christmas Eve. She is often described as shy and sweet by friends and family members who are shocked by her disappearance.

Gretchen spent time in Raleigh, North Carolina and recently moved to Vienna, West Virginia, she lived with her grandmother just months before she vanished. Despite executing multiple search warrants, Parkersburg Police have been tightlipped regarding the events leading up to the disappearance of Gretchen Fleming.

Few details have been confirmed although it is known that Gretchen had been spotted at a couple of bars in Parkersburg on the night of the 3rd and the early morning hours of the 4th. Earlier on the 3rd, she was seen at The Front Row Sports Bar where she allegedly left her belongings. At some point, Gretchen departed the bar on Emerson Avenue with someone and traveled roughly 10 minutes to the My Way Lounge at 501 Juliana Street without her purse, phone, or debit card.

The My Way Lounge & Restaurant is the last place Gretchen was known to be and stayed at least into the early morning of December the 4th. She would leave the My Way Lounge with Preston Pierce who was formerly known as Darrell Lott and is a person of interest for the Parkersburg Police Department. According to police, he offered her a ride but his statements have been inconsistent.

Video surveillance shows Fleming leaving with Preston in his dark Nissan Rogue Sport with Darth Vader decals on the back windows. She was officially reported missing to local police over a week later on December 12. On the 15th, Police Chief Matt Board confirmed his department was executing multiple search warrants in the area including one at a residence on Division Street.
The site of the search warrant was only a four minute drive from the My Way Lounge where Gretchen was last seen. On January 6, suspected human remains were found two hours away in Elm Grove just outside of Wheeling.

A national news outlet had released that they believed police had located Gretchen in Ohio County although the remains did not belong to Gretchen.

Parkersburg Police Chief, Matt Board, would later say that the national news outlet made the mistake due to “miscommunication on their part”. Police have encouraged locals to check their security camera footage to see if they caught the dark Nissan Rogue Sport. Unfortunately, there are no answers in Gretchen’s case meaning her family does not have closure.