Going West: True Crime - Gretchen Fleming // 460

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

In December of 2022, a 27-year-old woman met a stranger in a bar in her small, West Virginia hometown, only to disappear after leaving with him. As an investigation into her disappearance began, it was revealed that the man she was last seen with is an ill-mannered ex-cop who had recently changed his name. Countless women have come forward since to describe their disturbing and unsettling encounters with this man - from his days as a food delivery driver and local. So what happened that night, and where is she? This is the story of Gretchen Fleming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host T and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well today big. Thank you to Brooke Stephanie Lindsey Alisa Ayla and Jackie who all recommended this case. Oh my god so many of you Yeah, that was a lot of people and it's it's uh it's understandable It is understandable because this case just happened two years ago And I feel like they're so close to to putting this one in the bag and getting justice like it's right there. Yeah, the details of this one are really gonna frustrate you guys so please do not forget to share it. Thank you again for tuning in and without further ado, let's dive in.

Alright guys, this is episode 460 of Going West, so let's get into it. Get ready for the movie event of the year with Disney's Mufasa the Lion King. It's time I tell you a story. A story? About Mufasa and the prince who would come to be known as Scar. So glad I brought some crickets. Bring your whole family. Come on, Mufasa, let's get in some trouble. On December 20th, a kingdom of adventure awaits.

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Or take your caramel brulee latte along on your impromptu ketchup. These are sips worth sharing, so come together and find your holiday magic, only at Starbucks. In December of 2022, a 27-year-old woman met a stranger in a bar in her small West Virginia hometown, only to disappear after leaving with him. As the investigation into her disappearance began and police reviewed surveillance footage and spoke to bartenders, it was revealed that the man that she was last seen with is an ill-mannered ex-cop who had recently changed his name. Countless women have come forward since to describe their disturbing and unsettling encounters with this man,

from his days as a food delivery driver and a local. So what happened that night and where is she? This is the story of Gretchen Eve Fleming was born on Christmas Eve 1994 and was joined a short while later by little sister Emma. Her parents divorced when she was young and with this Gretchen wound up living with her dad David and of course her little sister Emma as David admitted that he was closer to the girls than their mom was at this time. When Gretchen was 14 years old, her dad David started dating a woman named Jennifer who

had two kids of her own, and the pair wound up getting married and having a child together, you know, now completing their big blended family. Gretchen attended Parkersburg High School in Parkersburg, Virginia, which is situated along the Ohio River, directly across from Belpré, Ohio. Gretchen was known for being a voracious reader and for how involved she was in her school. She's also remembered for her love of vintage shopping and thrifting. Described as a free spirit,

her greatest passions were traveling, writing, and music. After graduating from high school, Gretchen longed for a city larger than Parkersburg, which was home to only about 30,000 people. So she set her sights on Raleigh, North Carolina, which hosts nearly half a million people, obviously way bigger.

This is, by the way, about six hours away by car from her hometown, and she enrolled in William Peace University. She also spent time at Shaw University pursuing political science. But creative and independent, Gretchen worked a myriad of different jobs while she kind of figured out what she wanted to do. And while living in Raleigh after college, she met and started dating a man and they wound up moving in together.

But after about a year, they ended things and Gretchen moved out. So kind of needing a fresh start, especially after this difficult breakup. She settled back into West Virginia in 2022, this time opting to live with her paternal grandparents, Louise and Phil in Vienna, which is just ten minutes north from her hometown of Parkersburg. But sadly when Gretchen settled back at home,

tragedy struck again with the sudden passing of her mother, which really shocked and saddened her entire family. So Gretchen was having an immensely difficult time dealing with the grief of this loss, with her dad David describing his daughter understandably as lost during this time of her life. But still, 27-year-old Gretchen had aspirations that extended beyond her hometown, because remember, you know, Parkersburg is not very big. Yeah, she had left once, she wanted to leave again, but it makes sense for her, you know, she's going through all this stuff with her ex and her mom, she's back at home for a little while. A lot of people do that. Exactly. Well, she took a job as a sales associate at H&M while she worked toward her next goal,

which was becoming a flight attendant. So let's fast forward a little bit to Thanksgiving of 2022, which fell on November 24th. And that was the last time that Gretchen was seen by her family. As they always did, the Fleming family gathered with extended family to celebrate for the evening. But in the aftermath of the holiday,

David noticed that Gretchen stopped responding to his text messages. Gretchen also didn't have a car or a driver's license, so her movements were kind of limited by who could pick her up, and of course, who could drop her off. She was also preoccupied with work and her social life, and wasn't in constant communication with her parents, her dad, and of course her stepmom, which is something that was kind of normal for her. Similarly, she wouldn't always make it home at night, and her grandparents were aware of this as well, so nothing too alarming just yet. Yeah, her dad explained that they did talk frequently, but sometimes, you know, maybe a week or so would go by and they wouldn't speak, which happens with

my dad as well. Like sometimes a week will go by and be like, oh, I haven't talked to my dad in a bit. That is, it's normal that they're not talking every day all the time. And also I was gonna say it's normal that she's not staying at her grandparents every night because again, she's 27 years old. Like she can do whatever she wants. Exactly.

But on December 11th, 2022, Gretchen's grandma, Louise, began to kind of panic and stop by David and Jennifer's house to let them know that she hadn't seen Gretchen in over a week. Yeah, so that's not normal. Not normal at all. In fact, the last time that any of them had heard from her was on Saturday, December 3rd. That day, her grandparents had dropped her off at work and Gretchen told them that she was staying with friends that night. They assumed that she had just kind of been crashing on somebody's couch for the time being, but with no activity on her phone or on her social media, her grandparents were beginning to fear the worst.

So that very day, David and Jennifer, her dad, her stepmom, began circling the streets of Parkersburg looking for her, and they wound up at one of the bars and restaurants that she was known to frequent. It's called the Front Row, which is described on Google as a, quote, cozy haunt offering a large selection of beers and American fare with regular live music and bar games.

It's basically a sports dive bar. Yeah, it's just a regular dive bar. Yeah. So when David showed the employees a picture of Gretchen, the bartender acknowledged that she had come in the previous weekend and offered a curious and alarming detail. They actually had Gretchen's purse in their possession.

Now, apparently a friend of hers named John had dropped it back there on Sunday, December 4th, after Gretchen had left it with him. Inside the purse was her wallet, including credit cards and identification, her tablet, and most importantly, her phone, which was now dead. So now they're learning that Gretchen has gone a week

without these items, a week without her phone, her credit cards, you know, everything else in her purse, and suddenly they're terrified. Yeah, because it doesn't seem like one of those things where, oh, I lost my purse. It seems like if she had left it with John on accident, she would know to either go to John or go back to the bar to go and find it, but she never did. Yeah, she can't just be like out there without all of her things, especially not having come home to her grandparents house to explain what happened and order a new card and get a new phone, etc.

So David, her dad remembers a sinking feeling setting in that something had happened to Gretchen. He said later, quote, the bartender mentioned that she left with a guy and I think because I found the purse I'm scared. I'm thinking in my head this wasn't just a missing persons case. Something had happened. David spoke to some of the friends who had accompanied Gretchen that night and they said that Gretchen left front row with a man around 11 p.m. that night headed for the My Way Lounge, which is seven minutes away by car. This is still in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

This spot has since closed this bar, My Way, but it had been open since 1987 and was described as, quote, very clean, capable bartenders, six poker machines, mega touch, touch tunes, dart machine, pool table. All sports can be watched, events every week, specials every day, karaoke every Thursday. Remember this is- So again, just a run of the mill dive bar. Yeah, exactly.

Just a different one. With, this reminds me of that bar in your hometown with like, I feel like all those small town bars have like gambling machines. Oh shit. What is that? What is that? Oh, Bugsies. Yeah, and remember this was a Saturday night. So David and Jennifer headed to my way and were able to speak with a staff member who happened to be working the night that Gretchen was last seen there. When David questioned him about Gretchen's whereabouts,

he said that he remembered seeing Gretchen there with a man whose name was John. Remember, this is her friend John. So scrambling to put the pieces of her last night together, her parents charged her phone and scoured her contacts and past social media interactions. You know, they're hoping to find any clues as to, oh yeah, I'll see you tonight at midnight, I'll be there. You know, anything that hoping to find any clues as to, oh yeah, I'll see you

tonight at midnight. I'll be there. You know, I think anything that could point to her whereabouts. Right. Which is very smart, honestly. So her phone had been silent since she had last been seen. Obviously, she didn't have it and had clearly not disappeared with her, which was a surefire sign that something had really gone awry here. So the following day, eight days after she had last been seen at the bars, on Monday, December 12th, 2022, 27-year-old Gretchen Fleming was officially reported missing.

Now, of course, the police kind of have to start somewhere here, right? Well, the Parkersburg Police Department surveyed all of the area hospitals, and they touched base with the police stations in surrounding counties. They're thinking, maybe she got hurt, and maybe she's been in the hospital for a week. Maybe it has a simple explanation like that. Right. Well, after her picture and missing persons flyer began making the rounds in the

community, John, the person she supposedly left with to head from front row to my way, actually called the police to give his account of what happened that night. Which is a pretty good sign for him not to kind of evade and run. He's like, hey, I was with her that night. Yeah, he's coming forward, he's coming clean with everything. So he openly admitted that he had indeed been with Gretchen at both of the bars that night, that she had last been seen publicly. By John's recollection, the pair had met up at the front row bar with some other friends and then headed to My Way alone in John's car. After arriving at My Way, they got separated and John just kind of

assumed that she had gotten a ride home. Well, the next day he found her purse in his car and not knowing where she lived, he decided to drop it where they had met up that night, somewhere that he knew that she would be returning, which would be the Front Row bar. The employees at Front Row held on to her purse from December 4th to December 11th, waiting for her to return and retrieve it, but she never did. As investigators attempted to trace her movements from that night, My Way Lounge contacted David to tell them that they had found surveillance footage of Gretchen from the night that she

disappeared. And on the footage, Gretchen can be seen perched at the bar while John, you know, the guy that she was there with, was a few bar stools down chatting with a group of people, proving that they had indeed separated some time after arriving together. You know, and this is pretty normal, you know, they're friends, they go to a different bar, they're kind of chatting it up with different locals, and... It's a small town, I'm sure you run into people, you know? Of course, yeah, exactly. So, then, a different man emerged from the back room where patrons were gambling, and

approached Gretchen at the bar. It appears that he bought her a drink, and that after talking for a bit, they headed to the gambling room. Between 30 and 45 minutes later, they emerged from the gambling room and left the bar together abruptly, and without Gretchen's purse, which remember was allegedly in John's car. And Gretchen didn't let John know that she'd be leaving because at the time, John was in the bathroom. So in the time between him going to the bathroom and him getting out of the bathroom, Gretchen was just gone. And John can actually be seen on video emerging from the bathroom to find that Gretchen had left.

Unfortunately, we can't see this because the footage has not been released. This is just what has been reported to be on the footage, so we can't post it on our socials, sadly, or speak from personal experience having watched it because it is not out there. But this is what the police are saying happened. Yes, and the footage apparently then shows Gretchen exiting my way with this unknown man, unknown at the time, getting into his car, which is believed to be a black Nissan Rogue sport SUV and driving away. After that, she was never seen again. Police did of course take possession

of this surveillance footage and have scoured it for any indication of what happened to her, but have been very tight lipped about what exactly they found and for good reason. You know, especially considering he wasn't with her when she vanished. Police have confirmed that John is not a suspect and Gretchen's father David agrees with this assessment explaining that John has been fully cooperative with police saying quote, John, I know he didn't have anything to do with this. I've spoken

with him. He was just as freaked out as I am as a father. Something I wonder is how old John is as we're going to get into with the man that Gretchen left with his age, but I'm assuming that John was around her age. We don't know anything about him at all. I would kind of assume that as well, that he would be somewhere around her age. Yeah, he's described as a friend. I am maybe somebody that she was casually seeing.

That could have also been the first time they met. We don't know anything about him because he has been cleared. And obviously police don't want to name him because that would not be right. So from the beginning of the investigation, My Way, which again has since closed, has been praised for their assistance in the investigation. Chief of police Matthew Board acknowledged, quote, from the onset of the report of Gretchen being missing, the My Way Lounge has really stepped up. Their staff, their owner, and a lot of the patrons

that frequent that establishment.'" The owners told both police and Gretchen's family that they would do anything they could to assist in bringing Gretchen home, and it really seems like they have. Megan Evans, who was one of the owners of the lounge or was one of the owners, told a local news source, quote, The police contacted us and we immediately provided them with all the camera footage that we had from that night to try to

help them find her. We know that downtown Parkersburg, a lot of cameras don't work that well, so we installed a couple more outside just to help. And I think that's really fucking cool of them to do that. The fact that they don't have to do anything, but because this is such a small community and everybody cares about this case, the bar took it upon themselves to put up more security camera footage, just hoping that maybe this perpetrator, this unknown man at the time, would be spotted on one of them. Yeah, it's amazing. Unfortunately, we don't see this happen all the time. So it's great because this surveillance footage

is of great importance. And actually, the surveillance footage mixed with the help of the bartenders and the owner really helped figure out exactly who Gretchen left with as we are about to get into. So police also pleaded with the community to double check their own security cameras, or cameras, what?

Camera footage. Camera footage. In hopes of catching Gretchen on it, potentially in the black Nissan Rogue that she left the bar in, or perhaps on foot, if she at some point exited the vehicle. The car was black and adorned with a bumper sticker that said outer banks on the back

driver's side window. As we know, many of us know the outer banks are in North Carolina. And other than that bumper sticker, there were also Darth Vader stickers on the back windows or the back seat windows, sorry, on both sides of the vehicle. No hate to Star Wars. I just think that's kind of funny. And he also had a, you know, like license plate frames that represented the Pittsburgh Penguins, which is an ice hockey team. So, you know, we've got some North Carolina representation,

we've got some Pittsburgh representation on here, we've got some Star Wars representation, but luckily they didn't need to use these exact clues to figure out who this guy was. Because the My Way employees were able to positively identify this man themselves, confirming to family and investigators that it was a regular patron of theirs. A 55 year old man named Preston

Pierce, a man twice Gretchen's age. Oh, and this guy is a piece of work. Yeah, I mean, well he's a piece of shit, but also a piece of work. He is, yeah. And I will say again how awesome it is that they were able to give this information because, you know, obviously it's possible that Gretchen had exited the vehicle after leaving the bar, but it seemed increasingly more likely that she had disappeared with the man she left with that night, or rather, because of him. And that man is one 55-year-old Preston Pierce. Well after being confirmed to be the last person publicly seen with Gretchen, Preston was of course questioned by the Parkersburg police.

Preston was brought in for questioning in the early morning hours of December 13, 2022, and offered up a simple explanation. That he had met Gretchen at the bar and offered to give her a ride. After they left My Way together, he claimed that he dropped her off at a location in downtown Parkersburg at her request and he claimed that he had not seen her since. Now, backing up for a second, after leaving My Way, they got into his car in the adjacent parking lot, turned down St. James Court Alley, and then turned onto 6th Street.

His car then headed down Ann Street toward the south end of the city. Security footage from a nearby gas station spotted his vehicle driving in the direction of his home, but it's not clear whether or not Gretchen was present in the car at the time, you know, to prove if what he said about dropping her off downtown was true or not. And since police have not disclosed where he claims to have dropped her off, we can't really speculate on it based on these movements. But the lead detective on the case, a guy named James Zimmerman, said that Preston's statements have been inconsistent and strongly believe that he had made up the story of Gretchen's final whereabouts that evening.

Though skeptical of his version of events, volunteers and investigators combed the outskirts of the city, just in case he was telling the truth. And I mean, that's really all anybody had to go off of. Yeah, they're doing what they can. But the nearby Ohio River and the surrounding lush, wooded areas kind of complicated search efforts, unfortunately. Ultimately, there was no sign of Gretchen anywhere near downtown, so, of course, suspicions remained with her mysterious companion for the evening, Preston Pierce. And Preston was instantly ruled a likely suspect from within his own community when it was

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Darryl Lott. Apparently had a storied history in the area and no one seemed to have any kind words to say about him. I don't know why they would. Two bartenders at Front Row who had seen Gretchen there on the night she disappeared, remember she was not there with Preston, she was there with John, and who also happened to have attended high school with her, acknowledged that they were sadly not surprised by this development. One of the bartenders, Jessica, described the eerie feeling of being one of the last

people to see Gretchen before she disappeared, saying, quote, when we hear about something like this happening, it just strikes you right through the soul because you're like, I was just with her or I just talked to her. Like, how could something like this happen this way? And then when you hear terrifying stories come up about this person that she was last seen with and just things keep coming to light and people talking about it through the bars and it's just crazy. It really is. And you would never expect something like this to happen. Fellow front row bartender Casey agreed saying, quote, it's a weird feeling because like there's

been a few different cases like this that's happened from working at the bar. And it's very scary as a customer or a bartender because anything could happen. And I know that this person of interest has had a lot of cases or issues in the past and nothing's been done about it. And I think that's really part of the problem. Under the name Darryl Lott, Preston cycled through multiple police stations and was once even named the police chief of his precinct. He worked in the surrounding communities of Ravenswood, Williamstown, and even nearby

Vienna. Remember where Gretchen was living at the time of her disappearance. But after continued allegations of misconduct, he was rightfully let go. In an attempt at a fresh start, he settled in Gretchen's hometown of Parkersburg and began introducing himself as Preston Pierce, seemingly trying to throw away the name Darryl Lott to create this new identity that was not tied to any wrongdoings. I don't know why he would choose Preston. He does not look like, he looks like a Darryl, not a Preston.

I mean, come on, my guy. It's like from Joe Dirt. It's like, oh no, I'm Joe Dirtay. It's like, don't try to spice it up or whatever. I don't know what you're talking about. You've never seen Joe Dirt? Oh, okay. Well anyway.

Do I seem like I would watch that movie? No, you don't. But no, I'm just saying, he's definitely trying to put on this, I'm a nice, wealthy guy. My name's Preston Pierce. Yeah, I don't know where. You're Daryllott, shut up.

I don't know where that came from, but it's not like he was leaving his old self behind, and yeah, trying to embody this better person, because his reputation preceded him, and he was seemingly unable to change the behavior that got him into trouble in the first place. Yeah, so now he's Preston Pierce, the piece of shit. Yeah, exactly. So soon, he was well-known in the first place. Yeah, so now he's, uh, Preston Pierce the piece of shit. Yeah, exactly.

So, soon he was well known in the community as such, and at best, he was considered a nuisance. At worst, he was dangerous. Preston was working as a food delivery driver for both DoorDash and Spark, which is Walmart's delivery service option, and after his name was announced as a person of interest, first-hand accounts spilled out on social media from various women in the community who had allegedly come into contact with him, describing that he had stalked them. He even seemed to use his delivery job as a conduit to meet women. Well, multiple women in Parkersburg and the surrounding communities maintained that they

refused to order from DoorDash because, as one of the only drivers in the area, obviously this is a very small area, there was a pretty high probability that Preston Pierce would arrive with their order. Multiple women came forward after Gretchen's disappearance with alarming stories about how Preston would use his job basically like a dating app, often messaging women who ordered from the platform, complimenting them on their appearance, or asking them out after he dropped off their food. This guy is just so gross, bro.

And actually, occasionally, he would stop by an address unannounced after having made prior deliveries there just to check on his female customer or corner her into agreeing to go out with him. Yeah, this is kind of like part of the reason why I made my name on Postmates and DoorDash a man's name and why I never come out and pick up my food. If anything, I send you out to get it or just have them leave it outside. That's true, yeah. And everybody should do this really because if you think about it,

like think about this. If you put your name and you're a woman and you or you just go out and grab your food. If your name is a woman's name, A, you know, if a creepy man is coming to deliver your food, he knows that a woman lives there, and B, if you go grab it and he finds you appealing, he now knows where you live.

Like, that is a dangerous situation. It definitely is, and that's not to say that, you know, people who work for DoorDash or Uber Eats or stuff like that are creepy, but there's so many people that work for those companies that there's probably a few of those bad apples in there, and so you just really never know. It's really just better to kind of err on the side of caution. I totally agree, but these poor women who didn't have that opportunity before they were met with this guy at their door, are now being harassed by him.

Yeah, I mean, multiple women who ordered from the app and had Preston as their delivery driver say that they resorted to sending somebody else out to retrieve their food from him when it arrived because Preston made them feel so uncomfortable. It's just, it's so sad that he's in this position to be able to do this to so many women. Well, another customer of his recalls that he carried a loaded gun with him in his car as he worked and claims to have seen it, which is honestly just a really eerie thing to think about, especially considering Gretchen's disappearance. And he was even known from his conduct at the very bar that Gretchen disappeared from, which again was the My Way Lounge. One woman who was working there as a bartender ordered dinner during a late-night shift and said that Preston arrived with her order. Hours later, when he stopped delivering for the

night, he returned back to the bar to sit and have a drink, just to tell her that he thought that she was beautiful. The bartender was so uncomfortable by this that she asked another employee to come oversee the situation so that she would feel less threatened and thought that maybe he would just kind of lose interest. But Preston, of course, doesn't lose interest. He stayed after closing time and they eventually had to kick his dumb ass out. She says that he then requested her as a friend on Facebook that very night and then continued to return to the bar to ask her out until the bar was forced to shut its doors due to the continued struggles brought on, of course, by the COVID pandemic.

And these workplace interactions went on for so long that he was eventually reported multiple times and was finally fired from DoorDash. Finally. I mean, geez. Preston was a frequent patron of both My Way and Front Row, where Gretchen and her friends were also regulars. Though it's possible that he had crossed paths with Gretchen there in the past, police have maintained that they have no reason to believe that the two knew each other prior

to this evening. One young woman recalled being similarly stalked by him and that Preston followed her and a friend from front row to my way and didn't stop his creeping ways with them until her boyfriend finally had to confront him. And she was so rattled by the night's events that she actually reported this interaction to the police because she was like, this guy is a danger. But that didn't seem to stop Preston from making girls and women of all ages

in his vicinity feel uncomfortable. One of his daughter's friends even alleged on social media that he has made sexual advances towards her. Another woman claims that he was making sexual innuendos at her 15-year-old daughter. Women accused him of stalking, harassing, and sending them pictures that were violent, disturbing, and sexual in nature. According to one local, after being ousted from the police and before he started working for

DoorDash and Spark, he was fired from multiple jobs in the area for making advances on underage girls. Another worked with him at a nursing home and says that the elderly women declined to let him touch them because he made them feel uncomfortable. I mean, this guy is just making everybody feel uncomfortable, older women, younger women, everybody in between. Yeah, and he should not be working at a nursing home

where he can touch anybody. And there are seriously so many reports, but here's some more. One woman claims that he wouldn't stop asking her out, so eventually she met up with him to let him down gently, but that he was enraged when she refused to sleep with him, even threatening to spread rumors that they were dating and to tell her ex-boyfriend just to spite her. Two different women recall feeling uncomfortable when he hit on them while they were clearly pregnant. And as all of this came flooding out, galvanizing

local search efforts and making women in the area increasingly uncomfortable, detectives announced that they do suspect foul play in Gretchen's case, which obviously doesn't give any of us good feelings about this guy's, you know, believed involvement. Shortly before Christmas 2022, so a couple weeks into the search for Gretchen, a search warrant was obtained and executed at Preston's property on Division Street in Parkersburg, as well as his electronic devices and storage space. But the findings of this search have not been released. Preston lived in a 1100 square foot, two bedroom, two bathroom house. You can see from the street view of his house that there are other homes like kind of scattered

around. There's not very many, only a few, but across the street is a large hill and there is also a very large hilly wooded area right behind his home. So it does have a sense of privacy and we will post photos so you guys can see. Obviously I want to maintain privacy for whoever lives there now, but I'll at least post photos of the street and behind the house. You guys can see that. But anyway, so there was evidence removed from the home, but that evidence did not include human remains. That's pretty much as far as the public knows

We don't know what they took from the house. So frustrated Gretchen's dad David said that Preston believes he is untouchable and above the law Perhaps because of his prior service on the police force He said sadly quote. I'm really scared for the community of whose little girl is next I'm really scared for the community of whose little girl is next." The searches continued and the community remained in support of the Fleming family, but by New Year's 2023, the prospects seemed kind of bleak. About 500 people canvassed Mountwood Park, which is about 20 minutes east of Parkersburg, looking for any sign of Gretchen. But, as usual in her search, they came up empty. As the investigation slowed, false tips and faulty information sent the family into a tailspin every time,

and certainly slowed police efforts. But then, in early 2023, human remains were found about two hours northeast of Parkersburg in Elm Grove, West Virginia. Initially they were hesitantly connected to Gretchen's disappearance as she was the most well-known missing person in the area, but ultimately no link was found between the two. Another tip came in that she had been placed in a well in Ravenswood, which is 40 minutes away from Parkersburg and a community in which Preston used to work, as a police officer. How convenient, but this search also failed to produce any sign of Gretchen.

Each time, her family held their breath for their worst nightmares to be realized. But it was bittersweet for the Flemings, who wanted answers, yet still hoped to find her alive. Police Chief Matthew Bord has maintained that, though the two-year anniversary of her disappearance just passed a week before the release of this episode, the case is as active now as it was then. Matthew claims, quote, Though we do not release a lot, it does not mean that we're not working. It doesn't mean that we don't know things.

It's just, it's a process. Things have been collected. As standards sent to the state laboratory for analysis and just awaiting results there. That's commonplace in a lot of investigations, and when that comes back, hopefully, that proves fruitful. But in the meantime, this is not a waiting game. Our detectives are still following leads because, as I keep reiterating, the community really stepped up. The leads, the tips, the info, the phone calls, the Facebook messages, the emails. Every one of them is getting vetted. He also reassured the public that this case is not even close to being cold. Matthew

claims that they put their best detective on the case, again James Zimmerman, who was even named Officer of the Year the year that Gretchen disappeared. Matthew said proudly, quote, There's not a day that goes by that she and her family are not on my mind, and the minds of the men and women of the Parkersburg Police Department. Detective James Zimmerman comes in every day, and that's still his priority. The family have remained gracious and have been outspoken about their thanks to the police and the community for their response. David Gretchen's dad said, quote, It's been overwhelming the support we've gotten from the community and the police department and just everybody caring and donations and love

that everybody's sending that were in their thoughts and prayers. And that means a lot. It means a lot that people are out there and they do care so much in this small community." His wife Jennifer added, quote, "...and even across the country. I think everywhere from Parkersburg to across the country, people realize it could be their daughter, their granddaughter, their cousin, their niece. And I think it really hits home with a lot of people.

Now because Gretchen left the bar with Preston in such a hurry, forgetting her purse and not notifying her friend John, many believe that she was potentially drugged by Preston and was maybe led to his vehicle in a flurry before she could take any action. And I think a lot of us women or people who carry purses know that it's almost like a second skin. Like if I don't have my purse on me, the moment I realize I don't is like a panic because you're so used to holding it. So her not having it the whole time and then leaving bare without it, it kind of makes some of us wonder her state of mind. She was of course also at a bar, so drinking was involved.

But obviously with no remains, it's impossible to know whether this is the case, whether she had drugs in her system or not. But also, I'm sure this could have been captured on surveillance footage, her being drugged, unless the cameras didn't cover the entire bar and they were able to be off camera somewhere inside. I know that there was that kind of gambling room.

I feel like that would be, there would really be cameras back there, don't you? I mean, yeah, you would kind of assume that there would be cameras in the gambling room, but also, who knows? This is a small dive bar in West Virginia. We don't know how many cameras they had that night in particular.

It's also very possible that he was extremely discreet in doing something like this. He could have easily dropped something in there and the cameras might not have picked it up as well. Yeah, so true. This happens all the time. But I think one thing that kind of sticks out in my mind is that Gretchen is a young woman. Preston Pierce is a 55 year old balding man.

I just don't see why she would even entertain the idea of going along with him. Like he's twice her age. She doesn't seem like she would be interested in that. That's kind of why I was wondering what John looked like. And it's also impossible to know her intentions. Maybe she was just talking to know, talking to somebody. Just because they were talking doesn't mean

that she was sexually or romantically interested in him. And maybe he said, oh, well, you don't have a ride home because you don't have a car or driver's license. I'll drop you off. And he just seems like this nice older guy that's gonna help her. Like we have no idea what he said to her, you know? Yeah, absolutely.

I agree with that. But really the one thing that we can hang our hats on is the fact that Everybody knows that Preston Pierce is a creepy fucking dude and that he was the last person to see her exactly So I mean even police of course are greatly taking this into consideration And you know they don't have great things to say about him either because according to the Parkersburg police, Preston is no longer cooperative, nor in communication with them, which never really looks good. Maybe he said all he has to say, but everybody kind of thinks otherwise.

And according to locals on Gretchen's Facebook group and on local Reddit threads, Preston can still be seen haunting neighborhood establishments and was even kicked out of a bar in the area recently. He is apparently also peddling a story that he is now homeless, even reviewing a homeless shelter for veterans on Facebook. In July of 2023, he wrote, quote, I was at the VA hospital and was not getting the treatment I needed. Immediately, I found myself in a new situation.

I was homeless and living on the streets, dumpster diving for restaurant food and nowhere to call home. I reached out to every organization I knew of for assistance. Now though he continues to be eyed within the community, he has not been formally connected to the crime and likely won't be until more evidence or Gretchen's remains are recovered. But it certainly seems like police haven't come close to clearing him and are still trying to find concrete ties. Gretchen's beloved grandmother Louise, who she lived with until her disappearance, said

that her family remains hopeful for answers and that their shared bond is what has gotten them through the challenge of Gretchen's disappearance. She described it as the worst year of her life, but added, quote, They are working so hard on this case. Please don't second guess what they are doing. We are 100% supporting their efforts. They will see that Gretchen gets the justice that she deserves. Our family appreciates all the kind words, prayers, and concern that our community continues to give us.

Sadly, Louise took a fall during one of the initial searches for her granddaughter, and she injured her back. Then in June of this year, Louise announced on Facebook that she was entering the hospital to undergo surgery. But just one day later, her family said that she hadn't pulled through it. On Saturday, November 16th of this year, 2024, human remains were found in a shallow grave, believed to be a female based on the clothing found with them. And a hunter actually came across these remains in Morgantown, West Virginia, just under two hours northeast of Parkersburg, near the borders of both Pennsylvania and Maryland. But the day after the two-year anniversary of Gretchen's disappearance on December 5, 2024, it was reported that the remains did not belong to Gretchen, but instead to a local

47-year-old woman named Kimberly Osborne, who has been missing since May of 2024. But since this just happened, the police haven't announced if foul play is even suspected in her case, let alone if her discovery is connected to anything. When Gretchen Fleming went missing, she had brown hair and brown eyes and stood at five feet one inch tall and weighed about 110 pounds. There's still a $100,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction. If you have any information about the disappearance of Gretchen Fleming, please contact Detective James Zimmerman with the Parkersburg Police Department at 304-424-1072. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. If you want to see photos from this episode and all the other episodes that we've covered,

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