Vanished After Leaving a Bar: What Happened to 27-Year-Old Gretchen Fleming? 52:08

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Ray. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you are new, then welcome. So happy to have you here. Now, today we are going to be talking about a case that is very frustrating, as they all are.

It is one that definitely needs awareness. This family has been incredibly strong, incredibly inspiring to me. We're going to be talking about 27-year-old Gretchen Fleming, who disappeared back in December of 2022. Now, this is a case that has been requested numerous times in my case suggestion form, which is always linked below if you didn't know. But as you can see,

as soon as I looked into it, I knew it was one I wanted to talk about. She vanished back in December of 2022. So it hasn't really been that long. And it's one that I think really needs to stay in people's minds so that we don't forget. And hopefully in the end, there can be justice for Gretchen Fleming and for this family.

Now, one thing that is kind of uplifting about this case, and I don't often get to say this, but the police have really done a fantastic job. Gretchen's family has been very vocal that they feel law enforcement has done everything in their power to get justice for Gretchen and for their family. And that's really, really a breath of fresh air to hear. And I wish I could say that about every case I cover. I really do. Most of the time, that's not the case. But

Yeah, it's nice to hear of examples where police really are doing everything in their power to get this solved. So as always, I want to start out here by telling you more about Gretchen. So Gretchen Eve Fleming was born on December 24th, 1994, Christmas Eve.

and spent her entire childhood and young adult life living in the small city of Parkersburg, West Virginia. And it was in Parkersburg that she and her little sister, Emma, were raised by their father, David. Their parents got divorced when Gretchen was still pretty young, and both she and Emma did not seem to have a close relationship with their biological mother. That being said, David truly stepped up as a single father and raised those girls with everything

everything he had. And he said that raising them in Parkersburg was great for many reasons, but especially because the community was extremely close-knit and everything felt super safe. And from everything I've heard about Parkersburg, West Virginia, it really seems like there's a lot of good people and a lot of good community there. Growing up, David and Gretchen used to love riding around on their bikes together, and they even had a tandem bike that they would ride where he would pedal for them and she would steer. And I

loved hearing that little detail. But it wasn't just she, her dad, and her sister forever.

When Gretchen was 14, David introduced her and Emma to the woman that he'd been dating, Jennifer. Now, Gretchen didn't necessarily welcome her stepmom with open arms at first, which I think is really common. I relate to that. I had, you know, hesitations when my dad started dating as well. And now I love my stepmom so much, but I definitely...

Definitely gave her a hard time when she first came into our lives. So I think this is really common. It can be really difficult to see your parent recouple and get used to. But even though they had a rougher beginning, Gretchen really grew to love Jennifer. She really wasn't upset about it for very long. And over time, the two of them ended up getting really close, especially after Jennifer and her dad got married. And then they got married.

and especially once the two of them had a baby together. Plus, Jennifer had three-year-old twins from a previous relationship, so Gretchen really learned to love them as well, and they seemed to become a really seamlessly blended family. Now, as for who Gretchen was, she definitely seemed to be someone who had a good sense of herself, and that was extremely apparent through her sense of fashion. Gretchen loved thrift shopping and putting together outfits that she envisioned in her mind,

so that she could, you know, really express herself outwardly. And she could almost always be seen styling these outfits with her favorite Doc Martens. A few other things that also really defined Gretchen was her love of reading, her creativity, and of course, her passion for makeup as well. She had really perfected the red lip winged eyeliner combo, which was often a staple in her makeup routine.

and can be very difficult to do. I absolutely can never get the red lip down. I still cannot really do winged liner. So she had a lot of talent for makeup. And I'd say another thing that also really defines Gretchen is her personality.

free-spiritedness. Gretchen was someone who took life one day at a time. She didn't take anything too seriously. And while she didn't have some grand plan for her future, she knew that she'd accomplish whatever she set her mind to. And I think the best way to put this, and this is something her dad said that I really liked, is that Gretchen didn't live to work. She worked to live. She may not have been the most career-driven person, but she always had a job

And she always made enough to get by and take care of herself. I do want to be clear, though, Gretchen definitely had big dreams for herself. And one of those dreams was to one day move to a bigger city. Life in a big city really called to her. And it was a dream that she ended up making a reality. Gretchen graduated from Parkersburg High School in 2013. And sometime after that, she packed up her stuff and set out to start a new chapter of life in Raleigh, North Carolina. And it sounds to me that she was spending her

early 20s living a life that she had always wanted. She was exploring a new place, she had new friends, had a new job, she even met a boy, which went well for a while, but then things took a turn. Now, there's actually not much information out there about Gretchen's relationship at this time, but we do know that at one point she decided to move to South Carolina with him. And things were going great for about a year, but then at some point they took a turn and they...

broke up. Her stepmom, Jennifer, says that at the time she was actually really confused by the breakup because at one point they were even talking about getting married and Gretchen seemed really happy, but for whatever reason, they ended up parting ways. ♪

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And obviously going through a breakup, no matter how it ends, can be really, really difficult. And if that wasn't hard enough on Gretchen, something else really awful happened during this time. And I mentioned earlier, but she did not have a great relationship with her biological mother. And around this time, her mom was put on life support.

And I don't know exactly why. I'm not sure if she was sick or maybe got hurt. I have no details as far as what happened there. But Gretchen was next of kin. So she, at such a young age, ended up having to be the one to make the impossible decision to remove her from life support. And I can't imagine what a toll that would take on someone. I really can't even picture what it would be like to...

have to think through that and experience that. And it really seemed to take a toll on her. And according to her stepmom and her father, it definitely did. In 2022, Gretchen was in a really difficult period of her life. And she knew the best way to help her get through it was by moving back home to Parkersburg.

So in May of that year, she did just that. She went home. But rather than moving back in with her dad and Jennifer, Gretchen actually decided the best place for her to stay was at her grandmother's house, who lived only one city over in Vienna, West Virginia, which to be clear...

is less than a 15-minute drive. And the reason that she chose to stay at her grandmother's was because there were a lot of younger children living at home with her stepmom and dad. And obviously she loved her siblings and loved her dad and stepmom, but she felt like her grandmother's house would be a more peaceful, quieter place for her to really heal. And Gretchen actually did have a sort of tentative plan

of what she wanted to do when she was in a better mental place. She was hoping to become a flight attendant, which based on what I know about her feels like it would have been a great career choice. So Gretchen was back in Parkersburg from May to early December and things seemed to be generally going okay. I mean, this was a really hard time for her, but she seemed to be getting back on her feet. She ended up getting a job working in retail and had also rekindled some of her old high school friendships. So for the most part, she'd

gotten into a pretty good routine. Now, there are two important details to note in this case. One, Gretchen did not have her driver's license.

She was 27 at the time and just never really saw a need for it. I mean, some people just don't want to drive. And second of all, her grandmother Louise had a rule at her house that if Gretchen was not home by 10 p.m., that she couldn't come into the house. The door would be locked. That was kind of her curfew. And obviously she's 27, so it's a pretty early curfew. But it was something that Gretchen understood. I mean, her grandmother was older and didn't want her coming in at all hours of the night. And

And Gretchen had plenty of friends' couches or beds that she could sleep at if she was going to be having a later night out. And I've definitely seen people online talking about this and being pretty harsh on her grandmother for it.

I personally think it's a fairly reasonable rule. I mean, it is her home. She understood the agreement. She was grateful to be staying there and just understood the rules if she was going to be staying there. And actually, there's a third thing that's important to note as well, and that's that it wasn't unusual for Gretchen to be gone forever.

for multiple days at a time. Like I said, Gretchen was a very free-spirited person, so there were times where she would crash at a friend's house for a few days before finally returning home to her grandmother's. She did always keep her cell phone on her, but it's not like she constantly kept up with her family every single day. Which, of course, like I said, she's 27 years old, so...

I don't think it's bizarre or unusual that she wasn't in constant contact with her family. Her dad says that the two of them always had an open line of communication, but it wasn't like they were texting back and forth every single day. And if Gretchen ever didn't respond...

she would normally respond the next day or whenever she got around to it. And like I said, during this time, May to early December, about six months, this was perfectly fine. Gretchen was working, spending time with friends and family, and really working on herself and trying to heal from everything that she had been through. But that all changed on December 3rd of 2022 when Gretchen left her grandmother's house and

A little more than a week later, on December 11th, David and Jennifer were at home when they heard a knock on their door. And it was David's mom, Louise, Gretchen's grandmother, and this wasn't just a normal visit. Louise had come over because in the last few days she had grown cancerous.

concerned about Gretchen, who had never come home from work on December 3rd after she dropped her off. Now, like I just said, it was not uncommon for Gretchen to not come home. She had actually told her grandma that she wasn't planning on coming home that night at all, which is why it took Louise a few days to really become concerned. But when five days turned to six and then six days turned to seven without hearing from her, Louise knew that this was beyond the norm and she wanted to ask David if...

He had heard from her. And I'm sure we all know where this is going at this point, but neither David or Jennifer had heard from Gretchen in days. So they tried texting and calling her again and again, but they were equally as unsuccessful. Her texts went unanswered and her calls went straight to voicemail, which led them to believe that her phone had likely died. And there was just, you know, something in their guts that told them...

something was not right. So David and Jennifer at that point decide to get in their car and start driving around downtown Parkersburg to see if they could find her or at least find someone who knew where she was. And because they knew the names of a few of her favorite bars, they decided to go to those first

which included one bar called Front Row Bar and Grill. And they did get some answers there, but definitely not the answers they were hoping for. When David pulled up a picture of his daughter and showed the bartender and asked if she had seen her, she said yes. Gretchen had come in the weekend prior. But then the following morning, a guy came in and dropped off her purse.

which instantly made David and Jennifer feel sick to their stomachs. And that feeling, of course, only got worse when they opened her purse and saw all of her belongings. Her phone, her

her wallet, her ID, everything was still in there. And all that this bartender could really confirm as far as information was that they were at the bar and that she was with the guy who had dropped off her purse the night before. All that the bartender could provide in terms of information was that

The guy who dropped off her purse the following morning was the same guy that she had left with the night before. And of course, this really confirmed all of Jennifer and David's worst fears. Her purse had been there for an entire week.

And if Gretchen was able to go back and get it, they believe that she would have. And that's not to say that they had lost all hope at this point, but this was definitely a wake-up call that something was truly wrong. So from there, the two of them continue to drive around downtown Parkersburg. And at some point, they come across some of her friends. And unfortunately, nobody had seen or heard from her.

but they mentioned that on the night of December 3rd, they remembered that she left Front Row Bar and Grill with a guy and that he was driving the two of them to another bar called My Way Lounge. So of course, David and Jennifer then go to My Way to check it out for themselves. And as luck would have it, someone happened to be there who remembered seeing Gretchen there on the night of December 3rd. Now, My Way is a popular spot because they host karaoke nights. And on December 3rd,

It just so happened to be one of those nights. And so on December 11th, when her dad and stepmom were there, the DJ who hosted the karaoke remembered seeing Gretchen. And not just that, but the DJ also was able to provide the name of the guy that she was with that night, a guy named John. Now, neither David or Jennifer had ever heard John.

of a friend of hers named John. So at that point, they decided to go home and plug in Gretchen's phone and see if they could get any information that way. And while they were super lucky that her phone wasn't passcode protected, they also weren't able to figure out any more information about where Gretchen could be. All they could confirm by doing this was that December 3rd was the last night she made contact with anyone. And

And after that, it was radio silence. And so the following morning, David and Jennifer woke up early and went to the police station to report Gretchen missing. And I can already see the comments now. I know people are going to be super judgmental that her family didn't act sooner. And of course, I'm sure that they regret not acting sooner. But pointing that out does not help the situation at all. And

Keep in mind, she was 27. It was common for her to go days without communicating with her family. And even if that's not common for you and your family, we're talking about Gretchen and her family here. And, you know, people are going to leave these comments no matter what. There's nothing I can do to prevent it other than trying to delete and block the ones that are hurtful to the family, because a lot of families end up watching the content that

that I put out. And it breaks my heart when they see people judging them and being mean because, yeah, it's so unhelpful. It does nothing to help the case at this point. But at the end of the day, I know that the majority of you are

much louder in a positive way. So I hope that those comments are just overshadowed. Also, it's important to note that her father had just started a new job right around this time and didn't even realize that Gretchen hadn't texted him back. And it was so normal for her not to text him back that he just didn't think anything of it. But from the day he figured out that she was missing, he has done everything in his power to explain

try and bring her home. But yeah, I just like to remind people that when we're talking about these cases, we're talking about real families with real pain, and they can very well read what you say. So just think before you type. You know, it's not that hard. ♪

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Anyways, though, let's get into the investigation, which kicked off right away. Like I said, Gretchen was reported missing on December 12th to the Parkersburg Police Department, and the chief of police knew that this would require all hands on deck. While Gretchen was, of course, an adult with the ability to leave if she wanted, in this case, the chief actually recognized what David recognized.

which was that she would never have left without her phone, wallet, and ID. That detail alone was enough to suggest that foul play could have occurred, so he didn't hesitate to start investigating her disappearance with the full force of his department. That day, a detective named Detective Zimmerman, who I'm going to be talking about a lot, called around to local hospitals and jails just to make sure that she wasn't there, but ultimately, there was no sign of her. So at that point, they turned to the community.

They end up posting a photo of Gretchen to their social media and asked if anyone knew any information about Gretchen, where she could possibly be, or if you had seen her that night to please come forward. And within just 24 hours, there was a thousand shares on this post, which I think for a small city really speaks volumes. People who knew Gretchen and people who didn't know Gretchen were deeply impacted by her disappearance. And as you're going to hear me explain,

They really banded together to show their support for this family. Now, there actually was one person in particular who was hit very hard by seeing this post on social media, and that was John. Yes, the same John I mentioned earlier, who as of right now in the case,

was the last person known to be with Gretchen. As soon as he saw the police department's post, he reached out to law enforcement right away and he was 100% transparent with them. He explained that he had been with Gretchen on the night of December 3rd and confirmed that they were at Front Row Bar and Grill and that he drove her to My Way Lounge. And I'm sure you're wondering about the purse and he also had an explanation for that. According to John, Gretchen left her purse in his car when they got to My Way Lounge.

And then once they got into My Way Lounge, they actually went separate ways. According to him, he sat on one side of the bar, she sat on the other. And then when the night came to an end, he went to look for her because he had promised her a ride home. And her purse was still in his car, but he couldn't find her. So at that point, he says that he started driving around downtown Parkersburg looking for her.

And he wasn't able to find her, so at that point, he ends up going back to My Way Lounge to see if maybe she went back looking for him. But she still wasn't there, so he just figured that she had gotten a ride home with someone else. But the problem was, he still had her phone and her purse in his car. So he ends up explaining to detectives that the following morning, he dropped it off at Front Row Bar and Grill because he knew that she was there a lot...

and that maybe she would go there looking for it. Now, if you're wondering why he didn't just take the purse to her house, I don't believe he actually knew where she lived. And the address on her ID hadn't been updated since she had just moved back. So it seems like he just felt like the best chance of getting it to her was bringing it to a bar that...

he knew she often went to. And before I go any further, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking, and you're not probably thinking good things about John, just given the fact that he was the last known person to see her, as we know in this case. However, I just want to scream from the rooftops here that Gretchen's family feels absolutely

very strongly, has been very vocal that they do not believe that he had any involvement. In fact, David said that John seemed just as horrified and scared as he was. And he's Gretchen's father. John truly felt terrible.

that he wasn't able to find her that night, that they had even gone separate ways to begin with. And if you're still not buying it, I'll explain more about why David has such confidence in John. On December 13th, the MyWay Lounge actually reached out to David on Facebook, telling him that they had surveillance footage from that night if he wanted to come in and look at it. And of course he wanted to review the footage. So he and Jennifer got there around lunchtime that day and started reviewing the footage. And when they did, they realized that everything John had told them was true.

The two of them had shown up together and then they sat on opposite sides of the bar. But here's what was interesting. When Gretchen left that night, she did leave without him, but she wasn't alone. At some point in the night, Gretchen can be seen on the footage sitting up at the bar,

when a man approaches her, and this man appeared to be from the gambling room, and they began talking, and eventually he buys her a drink. Shortly after this, they go back to the gambling room together. David says that based on the footage, he believes that his daughter and this man were in that room for anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, and after they came back into the view of the camera...

they left. The man is seen walking out first, and Gretchen is directly behind him. Unfortunately, I can't play you this footage because it is part of an active investigation, and

They don't want to release it and possibly compromise the case, which I completely understand. But both her family and law enforcement confirmed that this is exactly what went down. And what they also noticed was that this was a case of terrible timing. At the same time that Gretchen and this man had emerged from the gambling room and were leaving the bar, John just happened to step into the bathroom. And that's why he...

didn't see Gretchen leave. And this is why he was so confused when he was walking around at the end of the night and couldn't find her and even went the extra step to go out and look for her downtown. And of course, all of this footage was released to detectives the same day, which brings up the question, who is this mystery man? Because now we know the last person seen with her was not John. It was this guy in the footage. And luckily, we actually do know who this guy is because he's

A bartender from my way was thankfully able to identify him as Preston Pierce. But this wasn't anyone that the Flemings knew, and it wasn't anyone that any of her friends seemed to know either. And thankfully, detectives were able to speak with Preston right away. And I mean right away. They talked to him on the 13th, which keep in mind was only a day after she was reported missing. So when I say they were working fast, I mean they were working fast. And this

This guy, Preston, did not give off innocent vibes. When he was questioned, Preston shared that he did meet with Gretchen that night and that he did leave with her. But according to his story, he dropped her off in downtown Parkersburg and that was it. Now, because this is an active investigation, the Parkersburg Police Department has not been able to disclose the location he said he dropped her off. But they've definitely done their due diligence searching that area.

They have combed through as much security footage as they could get their hands on, and by the 14th, they believed they had enough footage to reconstruct his movements. And ultimately, none of this footage ever showed Preston dropping Gretchen...

off anywhere. It shows him leaving the bar and then going directly home. However, I do have to note that it's not impossible that he did drop her off somewhere because they weren't able to put together enough security footage to have eyes on him the entire time. So yeah, it's possible he dropped her off, but I'll let you guys decide what you think about that. And before you decide, I guess I should tell you what we do know about Preston Pierce. ♪

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Almost as soon as David and Jennifer heard the name Preston Pierce, they of course wanted to do their own research into who this man was. And what they saw was heartbreaking, not just for them and for Gretchen, but for all the other women who he has harassed and stalked. Now, Preston's sketchy past goes back pretty far, starting with the fact that his name is not Preston Pierce.

It's actually Daryl Lott. Now, the exact time frame for when he changed his name is unclear, but it has been said that he changed it after he was fired from multiple police stations after inappropriate behavior towards women. And that's right.

This dude was a cop. And while we don't have specifics on what exactly happened back then, there have been numerous women who have come forward accusing him of doing some very inappropriate things. It turns out that since working in law enforcement and changing his name, Preston got a job as a food delivery person. And this is very scary, but he would use this job as an opportunity to meet and eventually stalk women.

because he would end up getting their addresses and their phone numbers. And as soon as he would drop off their orders, he would text them. Here's an example of one of these situations. This is from a woman who had firsthand experience with him. Before COVID hit in 2020, he was my door dash driver one night when I ordered food to

to the little gambling place that I worked at. He came back hours later to tell me I was beautiful and sat at my bar. I was so creeped out that a DoorDash driver would do that that I texted my boss to see if she would come down and sit with me so I wasn't alone with him. We had to tell him to leave because he sat way past closing time. He found me on Facebook that same freaking night. And

Another woman has come forward as well to say that she met Preston at a bar.

and woke up the next morning in his bed with no recollection of what happened or even how she got there. And these are just two stories of many. And the more stories like this that Jennifer and David came across, the more and more confident they feel that he could be the person responsible for Gretchen's disappearance. Based on these anecdotes...

Preston does not seem to do well with rejection and doesn't seem to believe that the law applies to him. So again, you guys can come to your own conclusions on what you think about him and his potential involvement after hearing all of that, but

Yeah, her family is very steadfast in what they believe. But anyways, though, let's get back to the timeline because things were still moving quickly. On December 15th, only three days after she was reported missing, detectives had secured not one, but three search warrants related to Preston Pierce. One for his home, one for his car, and one for a storage unit that he rented. And if anything was found during those searches, we as the public haven't been made aware of it.

But I do want to be clear that that doesn't mean that nothing was found. In fact, we know something was found because there was some sort of evidence that was sent to the state forensic lab and they did testing. However, we don't know what the test results showed. Again, this is an active investigation. So law enforcement is keeping a lot of information behind closed doors to protect the sanctity of this investigation.

which I totally understand, and I'm sure they have a lot more than what we know. And in fact, Preston's name was not even released by investigators. His name actually got leaked in an article after the search warrants were executed, and that's how people found out that it was him. And I also want to point out that the Flemings are completely fine with this information being kept behind closed doors.

They have repeatedly shown their support publicly for how the investigation is being handled and for law enforcement, which, like I said in the beginning of this episode, is really a breath of fresh air to hear. They wholeheartedly believe that investigators are doing everything to get this case solved.

And I believe the same. Detective Zimmerman once said this, he can hide, he can run, but eventually we're going to get him. Personally, I really believe that he means those words and so does her family.

And the investigative efforts don't stop there. So that brings us to January of 2023. And at that point, it was announced that police were searching for a person of interest vehicle. And as we know now, that was the vehicle of Preston Pierce, which is a black Nissan Rogue. And around this time, investigators also shared that the person of interest was no longer communicating with them. So if you're not feeling totally sketched out by him at this point...

Maybe that will push you a little further over the edge. But just a few days later, this family went through something so, so terrible when a false piece of information was released by the media. And this is something that happens far too often. It always pisses me off so much.

I really don't understand how people don't have any integrity. They just want to be the first to jump on a story. On January 6, 2023, it was reported that a body was found in the Ohio River and that the remains were possibly that of Gretchen Fleming. This report had no real confirmation that it was her, yet they reported it anyways, which, as you can imagine, was awful.

totally shocking to her family in more ways than one. I mean, it made sense that it could be her body in relation to where she went missing from, but they just didn't understand why they were finding this out through the media and not through detectives. And what makes this even more sad is that it was actually Emma, Gretchen's younger sister, that came across this report. And she ran upstairs to show Jennifer and David

And as soon as they saw it, they were totally shocked, scared and confused, as you would be. And so immediately, David calls up Detective Zimmerman. And he was also very confused. He had been working closely with other police departments to try and find Gretchen. And he also didn't get why nobody had told him about this discovery. But like I said earlier, this was misinformation. It was false.

and the body did not belong to Gretchen. Which is just so maddening. It truly pisses me off and I really do see this all the time. I mean, it's just, you must have zero integrity as a journalist to put something like this out there. I know there's benefit to being the first to report on a detail in a story like this, especially something like this. But,

But this is not the type of information that you can get wrong. You need to be 100% certain before you report something like that. Not only does it make you look horrible as a journalist, but also...

How hurtful to this family. Do you truly have no morals? I mean, there are real consequences to these actions, especially for the family. I mean, to be on this roller coaster when they're just trying to figure out what happened, to get some answers, thinking that maybe they're going to get these answers and also being afraid of...

getting those answers as well. I mean, it's just such a horrible thing to toy with emotions this way, especially for a family who is missing a loved one, who's going through constantly the possibilities of what could have happened, just the fear that would lie within you, thinking of everything that your loved one could have gone through, where they could possibly be, if they're still alive, if they're unsafe, if they're gone, you know, it's just...

It's so evil and it really, really makes me angry. I can only imagine how difficult this time must have been for them and how angry they must have felt. But this didn't stop them. They still held on to hope and continued to fight for Gretchen. So one month later in February, the community came together with law enforcement to search the area of Mountainwood Park. More than 500 people gathered.

And they covered a ton of ground, but unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though anything related to Gretchen's disappearance was found that day. And then another big search was done in a well in the Ravenswood area after Detective Zimmerman got a tip that her remains could have been left there. They first tried to snake a camera down inside to see if they could see anything, and when they couldn't, they called in outside help.

to have it drained. But despite their efforts over the course of a week, nothing ended up being found in the well. Additional wooded areas and riverbanks were also searched, but yeah, unfortunately, nothing was found. And one thing that I found to be really interesting is that this community actually decided to hold off on organizing any of their own searches because they were concerned that maybe they would come across something and potentially accidentally

accidentally tamper with evidence, which I thought was really smart. And they have truly let law enforcement lead the way when it comes to Gretchen's disappearance, which oftentimes communities really do have to take the lead because law enforcement is not being helpful or just straight up not doing anything. And so they have to take that risk and do the searches alone. But the Parkersburg community has really, yeah,

only joined in when they were asked. And believe me, the police have absolutely asked for their help and they've shown up every single time to lend a hand. And really, the community support for Gretchen has seemed to be a huge...

driving force in their family being able to maintain strength. From the moment she went missing, everyone from loved ones to complete strangers physically showed up in support of the Fleming family, where countless people stopped by to say their prayers. I mean, people who didn't even know her. And then four days later, a candlelight vigil was held where everyone came together again to pray, and it was a night filled with, of

course lots of sadness but also a lot of love and an old friend of Gretchen's a guy named Jake has actually been the one to organize these and he has said that even though he and her didn't stay close after high school he knew that he wanted to help as soon as he found out that she was missing and he wasn't the only one who wanted to help

Gretchen's old high school principal, Kenny DeMoss, came up with an idea for her sister to design a t-shirt with everything on it that Gretchen loved. And he suggested that they sell it in order to raise money for the reward. And I love when families do things like this. It's such a great way to get everyone involved and further spread awareness. And so on May 25th, a press conference was held to keep hope alive and also reassure the public about law enforcement's efforts. But during this press conference, they also unveiled the new t-shirt design.

My name is Kenny DeMoss, the principal of Parkersburg High School. Our reason for gathering today, Gretchen Fleming was a 2013 graduate of Parkersburg High School. And for the last six months, we've not really known what's happened to her, roughly six months. So we want to provide an opportunity today for the family to speak. Mute. To speak.

for any reason possible, any way possible that we can find out more information about Gretchen. Good evening. I'm Louise Fleming, one of Gretchen's grandmothers. I want to thank all of you for coming out today. And I want to thank you for all the prayers, all the thoughts, everything you've done to try to make this easier on us.

I also want to say at this time that we could not be prouder than we are of the Parkersburg Police Department. Our chief and detective Zimmerman couldn't do any more than they're doing. And I know some people get flustered. They get on Facebook and they start this, why? Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? You've only got 24 hours in a day and they're working around the clock, believe me. So please, if you can't do anything else for us,

Please keep your negative thoughts about our police department and what the family's doing to try to find Gretchen to yourself. Everyone's invited, you know, entitled to their opinion, but there's some circumstances that you should not be blasting people. And you have no clue what these places are going through and what they're doing. On the shirt that Emma designed, which I think is so beautiful, she incorporated books for Gretchen's love of reading, Doc Martens because they were Gretchen's favorite shoes,

music because gretchen loved music and flowers for gretchen's love of nature and beauty and emma was unable to attend the press conference but grandma louise was able to read a letter that she had written and i want you guys to take a listen about two weeks ago kenny demas our principal phs approached me with a wonderful idea to design a t-shirt that represented gretchen to help bring gretchen home

The idea behind the shirt was to capture Gretchen as she truly is to those of us who know her so well. So my sister, Gretchen E. Fleming, has a fabulous voice. And you can see a microphone and little pieces of music because she wrote songs and she sang songs and she loved to sing.

My sister wants to see the world and all its wonders. If you ever saw my sister around, you would always see her with a book in hand, and she would be without a doubt wearing her Doc Martens. The only thing I felt to capture within this shirt was a cup of coffee. So my idea was to take these things and put them all together. Books with Doc Martens standing on top with a representation of life coming out of them, which are the flowers in the top.

Because that's what Gretchen brought when she entered a room. She brought life. She brought passion. She brought joy. And she always knew how to make you smile. Too many right now, Gretchen is just a face or a picture that you see on the internet or on a poster. But in many, to many others, she's a friend. She's a daughter. She's a granddaughter. She's a niece. She's a cousin. To me, she's my sister, my best friend, my inspiration.

So when you think about Gretchen, I ask that you think about her in this way, as a real human, with friends and family and unfinished goals and aspirations. She is so many things that cannot be captured in a simple t-shirt design. But if you feel so inclined, I ask that you purchase this shirt to show your support.

And I beg, if you know something that could be the least bit helpful, even the smallest thing, please, please call Detective Zimmerman at 304-424-1072. Thank you, Emma Fleming. And I'm sure you guys are wondering if you can buy this shirt. I'm not sure if they are still selling it. I couldn't find anywhere to buy it online.

but there are ways that you can still financially support this family which i will get to here in a bit and of course david also spoke that day and it was an incredibly emotional speech it's it's tough to listen to but very important especially when he's speaking about the fact that the community had come together to help raise the reward to a whopping 100 000 which for a small community is just amazing hello my name is david fleming gretchen is my daughter

As many as you know, Gretchen has been missing for six months now and we will not stop looking and searching for her until she is unfound. And a lot of you are helping with that and I appreciate that. I'd like to thank Mr. DeMoss for arranging this platform for keeping her name out there. She was a graduate of PHS. She's a gentle, kind soul and who had never hurt anyone. I really want to thank the community for coming together for our family. The passion, donations,

just being there for us. Thank you. This community has been amazing. I really want to thank Parkersburg Police Department, Chief Board, Detective Zimmerman, who all have been working around the clock with this investigation. This is an active investigation, and they won't quit until the answers are found to what happened to Gretchen. In conclusion, I'd like to announce, due to the overwhelming kindness of local business owners here in this community,

They would like to donate another $35,000 towards the reward. That's going to be raising the award to $100,000. For anybody that has any information, knows something, a snippet, heard something, please come forward. We want answers. We will never stop. Gretchen, I love you. We will find you, I promise.

We will seek justice against anybody involved in her disappearance to the fullest extent of the law. And in the months that have passed since then, the Fleming family has continued to show their support for the Parkersburg Police Department and their investigation, who have promised that they will not rest until they get justice for Gretchen or get answers for this family. And in June of 2023, they announced that their investigation had not slown down in the slightest. And I thought this next detail was interesting.

really, really special and not something I hear very often. But on the one-year anniversary of her disappearance, police chief Matt Board shared that he keeps a candle in his office from Gretchen's vigil as a tangible symbol of this case, which he said isn't even close to cold. He also said, "...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 Zimmerman comes in every day."

And that's still his priority. Also, multiple agencies are now examining evidence. And as of today, Preston Pierce still remains a person of interest. And I really, really wish I had more updates for you guys since then. But it has been quite a while since there have been any updates made publicly. However, I do...

strongly feel that the momentum in this case is still going. And I think we're going to possibly see justice and at least get answers one day. David has described all of this as a living nightmare. And really, how else can you describe going through something like this? And their family are just trying to take things day by day and keep the hope alive. He says that the holidays are particularly difficult, of course, because, correct

Gretchen's birthday was Christmas Eve and I hope that they don't have to go another holiday without answers. Gretchen seemed like such a lovely person. I loved hearing about her free-spirited energy. I really loved what her dad said about her working to live, not living to work. I think that is actually a really good quality to have and many of us could learn from that. It seems like Gretchen brought nothing into this world but good energy and a beautiful smile and it's

I just really, really hope that

It's not much longer until this poor family can get answers and get justice. So today in her honor, I of course want to make a donation to her family's GoFundMe. It was set up by them. I will have it linked below if any of you are wanting to make a donation as well, big or small. And I totally understand if you're not able to. I know times are tough out there for a lot of people. But if you are able to make a donation to this family, I'm sure they would very much appreciate it, no

no matter the size of course if you're not able to make a donation there are other ways to help and that's as simple as sharing gretchen's story especially if you live in this area and want to just get the word out word of mouth although it does seem like the community is very very aware but if you're not in the area and you want to share this video or really any post maybe her missing persons flyer or someone else's coverage

on Gretchen's story, just get the word out there, spread the awareness. That's one of the biggest ways that you can make a difference. I really have hope that this case is going to be solved. And I am very much looking forward to the day that justice is served for Gretchen. I really, really, really wish I had more information to share on this case. But I just want to send my best to the Fleming family and, you know,

You guys are amazing to stay as strong as you have. And this community behind this family, you guys are amazing. Huge shout out to the Parkersburg Police Department. Yeah, it was really refreshing to hear how helpful they have been and so determined to get this family justice. ♪

That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then stay safe out there.

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