10/12/2025
🚨 Missing: Gretchen Fleming, Vanished 2 Years Ago from Parkersburg, West Virginia.
On the night of December 3, 2022, Gretchen Fleming, 27, went out with a friend, first to one bar and then to the My Way Lounge for karaoke. Inside the lounge, surveillance footage captured her final known hours.
She was approached by 55-year-old Preston Pierce, who bought her a drink. The two then spent nearly 45 minutes together in a secluded gambling room before leaving out the front door around 3:10 a.m. on December 4.
She followed him out of the bar, never to be seen again.
Bar staff quickly identified Preston Pierce, who claimed he dropped her off somewhere in downtown Parkersburg before going home alone. But investigators meticulously tracked Pierce’s distinctive SUV, determining that at no point did the vehicle stop downtown, nor was Gretchen ever seen leaving the car.
Confronted with this glaring inconsistency, Pierce stopped cooperating and retained a lawyer.
As investigators dug deeper, a disturbing portrait of Preston Pierce, whose original name was Darrell Lott, began to emerge.
He was a former law enforcement officer, having worked for about 12 years across several West Virginia departments.
Since his identification, numerous disturbing allegations have surfaced from the community, painting him as a potential sexual predator who allegedly used his positions in law enforcement and as a delivery driver to stalk and harass women.
The search for Gretchen was handicapped from the start. She wasn’t reported missing until December 12, eight full days after she was last seen. Her family explained that Gretchen was a "free spirit" who would sometimes couch surf for days at a time.
But that eight-day gap meant the critical first 48 hours, when evidence is freshest and witness memories are sharpest, was lost forever.
Since then, the Parkersburg Police and the FBI have executed multiple search warrants on Pierce's former home, his vehicle, and his electronics. While authorities confirmed that "things have been collected" and sent for forensic analysis, the results have never been publicly released.
As recently as November 2024, the FBI assisted in another search of Pierce’s former home, signaling a methodical and ongoing effort to find a breakthrough.
The community has rallied behind Gretchen's family, holding vigils and organizing massive searches. A reward for information leading to her location and a conviction in the case has grown to $100,000.
Gretchen Fleming remains missing. Her family remains without answers. And a person of interest remains silent. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Parkersburg Police Department or their local FBI office.
