1 00:00:01,068 --> 00:00:02,033 [narrator] Gretchen Fleming 2 00:00:02,137 --> 00:00:06,413 disappeared on December 3rd, 2022. 3 00:00:06,517 --> 00:00:09,206 My mother-in-law came into the house and she said, 4 00:00:09,310 --> 00:00:12,448 "I haven't seen Gretchen. Something's wrong." 5 00:00:12,551 --> 00:00:15,379 [man] We're gonna go drive around to every bar in town, 6 00:00:15,482 --> 00:00:16,862 till we can figure out what's going on. 7 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,896 She wouldn't just takeoff and disappear. 8 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,758 This is not normal, what happened to her. 9 00:00:23,862 --> 00:00:26,620 [narrator] Her family is...[reading] 10 00:00:26,724 --> 00:00:29,275 [woman] My husband's like, "I found her purse." 11 00:00:29,379 --> 00:00:31,068 Like "What do you mean, you found her purse?" 12 00:00:31,172 --> 00:00:33,620 And he's like, "It was returned to the bar 13 00:00:33,724 --> 00:00:34,965 "a week ago." 14 00:00:35,068 --> 00:00:38,137 I'm like, "Oh, this is not good." 15 00:00:38,241 --> 00:00:40,551 [man] When I opened up the purse, I saw her phone, 16 00:00:40,655 --> 00:00:43,241 her ID, and her credit card. 17 00:00:43,344 --> 00:00:44,931 Now, I'm scared. 18 00:00:45,034 --> 00:00:48,206 [narrator reading] ...we trace Gretchen's... [reading] 19 00:00:50,206 --> 00:00:52,551 We did run into some of Gretchen's friends 20 00:00:52,655 --> 00:00:55,482 that mentioned that she left with a guy. 21 00:00:55,586 --> 00:00:57,758 This just wasn't a missing persons case. 22 00:00:57,862 --> 00:00:59,827 Something bad happened. 23 00:00:59,931 --> 00:01:02,724 We all briefed and decided it would be all hands on deck. 24 00:01:02,827 --> 00:01:03,689 At this point in the investigation, 25 00:01:03,793 --> 00:01:06,172 in my mind, foul play has happened. 26 00:01:06,275 --> 00:01:08,034 I think he thinks he's above the law. 27 00:01:08,137 --> 00:01:10,000 I think he thinks that he's untouchable. 28 00:01:10,103 --> 00:01:13,896 And I'm really scared for whose little girl's next. 29 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,517 [narrator] The more people who know Gretchen's story, 30 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:19,206 the greater the chance of bringing her home. 31 00:01:19,793 --> 00:01:21,413 [reading] 32 00:01:23,379 --> 00:01:24,862 Help find her. 33 00:01:25,379 --> 00:01:27,620 [reading] 34 00:01:41,965 --> 00:01:45,206 My name is David Fleming. Gretchen Fleming is my daughter, 35 00:01:45,310 --> 00:01:48,068 Last time I saw her was in Parkersburg, West Virginia, 36 00:01:48,172 --> 00:01:50,068 December 3rd, 20222. 37 00:01:50,793 --> 00:01:52,517 And she is still missing. 38 00:01:56,620 --> 00:01:58,068 Parkersburg's a small town 39 00:01:58,172 --> 00:02:00,448 and everybody knows everybody. 40 00:02:00,551 --> 00:02:02,620 And it's a great place to grow up. 41 00:02:02,724 --> 00:02:05,310 It's a very tight-knit community. 42 00:02:05,413 --> 00:02:07,896 Neighbors looked after neighbors. 43 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,793 Pretty much all growing up with Gretchen, 44 00:02:09,896 --> 00:02:11,241 I never locked the side door. 45 00:02:11,344 --> 00:02:12,655 The side door was always unlocked. 46 00:02:12,758 --> 00:02:14,000 I mean, I never felt 47 00:02:14,689 --> 00:02:15,517 unsafe. 48 00:02:16,793 --> 00:02:18,379 Me and Gretchen were always close. 49 00:02:19,586 --> 00:02:20,758 We rode bikes a lot. 50 00:02:20,862 --> 00:02:22,448 We had a tandem bicycle 51 00:02:22,551 --> 00:02:23,620 and she would hang on the back 52 00:02:23,724 --> 00:02:25,000 while I pedaled and steered. 53 00:02:26,275 --> 00:02:28,793 And he was involved in sports. 54 00:02:30,517 --> 00:02:33,344 And he was real involved in church. 55 00:02:33,448 --> 00:02:35,379 And just, lots of activities 56 00:02:35,482 --> 00:02:36,965 with friends and... 57 00:02:37,965 --> 00:02:39,172 being a child. 58 00:02:39,275 --> 00:02:41,482 Gretchen's mom and I ended up splitting up 59 00:02:41,586 --> 00:02:42,930 when Gretchen was a child. 60 00:02:43,034 --> 00:02:45,137 They didn't have a super-close relationship 61 00:02:45,241 --> 00:02:47,517 but they still talked occasionally. 62 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:50,655 I was raising Gretchen and her sister on our own, 63 00:02:50,758 --> 00:02:53,034 and then I met my wife, Jennifer. 64 00:02:56,896 --> 00:02:58,034 I'm Jennifer Fleming. 65 00:02:58,137 --> 00:03:00,379 And I am Gretchen Fleming's stepmom. 66 00:03:01,827 --> 00:03:04,413 The first time I met Gretchen 67 00:03:04,517 --> 00:03:07,172 was right after she turned 14. 68 00:03:07,275 --> 00:03:09,758 And I don't think she was real excited 69 00:03:09,862 --> 00:03:11,655 that her dad had a girlfriend. 70 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,413 And then I brought in twin babies that were three. 71 00:03:16,517 --> 00:03:18,103 And then it wasn't very long after that 72 00:03:18,206 --> 00:03:20,793 that I got pregnant with our child together. 73 00:03:22,586 --> 00:03:24,241 She was just a teenager. 74 00:03:24,344 --> 00:03:27,758 Um, but whenever she needed something, 75 00:03:28,310 --> 00:03:29,689 she always came to me. 76 00:03:32,137 --> 00:03:34,172 [David] In high school, Gretchen had her friends 77 00:03:34,275 --> 00:03:35,620 and they were into 78 00:03:35,724 --> 00:03:37,655 you know, doing their thrift shopping 79 00:03:37,758 --> 00:03:38,827 and putting their outfits together 80 00:03:38,930 --> 00:03:40,517 and doing their makeup, and... 81 00:03:40,620 --> 00:03:43,482 And she was real involved with clubs at school 82 00:03:43,586 --> 00:03:44,689 and different activities. 83 00:03:45,930 --> 00:03:47,551 She was an avid book reader. 84 00:03:47,655 --> 00:03:49,310 I mean, she was-- Every time you saw her, 85 00:03:49,413 --> 00:03:50,689 she had a book in her hand. 86 00:03:51,551 --> 00:03:52,724 And Doc Martens on her feet. 87 00:03:55,551 --> 00:03:57,896 She wasn't really sure what she wanted to do in life. 88 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,103 But she knew she wanted to get to a bigger city, 89 00:04:02,793 --> 00:04:05,413 Her goal was to move to North Carolina, 90 00:04:05,517 --> 00:04:06,724 Charlote-Raleigh area, 91 00:04:06,827 --> 00:04:08,034 and live down there, 92 00:04:08,137 --> 00:04:10,000 and start her own chapter in life. 93 00:04:11,896 --> 00:04:13,827 So, after graduating high school, 94 00:04:13,931 --> 00:04:16,000 she moved down to North Carolina 95 00:04:16,103 --> 00:04:17,517 like she had always dreamed of. 96 00:04:20,964 --> 00:04:23,482 [Jennifer] I don't know that she really 97 00:04:23,586 --> 00:04:25,793 knew exactly what she wanted to do, 98 00:04:25,896 --> 00:04:27,517 but she was trying to figure it out. 99 00:04:27,620 --> 00:04:30,310 And just being a young adult, 100 00:04:30,413 --> 00:04:31,827 enjoying life. 101 00:04:31,931 --> 00:04:34,758 She ended up making a lot of really good friends down there. 102 00:04:34,862 --> 00:04:37,482 And, um... Yeah, I didn't worry about her. 103 00:04:37,586 --> 00:04:38,655 She was resourceful. 104 00:04:39,724 --> 00:04:41,068 She was kinda just feeling it out 105 00:04:41,172 --> 00:04:42,344 and just working jobs 106 00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:43,655 just to pay rent, 107 00:04:43,758 --> 00:04:45,620 and be social, I guess, more than anything. 108 00:04:47,482 --> 00:04:50,482 She was young enough that she wasn't really career-oriented yet. 109 00:04:50,586 --> 00:04:53,862 And she was just enjoying being a young, vibrant person 110 00:04:53,965 --> 00:04:56,275 and-- and enjoying the lifestyle down there 111 00:04:56,379 --> 00:04:57,758 with other young people. 112 00:04:57,862 --> 00:05:00,275 Um, she had different jobs. 113 00:05:00,379 --> 00:05:03,034 If one job didn't work out, she would find another job. 114 00:05:04,724 --> 00:05:06,862 She was that kind of free spirit 115 00:05:06,965 --> 00:05:09,206 where she didn't worry about it. 116 00:05:09,310 --> 00:05:10,241 She was gonna figure it out. 117 00:05:12,517 --> 00:05:13,689 And I think that's pretty neat. 118 00:05:16,965 --> 00:05:20,620 [David] So, Gretchen was down in North Carolina 119 00:05:20,724 --> 00:05:22,827 and she met a boy 120 00:05:22,931 --> 00:05:24,551 and they hit it off really well. 121 00:05:24,655 --> 00:05:26,620 And he lived in Charleston 122 00:05:26,724 --> 00:05:29,586 so she moved back to Charleston with him. 123 00:05:29,689 --> 00:05:33,275 And she was working a job in Charleston, with him. 124 00:05:33,379 --> 00:05:38,172 And they dated probably for a year or so. 125 00:05:38,275 --> 00:05:41,000 And they'd actually talked about even getting married. 126 00:05:41,103 --> 00:05:43,827 And then, I don't really know why 127 00:05:43,931 --> 00:05:45,482 but they went their separate ways. 128 00:05:48,206 --> 00:05:51,965 That just kinda put her in a bad place. Understandably so. 129 00:05:52,068 --> 00:05:54,275 Then she came back to Parkersburg. 130 00:05:55,758 --> 00:05:57,344 [David] She was kind of in a lost place 131 00:05:57,448 --> 00:05:59,310 when she moved back to Parkersburg. 132 00:06:00,896 --> 00:06:03,344 And that was where she really needed a time out 133 00:06:03,448 --> 00:06:05,034 and was trying to figure things out. 134 00:06:06,379 --> 00:06:09,275 She decided to move in with my mom. 135 00:06:09,379 --> 00:06:11,482 'Cause we have, still, four kids in the house 136 00:06:11,586 --> 00:06:14,689 and I don't think she wanted to deal with the chaos of-- of our house, 137 00:06:15,724 --> 00:06:16,758 She didn't want any part of that. 138 00:06:16,862 --> 00:06:19,000 I wouldn't have either at 27 years old, you know. 139 00:06:19,103 --> 00:06:20,724 So, it made sense to go to Nana's. 140 00:06:21,724 --> 00:06:23,689 Gretchen didn't have a driver's license. 141 00:06:23,793 --> 00:06:26,931 Gretchen used to say, "Why drive? I can get an Uber. 142 00:06:27,034 --> 00:06:28,551 "Or I'll go with friends." 143 00:06:28,655 --> 00:06:31,931 It just never was something that she wanted to do. 144 00:06:32,034 --> 00:06:35,310 So, Nana and Papaw could run her around or wherever she needed to go. 145 00:06:35,413 --> 00:06:36,275 It just made sense. 146 00:06:39,413 --> 00:06:43,758 While she was struggling with a break up, 147 00:06:43,862 --> 00:06:48,448 she still went a found a job at a department store. 148 00:06:48,551 --> 00:06:51,206 [David] She had talked about and really wanted to be a flight attendant. 149 00:06:51,310 --> 00:06:54,482 And so, she was kind of preparing herself to do that. 150 00:07:00,344 --> 00:07:03,793 [Jennifer] Since she was living with Nana and Papaw, 151 00:07:03,896 --> 00:07:06,310 they're older and kind of set in their ways 152 00:07:06,413 --> 00:07:09,517 and they have rules and, you know, I think... 153 00:07:09,620 --> 00:07:13,241 It was-- 10:00 was the time that if she wasn't home by 154 00:07:13,344 --> 00:07:16,137 then the door was locked, and she knew that, 155 00:07:16,241 --> 00:07:17,620 so she would stay with friends. 156 00:07:17,724 --> 00:07:21,000 It wasn't uncommon for her to stay with friends for a weekend, 157 00:07:21,103 --> 00:07:22,137 three or four days. 158 00:07:22,241 --> 00:07:23,862 They'd take her back and forth to work. 159 00:07:23,965 --> 00:07:26,931 You know, she had a bag, like that, 160 00:07:27,034 --> 00:07:29,965 that she put her purse in and her clothes and her belongings 161 00:07:30,068 --> 00:07:32,206 and she would just go couch surf 162 00:07:32,310 --> 00:07:34,103 or hang out with friends or whatever for a few days. 163 00:07:34,206 --> 00:07:37,137 So, it wasn't uncommon for her to be 164 00:07:37,241 --> 00:07:40,517 with friends, and gone for a few days at a time. 165 00:07:43,586 --> 00:07:48,103 [David] So, the last time I saw Gretchen was Thanksgiving evening. 166 00:07:48,206 --> 00:07:50,413 We always have all of our family get together. 167 00:07:50,517 --> 00:07:57,103 Aunts, uncles, probably 50 people in too small of a house. 168 00:07:57,206 --> 00:08:01,068 I had just taken a new job as a middle school wrestling coach. 169 00:08:01,172 --> 00:08:03,000 I had just started that following week. 170 00:08:05,689 --> 00:08:08,586 And that weekend, I was actually out of town. 171 00:08:09,758 --> 00:08:13,241 So, the following week, I sent her a couple of texts 172 00:08:13,344 --> 00:08:15,827 and she didn't reply right away. 173 00:08:15,931 --> 00:08:17,413 But, like I said, I didn't think much about it. 174 00:08:17,517 --> 00:08:19,896 I was busy all week with the new job. 175 00:08:23,896 --> 00:08:28,034 [David] There was always an open line of communication between me and Gretchen. 176 00:08:29,103 --> 00:08:31,172 If she didn't respond to my texts one day, 177 00:08:31,275 --> 00:08:34,517 normally it'd be the next day 'cause her phone was dead. 178 00:08:34,620 --> 00:08:36,309 Or she had lost her phone. 179 00:08:36,413 --> 00:08:39,758 And then she would immediately respond back to me. 180 00:08:39,861 --> 00:08:42,655 Sometimes we'd talk a couple of times a week on the phone. 181 00:08:42,758 --> 00:08:46,206 Sometimes we'd go a week or week and a half without talking on the phone. 182 00:08:49,172 --> 00:08:52,241 [Jennifer] So, December 11th, David and I were at the house 183 00:08:52,344 --> 00:08:54,689 when there was a knock at the door. 184 00:08:55,482 --> 00:08:57,620 And it was my mother-in-law. 185 00:08:57,724 --> 00:09:00,551 And she came into the house and she said, 186 00:09:00,655 --> 00:09:03,000 "I'm worried. 187 00:09:03,103 --> 00:09:06,689 "I haven't talked to cc or seen Gretchen 188 00:09:06,793 --> 00:09:09,862 "since December 3rd." 189 00:09:09,965 --> 00:09:11,689 She said, "I dropped her off for work. 190 00:09:11,793 --> 00:09:14,000 "and she told me she wouldn't be coming home that night." 191 00:09:14,620 --> 00:09:15,827 It was Saturday night. 192 00:09:15,931 --> 00:09:17,965 She was gonna get off work and go hang out with friends. 193 00:09:18,068 --> 00:09:21,517 And so, she said, you know, "A few days went by. 194 00:09:21,620 --> 00:09:23,551 "I didn't worry about it or think about it much." 195 00:09:23,655 --> 00:09:26,034 Because that's just common, you know. 196 00:09:26,137 --> 00:09:28,000 She goes and hangs out with friends. 197 00:09:29,827 --> 00:09:32,241 She said when it got to Thursday, 198 00:09:32,344 --> 00:09:34,103 she started getting a little bit concerned. 199 00:09:34,206 --> 00:09:36,862 By Friday, she hadn't heard from her. 200 00:09:37,931 --> 00:09:39,517 Saturday, she was really worried. 201 00:09:40,965 --> 00:09:42,482 So, Sunday, she came to our house 202 00:09:42,586 --> 00:09:44,379 and she said, you know, 203 00:09:45,206 --> 00:09:46,034 "Something's wrong." 204 00:09:48,275 --> 00:09:50,275 David tried to call her, I tried to call her. 205 00:09:50,379 --> 00:09:51,758 It immediately went to voicemail. 206 00:09:51,862 --> 00:09:54,310 So, we knew that her phone was dead. 207 00:09:55,758 --> 00:09:58,379 We tried texting. Of course, nothing. 208 00:10:00,620 --> 00:10:03,103 [David] And I was like-- I can't see straight. 209 00:10:03,206 --> 00:10:04,965 I'm-- I'm-- I'm just a train wreck. 210 00:10:05,068 --> 00:10:06,517 And I told Jen, I said, 211 00:10:06,620 --> 00:10:07,551 "Get in the car with me." 212 00:10:07,655 --> 00:10:08,793 I said, "We're gonna go drive around 213 00:10:08,896 --> 00:10:10,413 "to every bar in town, 214 00:10:10,517 --> 00:10:12,896 "every establishment, hangout. 215 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,551 "And I'm gonna share pictures until we can figure out what's going on." 216 00:10:18,448 --> 00:10:21,206 Well, one of the places that Gretchen liked to go 217 00:10:21,310 --> 00:10:23,344 was called the Front Row. 218 00:10:23,448 --> 00:10:27,034 Well, it's a little bar, kind of restaurant establishment. 219 00:10:27,137 --> 00:10:29,206 Immediately, I go over to the Front Row, 220 00:10:29,310 --> 00:10:30,931 and I ask the bartender 221 00:10:31,034 --> 00:10:32,482 and I show her a picture of Gretchen 222 00:10:32,586 --> 00:10:34,551 and I said, "Have you seen her here, lately?" 223 00:10:34,655 --> 00:10:36,551 And she said, "Yes, she was here last weekend. 224 00:10:36,655 --> 00:10:38,034 She goes, "Matter of fact, 225 00:10:38,137 --> 00:10:40,068 "one of her friends dropped her purse off here." 226 00:10:40,965 --> 00:10:42,620 And I go, "Can I have her purse?" 227 00:10:42,724 --> 00:10:45,137 So she handed me her purse. 228 00:10:45,241 --> 00:10:47,931 [sobs] And when I opened up inside of her purse, 229 00:10:48,034 --> 00:10:49,586 I saw her phone, 230 00:10:49,689 --> 00:10:51,793 her ID and her credit card. 231 00:10:52,379 --> 00:10:53,793 Now I'm scared. 232 00:10:55,379 --> 00:10:58,241 [Jennifer] David, he's like, "I found her purse." 233 00:10:58,344 --> 00:11:00,034 Like, "What do you mean you found her purse?" 234 00:11:00,137 --> 00:11:01,000 And he's like... 235 00:11:02,379 --> 00:11:05,620 "It was returned at the Front Row a week ago." 236 00:11:05,724 --> 00:11:09,413 I'm like, "Oh, this is not good at all." 237 00:11:09,517 --> 00:11:13,586 [David] So when the bartender mentioned that she left with a guy... 238 00:11:13,689 --> 00:11:15,896 And I think because I found the purse, 239 00:11:16,793 --> 00:11:18,517 I'm scared. 240 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:19,689 I'm thinking in my head, 241 00:11:19,793 --> 00:11:21,689 this just wasn't a missing persons case. 242 00:11:21,793 --> 00:11:22,896 Something bad happened. 243 00:11:27,586 --> 00:11:29,655 We did run into some of Gretchen's friends 244 00:11:29,758 --> 00:11:31,655 that had hung out with her previously. 245 00:11:31,758 --> 00:11:35,620 And that's when they mentioned that she left with a guy, 246 00:11:35,724 --> 00:11:39,137 They were going down to My Way Lounge for karaoke night 247 00:11:39,241 --> 00:11:41,137 So, that kinda put us on the trail of-- 248 00:11:41,241 --> 00:11:45,103 of heading to the My Way and seeing what they knew down there. 249 00:11:45,206 --> 00:11:49,379 Well, the same DJ for karaoke night was there. 250 00:11:49,482 --> 00:11:52,310 And he was the one that kinda told us 251 00:11:52,413 --> 00:11:53,827 that she was there that night. 252 00:11:53,931 --> 00:11:56,862 She came with the guy that she came from the Front Row with. 253 00:11:57,896 --> 00:12:00,068 And his name was John. 254 00:12:00,862 --> 00:12:02,241 We need to find him. 255 00:12:13,413 --> 00:12:15,206 [Jennifer] So we ended up at the Front Row, 256 00:12:15,310 --> 00:12:17,103 which is where the purse was found. 257 00:12:17,206 --> 00:12:20,793 And we ran into some friends-acquaintances of hers 258 00:12:20,896 --> 00:12:22,896 that said, yes, they had seen her there. 259 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,586 She had left and went to the My Way Lounge. 260 00:12:26,689 --> 00:12:30,517 They actually said her friend, John, drove her to the My Way. 261 00:12:30,620 --> 00:12:32,413 and-- we didn't know him. 262 00:12:32,517 --> 00:12:34,448 Or where he lived. 263 00:12:37,275 --> 00:12:38,827 [David] Before Gretchen went missing, 264 00:12:38,931 --> 00:12:39,931 her mom passed. 265 00:12:40,034 --> 00:12:42,103 It was very suddenly, and... 266 00:12:42,206 --> 00:12:44,724 She was the only person that could give consent 267 00:12:44,827 --> 00:12:47,275 for them to take her off life support. 268 00:12:47,379 --> 00:12:51,000 Which is terrible for a young person to go through... 269 00:12:51,103 --> 00:12:54,172 to do that and watch her mother pass like that. 270 00:12:56,275 --> 00:12:59,310 [Jennifer] I think she was closed off because of that. 271 00:12:59,413 --> 00:13:04,034 She didn't have the best relationship with her own mom. 272 00:13:04,137 --> 00:13:06,551 I think it was a little overwhelming for her. 273 00:13:06,655 --> 00:13:09,517 [David] And after that it was her and her boyfriend breaking up. 274 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:13,137 She was kind of in a lost place when she moved back to Parkersburg. 275 00:13:13,241 --> 00:13:16,517 And that was where she really just needed a time out. 276 00:13:16,620 --> 00:13:19,965 [Jennifer] While a lot of bad things had happened, she hadn't lose hope. 277 00:13:20,068 --> 00:13:21,068 You know, she was struggling 278 00:13:21,172 --> 00:13:22,344 and trying to figure things out. 279 00:13:22,448 --> 00:13:25,000 But she was going out with friends and having fun. 280 00:13:27,482 --> 00:13:30,310 [David] She was working jobs and... 281 00:13:30,413 --> 00:13:34,000 you know, kind of going out to the bars here, in town, you know. 282 00:13:34,103 --> 00:13:35,689 A lot of young people gather there. 283 00:13:35,793 --> 00:13:38,517 So, you know, she didn't have a whole lot of friends still here. 284 00:13:38,620 --> 00:13:41,586 Because, you know, she's 28. A lot of her friends have moved off. 285 00:13:41,689 --> 00:13:46,000 She was meeting new friends and just hanging out wit their social circles. 286 00:13:48,206 --> 00:13:52,344 We started with the Front Row, trying to get some answers to what happened. 287 00:13:52,448 --> 00:13:53,931 And that's when we found her purse. 288 00:13:56,206 --> 00:14:02,724 [Jennifer] And we go home and in her purse is her phone, her tablet, 289 00:14:02,827 --> 00:14:06,620 her ID, her debit card, her credit card, 290 00:14:06,724 --> 00:14:09,275 her hairbrush, a bottle of water, you know-- 291 00:14:09,379 --> 00:14:12,172 All of her belongings are in her purse. 292 00:14:12,275 --> 00:14:14,137 So, she had an iPhone. 293 00:14:14,241 --> 00:14:16,827 So we took the Iphone and we plugged it in. 294 00:14:16,931 --> 00:14:18,344 There's no passcode on it. 295 00:14:18,448 --> 00:14:20,896 So, we get on the phone. 296 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,896 I start going through all of her messages, 297 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,379 all of her social media. 298 00:14:24,482 --> 00:14:26,793 And the last contact she had with anyone 299 00:14:26,896 --> 00:14:30,172 was on tat Saturday, December 3rd. 300 00:14:30,275 --> 00:14:32,724 David's in sheer panic mode at the point. 301 00:14:32,827 --> 00:14:36,068 We start going through her contacts. We start calling people. 302 00:14:36,172 --> 00:14:37,931 "When's the last time you saw her?" 303 00:14:38,034 --> 00:14:39,310 "Have you heard from her?" 304 00:14:39,413 --> 00:14:43,241 And nobody had heard from or seen her since that December 3rd. 305 00:14:43,344 --> 00:14:45,517 So, we plugged in her tablet as well. 306 00:14:45,620 --> 00:14:47,862 We went through that. There was nothing there. 307 00:14:49,931 --> 00:14:53,517 A girl doesn't leave her purse and not go look for it the next few days. 308 00:14:53,620 --> 00:14:55,379 That's just not normal. 309 00:14:55,482 --> 00:14:58,068 So, the next morning we went straight to the police station 310 00:14:58,172 --> 00:15:00,068 and filed a missing person's report. 311 00:15:01,448 --> 00:15:03,172 I'm James Zimmerman and I'm a detective 312 00:15:03,275 --> 00:15:04,965 with the Parkersburg Police Department. 313 00:15:05,068 --> 00:15:09,689 And I've been investigating Gretchen Fleming's case since December 12th, 2022. 314 00:15:09,793 --> 00:15:12,137 Typically, when we have a missing persons case, 315 00:15:12,241 --> 00:15:16,689 you know, usually they're runaway, of a juvenile. 316 00:15:16,793 --> 00:15:18,448 It's somebody that we typically locate, 317 00:15:18,551 --> 00:15:20,241 you know, within a short amount of time. 318 00:15:20,344 --> 00:15:23,827 With Gretchen's case, you know, what kinda concerned us 319 00:15:23,931 --> 00:15:25,448 from the beginning, was that 320 00:15:25,551 --> 00:15:28,137 the family had located her purse and her cellphone 321 00:15:28,241 --> 00:15:30,655 and the length of time that the-- 322 00:15:30,758 --> 00:15:33,000 that the family hasn't communicated with Gretchen was concerning. 323 00:15:36,310 --> 00:15:37,724 My name is Matther Board. 324 00:15:37,827 --> 00:15:40,379 I am the Chief of Police for the city of Parkersburg, in West Virginia. 325 00:15:40,482 --> 00:15:43,448 My initial thought was, you know, it was concerning. 326 00:15:43,551 --> 00:15:45,551 You try not to jump to conclusions. 327 00:15:45,655 --> 00:15:48,344 But after a conversation, you know, it was agreed upon 328 00:15:48,448 --> 00:15:51,034 this would be an all hands on deck kind of circumstance. 329 00:15:53,551 --> 00:15:57,172 [James] I started reaching out to our local hospitals, our location shelters. 330 00:15:57,275 --> 00:16:01,241 And checking her social media if there's anything that she had posted recently. 331 00:16:01,344 --> 00:16:04,689 And then checking our systems to see if any officers had any contact with her 332 00:16:04,793 --> 00:16:07,482 since December 3rd. We had not. 333 00:16:07,586 --> 00:16:12,275 I had my lieutenant post a picture of Gretchen on our Facebook page, 334 00:16:12,379 --> 00:16:14,517 Immediately, within the next 24 hours, 335 00:16:14,620 --> 00:16:16,000 there's over 1,000 shares 336 00:16:16,103 --> 00:16:18,724 of her image, that she was missing. 337 00:16:18,827 --> 00:16:21,724 [Jennifer] Our family, our friends, our community... 338 00:16:21,827 --> 00:16:25,586 Anybody that has any contact with us, 339 00:16:25,689 --> 00:16:28,827 has shared over and over and over and over. 340 00:16:28,931 --> 00:16:30,655 They've had their own posts. 341 00:16:30,758 --> 00:16:32,241 Again, it's a small town. 342 00:16:32,344 --> 00:16:34,586 This hits home with everyone in Parkersburg 343 00:16:34,689 --> 00:16:38,103 because it could be their niece, or their daughter, 344 00:16:38,206 --> 00:16:40,413 or their granddaughter, or their sister, 345 00:16:40,517 --> 00:16:41,586 or their cousin. 346 00:16:41,689 --> 00:16:45,068 It hits this community very, very, very hard 347 00:16:45,172 --> 00:16:49,000 because, again, everybody knows somebody 348 00:16:49,103 --> 00:16:50,517 in this town, that knows us. 349 00:16:50,620 --> 00:16:54,517 They may not know Gretchen but somebody knows some of our family. 350 00:16:55,793 --> 00:16:58,206 [James] Based on my witnesses' statements 351 00:16:58,310 --> 00:17:02,620 they believe that Gretchen had left with a male named John. 352 00:17:08,655 --> 00:17:10,068 After speaking with him, 353 00:17:10,172 --> 00:17:14,310 he told me that they started their night off at Front Row. 354 00:17:14,413 --> 00:17:18,137 From there, Gretchen had mentioned going to My Way lounge, 355 00:17:18,241 --> 00:17:19,723 for karaoke. 356 00:17:19,827 --> 00:17:21,689 So they stopped there that evening. 357 00:17:21,792 --> 00:17:24,413 He mentioned when they traveled from Front Row to My Way, 358 00:17:24,517 --> 00:17:27,344 she had left her purse and cellphone in his vehicle. 359 00:17:27,448 --> 00:17:30,068 She never brought it into the My Way Lounge. 360 00:17:31,068 --> 00:17:33,172 Later that night, he was looking for her 361 00:17:33,275 --> 00:17:36,379 and he was concerned that he couldn't find Gretchen. 362 00:17:36,482 --> 00:17:38,758 He started canvasing the downtown area. 363 00:17:38,862 --> 00:17:41,758 When he wasn't able to locate her, he returned back to My Way, 364 00:17:41,862 --> 00:17:43,896 seeing if she had came back while he was out looking for her. 365 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:45,413 She had not. 366 00:17:45,517 --> 00:17:49,103 He then went home. And later that day, he returned the purse 367 00:17:49,206 --> 00:17:51,586 to Front Row bar, hoping that she would visit there. 368 00:17:56,137 --> 00:17:58,724 The reason he returned the purse to the Front Row 369 00:17:58,827 --> 00:18:00,241 was he didn't know where Gretchen lived 370 00:18:00,344 --> 00:18:02,586 and, you know, she didn't have her cellphone with her. 371 00:18:02,689 --> 00:18:04,517 And that was a place she typically would visit 372 00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:08,482 and his thought process was that she would get back there and get her purse. 373 00:18:08,586 --> 00:18:11,551 [Jennifer] He was really upset and worried. 374 00:18:11,655 --> 00:18:14,965 He said-- You know, he told us. He said, "I came out and she was gone. 375 00:18:15,068 --> 00:18:17,275 "I don't know what happened to her. 376 00:18:17,379 --> 00:18:18,896 "She just disappeared." 377 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,275 He was very concerned. 378 00:18:23,275 --> 00:18:25,896 [David] John, I know he didn't have anything to do with it. 379 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:27,448 I've spoken with him. 380 00:18:27,551 --> 00:18:29,275 He-- He was just as freaked out 381 00:18:29,379 --> 00:18:30,793 as I am as a father. 382 00:18:30,896 --> 00:18:33,000 You know, because, he was the one that took her there. 383 00:18:33,103 --> 00:18:35,172 I know he felt a lot of responsibility in it. 384 00:18:35,275 --> 00:18:37,068 Because she didn't leave with him 385 00:18:37,172 --> 00:18:39,344 and, you know, I think he just felt responsible 386 00:18:39,448 --> 00:18:40,827 that he couldn't find her. 387 00:18:42,275 --> 00:18:44,758 He was completely cooperative with the police 388 00:18:44,862 --> 00:18:47,413 because he didn't have anything to hide. 389 00:18:47,517 --> 00:18:50,620 Everyday, it's just-- You never know what is gonna be thrown at you. 390 00:18:50,724 --> 00:18:53,310 I mean, we're all walking on eggshells. 391 00:18:53,413 --> 00:18:56,379 We are all sick to our stomachs over this. 392 00:18:56,482 --> 00:18:58,620 And again, we have children. 393 00:18:58,724 --> 00:19:02,275 We have a 19-year-old. We have 17-year-old twins. 394 00:19:02,379 --> 00:19:03,827 We have a 12-year-old. 395 00:19:03,931 --> 00:19:06,862 They're upset. They're kids. It's horrible. 396 00:19:09,448 --> 00:19:11,724 [David] The next morning, you know, the My Way Lounge, 397 00:19:11,827 --> 00:19:13,862 the owners, they contacted me on Facebook 398 00:19:13,965 --> 00:19:15,000 and sent me a private message. 399 00:19:15,103 --> 00:19:17,344 And said that they have the video surveillance 400 00:19:17,448 --> 00:19:19,517 if I would like to come and watch it. 401 00:19:19,620 --> 00:19:20,758 So, of course, I said yes. 402 00:19:20,862 --> 00:19:23,620 So I grab my wife and we go down there at lunchtime, 403 00:19:23,724 --> 00:19:25,413 and we ask to see the video. 404 00:19:25,517 --> 00:19:28,413 And it shows Gretchen innocently just sitting 405 00:19:28,517 --> 00:19:30,000 at the end of the bar, by herself. 406 00:19:30,103 --> 00:19:33,068 The friend that she had came with was, like, a couple of seats down. 407 00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:35,137 And he was talking to a couple of other people 408 00:19:35,241 --> 00:19:36,965 and she was kinda just sitting there by herself. 409 00:19:37,068 --> 00:19:38,862 Well then, comes in the picture 410 00:19:38,965 --> 00:19:41,551 a man, out of the gambling room. 411 00:19:41,655 --> 00:19:45,793 He stands beside her and ends up bringing her a drink. 412 00:19:45,896 --> 00:19:49,965 Then they end up talking and they go back into the gambling room, together. 413 00:19:50,068 --> 00:19:52,551 Probably for about a half hour, 45 minutes. 414 00:19:52,655 --> 00:19:55,620 And then, they come out of the gambling room, 415 00:19:55,724 --> 00:19:57,793 and the man ends up walking out the door 416 00:19:57,896 --> 00:19:59,827 and she's walking right behind him. 417 00:19:59,931 --> 00:20:02,000 John ends up going to the bathroom, 418 00:20:02,103 --> 00:20:04,655 so when Gretchen comes out of the gambling room, to leave, 419 00:20:04,758 --> 00:20:06,413 he was actually in the bathroom. 420 00:20:06,517 --> 00:20:08,103 So, he didn't see her leave. 421 00:20:08,206 --> 00:20:09,620 So, he comes out of the bathroom 422 00:20:09,724 --> 00:20:12,413 and then the bar's getting ready to close down there. 423 00:20:12,517 --> 00:20:14,517 And he's looking for her, and can't find her, 424 00:20:14,620 --> 00:20:17,103 'cause he was gonna give her a ride home. 425 00:20:17,206 --> 00:20:20,517 And then the footage actually shows Gretchen leaving with the man 426 00:20:20,620 --> 00:20:22,206 and his car driving away. 427 00:20:23,551 --> 00:20:27,862 At the bar, they tell us that she left with Preston Pierce. 428 00:20:27,965 --> 00:20:29,137 And we're like, "Who's that?" 429 00:20:36,724 --> 00:20:39,379 [David] The owners at the My Way, and the bartenders, 430 00:20:39,482 --> 00:20:41,137 they were completely cooperative. 431 00:20:41,241 --> 00:20:44,103 They released all their video footage to the police. 432 00:20:44,206 --> 00:20:45,655 The police was able to go in and... 433 00:20:45,758 --> 00:20:46,793 and get whatever they needed. 434 00:20:55,896 --> 00:20:59,275 The bartenders mentioned that Gretchen left with Preston Pierce. 435 00:21:01,310 --> 00:21:04,379 What I gathered from the bartenders and the owners... 436 00:21:04,482 --> 00:21:06,379 Preston was not a regular customer there. 437 00:21:06,482 --> 00:21:09,896 But he had been there, maybe a time or two, before. 438 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,137 [Jennifer] I don't know what he said to her. 439 00:21:11,241 --> 00:21:13,206 How he got her in the gambling room. 440 00:21:13,310 --> 00:21:15,172 It's just kind of a social, kind of, thing. 441 00:21:15,275 --> 00:21:17,275 Maybe he said, "Hey, I've got 20 bucks. 442 00:21:17,379 --> 00:21:18,586 "Do you wanna go play the machines?" 443 00:21:18,689 --> 00:21:19,965 I don't know. 444 00:21:20,068 --> 00:21:22,068 And how he got her to leave with him, I don't know. 445 00:21:22,172 --> 00:21:24,620 Maybe he said, "If you need a ride, I'll give you a ride." 446 00:21:24,724 --> 00:21:30,034 You know, it's late into the hours of December 3rd-- December 4th morning. 447 00:21:30,137 --> 00:21:31,827 She knew she couldn't go to Nana's. 448 00:21:31,931 --> 00:21:34,379 You know, "Hey, I can give you a ride to a friend's house." 449 00:21:34,482 --> 00:21:37,000 Or, "If you wanna sleep on my couch, you can." 450 00:21:37,103 --> 00:21:38,206 You know, I don't know. 451 00:21:39,896 --> 00:21:44,482 [David] I think she probably had too much to drink that night. 452 00:21:44,586 --> 00:21:47,827 Maybe he said, "Hey, I got another place up the road." Or something. 453 00:21:47,931 --> 00:21:50,344 [stutters] I don't know but I don't think 454 00:21:50,448 --> 00:21:52,620 that, like, he was a friend of hers or anything. 455 00:21:54,620 --> 00:21:57,793 [James] After speaking with one of the bartenders at My Way Lounge 456 00:21:57,896 --> 00:22:00,275 they were able to tell us that Gretchen 457 00:22:00,379 --> 00:22:03,275 left with another male subject named Preston Pierce. 458 00:22:12,241 --> 00:22:14,482 I described who Gretchen Fleming was. 459 00:22:14,586 --> 00:22:17,758 And then he was able to recall the accounts he had that evening with Gretchen. 460 00:22:19,068 --> 00:22:22,793 He said that he and Gretchen had left the bar together. 461 00:22:22,896 --> 00:22:25,413 He dropped her off in the downtown area of Parkersburg. 462 00:22:38,310 --> 00:22:40,310 And that's when we went back to the downtown area, 463 00:22:40,413 --> 00:22:41,482 started knocking on doors, 464 00:22:41,586 --> 00:22:43,034 canvasing the area 465 00:22:43,137 --> 00:22:44,724 with a team that we put together. 466 00:22:44,827 --> 00:22:46,793 And trying to see if there's any witnesses 467 00:22:46,896 --> 00:22:48,758 or video footage that may have captured that. 468 00:22:51,034 --> 00:22:54,068 It's our job to determine what did happen, not what might have happened. 469 00:22:54,172 --> 00:22:56,206 So, you're looking for Gretchen herself. 470 00:22:56,310 --> 00:22:59,793 You're looking for a piece of clothing that she may have had. 471 00:22:59,896 --> 00:23:02,896 Or maybe you encounter somebody that was walking down the street 472 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:04,448 that you could interview, 473 00:23:04,551 --> 00:23:07,034 and-- a field interview and garner information. 474 00:23:07,137 --> 00:23:09,482 So, you know, no stone's been left unturned. 475 00:23:11,827 --> 00:23:13,793 On December 14th, we obtained video footage 476 00:23:13,896 --> 00:23:15,931 from the multiple surveillance cameras 477 00:23:16,034 --> 00:23:18,379 and went back to he office to review that. 478 00:23:18,482 --> 00:23:20,482 And that's when we were able to reconstruct 479 00:23:20,586 --> 00:23:21,517 where, you know, Preston went 480 00:23:21,620 --> 00:23:23,689 in the early morning hours of December 4th. 481 00:23:29,034 --> 00:23:30,241 So, My Way Lounge, 482 00:23:30,344 --> 00:23:31,517 it's at the intersection 483 00:23:31,620 --> 00:23:33,344 of 5th and Julianna. 484 00:23:33,448 --> 00:23:37,413 This is the front entrance of My Way. 485 00:23:37,517 --> 00:23:42,275 This is where we've last seen Preston and Gretchen exit the door. 486 00:23:42,379 --> 00:23:47,344 So, after they exit the front entrance of the establishment, My Way, 487 00:23:47,448 --> 00:23:50,517 we believe that Preston was parked 488 00:23:50,620 --> 00:23:51,931 in the ordained parking lot 489 00:23:53,137 --> 00:23:54,758 at My Way Lounge. 490 00:23:54,862 --> 00:23:56,137 Near the News and Sentinel. 491 00:23:56,241 --> 00:23:57,965 From there we got video footage 492 00:23:58,793 --> 00:24:00,689 that captured headlights. 493 00:24:00,793 --> 00:24:02,482 So, after the headlights kick on, you see 494 00:24:02,586 --> 00:24:04,206 the vehicle looks like it turns down the alley 495 00:24:04,310 --> 00:24:06,620 heading towards 6th Street. 496 00:24:06,724 --> 00:24:09,793 We knew that vehicle to be Preston Pierce's vehicle. 497 00:24:09,896 --> 00:24:12,586 Shortly after, we obtained video footage 498 00:24:12,689 --> 00:24:15,206 from a nearby gas station. 499 00:24:15,310 --> 00:24:19,275 We believe we see Preston's vehicle on Ann Street. 500 00:24:19,379 --> 00:24:22,620 And he's headed in the direction of Southside Parkersburg. 501 00:24:22,724 --> 00:24:26,172 We're trying to, you know, see if there's any place Gretchen end up-- may have 502 00:24:26,275 --> 00:24:27,586 gone out of the vehicle 503 00:24:27,689 --> 00:24:29,310 or anytime the vehicle had stopped. 504 00:24:33,310 --> 00:24:35,448 We're also not just looking for a vehicle, 505 00:24:35,551 --> 00:24:38,241 we're looking to see if Gretchen-- you know, walking, 506 00:24:38,344 --> 00:24:40,379 in any area. 507 00:24:40,482 --> 00:24:42,241 There's a lot of wooded area. 508 00:24:42,344 --> 00:24:44,344 And underneath the fishery bridge. 509 00:24:45,310 --> 00:24:47,172 We canvased that area as well. 510 00:24:47,275 --> 00:24:50,620 Looking for, you know, anything that may place Gretchen in that area 511 00:24:50,724 --> 00:24:53,689 or any evidence that may help us further our investigation. 512 00:24:53,793 --> 00:24:56,931 And we weren't able o locate anything that placed her 513 00:24:57,034 --> 00:24:58,068 at those area. 514 00:24:58,172 --> 00:25:00,310 From the video footage that we obtained, 515 00:25:00,413 --> 00:25:02,310 we did not see her get out of the vehicle, 516 00:25:02,413 --> 00:25:03,620 we did not see her walking 517 00:25:03,724 --> 00:25:05,862 in the area-- in the downtown area. 518 00:25:06,827 --> 00:25:09,344 And through that, we continue 519 00:25:09,448 --> 00:25:11,137 looking at the video footage. 520 00:25:12,965 --> 00:25:14,896 We believe we see Preston's vehicle, 521 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,517 what we believe is his vehicle, 522 00:25:16,620 --> 00:25:19,551 is travelling in the direction of his home. 523 00:25:19,655 --> 00:25:22,862 We know that Preston and Gretchen left the bar together. 524 00:25:22,965 --> 00:25:24,448 We believe his vehicle 525 00:25:24,551 --> 00:25:27,103 traveled in the direction of his home. 526 00:25:27,206 --> 00:25:30,000 I immediately knew something bad happened. 527 00:25:30,103 --> 00:25:32,586 Gut instinct. This is not normal. 528 00:25:32,689 --> 00:25:35,034 And that's what made this 529 00:25:35,793 --> 00:25:38,000 turn int a scary situation 530 00:25:38,103 --> 00:25:40,241 where we knew something was wrong. 531 00:25:40,344 --> 00:25:42,413 At this point, things aren't adding up. 532 00:25:42,517 --> 00:25:44,655 Preston, in a lot of the statements he gave us 533 00:25:44,758 --> 00:25:46,275 that evening, were inconsistent 534 00:25:46,379 --> 00:25:48,241 with the surveillance that we collected. 535 00:25:50,724 --> 00:25:52,310 [David] Last person that she walked out 536 00:25:52,413 --> 00:25:55,241 of the My Way Lounge was with Preston Pierce. 537 00:25:55,344 --> 00:25:57,344 And she hasn't been seen yet since. 538 00:25:57,448 --> 00:25:58,758 I mean, if his little girl was missing 539 00:25:58,862 --> 00:26:01,103 and I was the last person seen with his little girl, 540 00:26:01,206 --> 00:26:03,310 he'd expect an answer from me. 541 00:26:05,620 --> 00:26:08,758 [James] Due to the totality of circumstances of the information that we had, 542 00:26:08,862 --> 00:26:10,758 it led me to draft up search warrants 543 00:26:10,862 --> 00:26:12,724 and meet with our local prosecutor. 544 00:26:12,827 --> 00:26:14,586 Our prosecutor reviewed the search warrants 545 00:26:14,689 --> 00:26:16,724 and we were able to present that to a circuit court judge 546 00:26:16,827 --> 00:26:18,275 who believed in the probable cause 547 00:26:18,379 --> 00:26:20,241 to do a search warrant of Preston's home, 548 00:26:20,344 --> 00:26:21,862 vehicle and his storage unit. 549 00:26:22,862 --> 00:26:24,206 At this point in the investigation, 550 00:26:24,310 --> 00:26:26,655 in my mind, foul play has happened. 551 00:26:31,275 --> 00:26:32,448 [narrator] Gretchen Fleming was last seen 552 00:26:32,551 --> 00:26:34,517 December 3rd, 2022. 553 00:26:35,517 --> 00:26:37,000 [reading] 554 00:26:49,655 --> 00:26:52,620 We believe Preston was the last person with Gretchen 555 00:26:52,724 --> 00:26:55,655 in the early morning hours of December 4th. 556 00:26:55,758 --> 00:26:59,620 On December 15th, our detective bureau was able to secure 557 00:26:59,724 --> 00:27:00,827 three different search warrants. 558 00:27:00,931 --> 00:27:03,068 One, for Preston's house. 559 00:27:03,172 --> 00:27:05,931 A storage building that he rented. 560 00:27:06,034 --> 00:27:07,448 As well as his vehicle. 561 00:27:07,551 --> 00:27:09,103 Um, after doing so, 562 00:27:09,206 --> 00:27:11,551 three different search teams were divided 563 00:27:11,655 --> 00:27:13,586 and all three warrants were executed. 564 00:27:17,689 --> 00:27:19,448 After we put the teams together, 565 00:27:19,551 --> 00:27:21,551 to go and execute these search warrants, 566 00:27:21,655 --> 00:27:24,620 we're trying to place Gretchen inside the home 567 00:27:24,724 --> 00:27:26,344 or inside Preston's vehicle. 568 00:27:26,448 --> 00:27:27,793 That's the evidence that we're looking for. 569 00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:34,379 You have to be very detailed while you are doing a search warrant. 570 00:27:34,482 --> 00:27:36,931 You wanna collect as much evidence as you possibly can. 571 00:27:37,034 --> 00:27:39,172 While there, you're thinking it may be relevant or not, 572 00:27:39,275 --> 00:27:40,551 it's better to collect it 573 00:27:40,655 --> 00:27:41,965 and then you have to bring it back 574 00:27:42,068 --> 00:27:43,517 because it's sent off to the lab at that point 575 00:27:43,620 --> 00:27:45,206 to verify if it is 576 00:27:45,310 --> 00:27:46,724 relevant to our case. 577 00:27:47,724 --> 00:27:49,172 I was hoping we were gonna-- 578 00:27:49,275 --> 00:27:50,379 I don't know what I was hoping. 579 00:27:50,482 --> 00:27:52,655 I just-- I was hoping we were gonna find something, 580 00:27:52,758 --> 00:27:53,724 we were gonna find her. 581 00:27:53,827 --> 00:27:55,586 Just emotions were going through my head. 582 00:27:55,689 --> 00:27:57,103 I just can't even explain. 583 00:27:57,206 --> 00:28:00,241 I still can't explain the emotions that I'm going through. It's-- 584 00:28:00,344 --> 00:28:02,344 You just don't even know how to process it. Just-- 585 00:28:03,827 --> 00:28:06,827 Just day by day, the processing is... It... 586 00:28:06,931 --> 00:28:08,862 I don't know. I don't really know. 587 00:28:11,103 --> 00:28:13,068 [Jennifer] We wanna know where she's at. 588 00:28:13,172 --> 00:28:14,793 But at the same time, 589 00:28:14,896 --> 00:28:16,000 you don't wanna know. 590 00:28:16,103 --> 00:28:17,000 You know what I mean? 591 00:28:18,551 --> 00:28:20,413 You don't want to have to 592 00:28:20,517 --> 00:28:22,586 hear the details and know 593 00:28:22,689 --> 00:28:24,344 what happened. I mean... 594 00:28:24,448 --> 00:28:25,724 It makes me sick to my stomach 595 00:28:25,827 --> 00:28:26,620 thinking about 596 00:28:26,724 --> 00:28:28,379 having to identify a body. 597 00:28:28,482 --> 00:28:29,793 Or, you know, the-- 598 00:28:29,896 --> 00:28:31,241 It's scary. 599 00:28:31,344 --> 00:28:32,103 It's terrifying. 600 00:28:35,724 --> 00:28:37,448 So after our teams collect evidence 601 00:28:37,551 --> 00:28:38,586 from Preston's home, 602 00:28:38,689 --> 00:28:40,103 his vehicle and his storage unit, 603 00:28:40,206 --> 00:28:41,931 they come back to the office. 604 00:28:42,034 --> 00:28:44,965 We start packaging up all the evidence that we do have. 605 00:28:45,068 --> 00:28:46,758 And labelling everything that we have. 606 00:28:46,862 --> 00:28:48,379 And documenting everything. 607 00:28:48,482 --> 00:28:52,551 And sending out what items that we wanna send to the State Police lab. 608 00:28:52,655 --> 00:28:54,896 But the search did not find a body. 609 00:28:55,896 --> 00:28:58,068 At this point, we have to be careful. 610 00:28:58,172 --> 00:29:00,620 We still don't know what happened to Gretchen. 611 00:29:01,896 --> 00:29:03,655 [Jennifer] As soon as I found out 612 00:29:03,758 --> 00:29:05,379 that they had conducted the search warrants, 613 00:29:05,482 --> 00:29:08,068 I thought, "All right. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this." 614 00:29:11,655 --> 00:29:13,758 So, when I first heard the name Preston Pierce, 615 00:29:13,862 --> 00:29:16,379 it is not a name that I had ever heard before. 616 00:29:16,482 --> 00:29:20,448 I immediately went into detective mode, as I do. 617 00:29:20,551 --> 00:29:22,827 I got on social media and I found that 618 00:29:22,931 --> 00:29:24,724 he's a food delivery guy. 619 00:29:24,827 --> 00:29:28,379 Once his name was out on social media, 620 00:29:28,482 --> 00:29:30,379 I never saw anything positive. 621 00:29:32,172 --> 00:29:33,793 Some women were complaining that 622 00:29:33,896 --> 00:29:35,344 he really creeped them out. 623 00:29:35,448 --> 00:29:38,103 And was almost stalking them, at some point. 624 00:29:38,206 --> 00:29:39,724 Because they'd call, 625 00:29:39,827 --> 00:29:41,241 he would have their phone number 626 00:29:41,344 --> 00:29:42,758 when he would use the delivery. 627 00:29:42,862 --> 00:29:44,689 And then, he would start texting those women, 628 00:29:44,793 --> 00:29:47,137 making inappropriate advances towards them. 629 00:29:47,241 --> 00:29:49,620 And just nasty things, you know. 630 00:29:49,724 --> 00:29:51,517 He knows where people live. 631 00:29:51,620 --> 00:29:53,931 Because he is delivering food to their houses. 632 00:29:54,034 --> 00:29:56,482 He's got their names, he's got their phone numbers. 633 00:29:56,586 --> 00:29:59,689 He's contacting them after he delivers food to them. 634 00:29:59,793 --> 00:30:01,413 "You're beautiful." 635 00:30:01,517 --> 00:30:04,137 One of our good friends had to stop ordering 636 00:30:04,241 --> 00:30:07,103 because he was texting her inappropriately 637 00:30:07,206 --> 00:30:09,172 after he had delivered her food. 638 00:30:09,275 --> 00:30:11,793 My mom shops at a local clothing store 639 00:30:11,896 --> 00:30:13,758 and she was there, one day, shopping 640 00:30:13,862 --> 00:30:16,034 and got to talking to the girls that worked there. 641 00:30:16,137 --> 00:30:18,413 They had to stop getting food delivery 642 00:30:18,517 --> 00:30:20,689 because Preston would come into the store 643 00:30:20,793 --> 00:30:22,827 and talk inappropriately to them. 644 00:30:22,931 --> 00:30:26,413 And he would start text messaging them inappropriate things. 645 00:30:27,103 --> 00:30:29,172 I had a friend 646 00:30:29,275 --> 00:30:31,344 call me and tell me 647 00:30:31,448 --> 00:30:33,137 that one of her friends 648 00:30:33,241 --> 00:30:35,034 was out at a bar one night with him 649 00:30:35,137 --> 00:30:37,448 and woke up the next morning in his house. 650 00:30:37,551 --> 00:30:38,758 And didn't know how she got there 651 00:30:38,862 --> 00:30:40,068 or what had happened to her. 652 00:30:40,172 --> 00:30:42,137 Which makes you feel sick to your stomach 653 00:30:42,241 --> 00:30:44,448 and my first response was, 654 00:30:44,551 --> 00:30:47,172 "Did she contact Detective Zimmerman?" 655 00:30:47,275 --> 00:30:49,620 And she eventually did. 656 00:30:49,724 --> 00:30:51,034 I don't think that this is... 657 00:30:51,965 --> 00:30:53,793 the type of person that you 658 00:30:53,896 --> 00:30:56,551 want to be the last person seen with your daughter. 659 00:30:56,655 --> 00:30:59,068 He's had multiple complaints against him 660 00:30:59,172 --> 00:31:00,896 for stalking women. 661 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,896 He's had complaints for pursuing underaged minors. 662 00:31:06,689 --> 00:31:08,206 [James] After we executed the search warrant 663 00:31:08,310 --> 00:31:09,551 at Preston's home, 664 00:31:09,655 --> 00:31:11,827 our local news station here 665 00:31:11,931 --> 00:31:15,241 put an image of Preston's house on their news site. 666 00:31:15,344 --> 00:31:17,413 Through that, the following day, 667 00:31:17,517 --> 00:31:20,206 I received tips from various people 668 00:31:20,896 --> 00:31:22,275 that were compelled 669 00:31:22,379 --> 00:31:25,655 to tell me about their past incidents with Preston Pierce. 670 00:31:25,758 --> 00:31:27,724 But at this point, we have to be careful 671 00:31:27,827 --> 00:31:30,448 what information we do release to the media. 672 00:31:32,034 --> 00:31:33,241 In my opinion, 673 00:31:33,344 --> 00:31:35,448 I think he thinks he's above the law. 674 00:31:35,551 --> 00:31:37,586 I think he thinks that he's untouchable. 675 00:31:37,689 --> 00:31:40,206 And I'm really scared for the community 676 00:31:40,310 --> 00:31:41,655 of-- whose little girl's next? 677 00:31:53,586 --> 00:31:55,896 [James] In February, two months after Gretchen disappeared, 678 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,448 we did put together a community search 679 00:31:58,551 --> 00:31:59,551 out of Mountwood Park. 680 00:32:04,482 --> 00:32:08,137 That is in close proximity to Preston's home. 681 00:32:09,827 --> 00:32:11,793 And there's a lot of acreage 682 00:32:11,896 --> 00:32:14,689 so, we had over-- over 500 people show up. 683 00:32:15,275 --> 00:32:16,620 And through that, you-- 684 00:32:16,724 --> 00:32:18,413 We were able to cover a lot of ground, 685 00:32:18,517 --> 00:32:20,068 out at Mountwood Park. 686 00:32:21,931 --> 00:32:24,034 [reporter] Community members pray for answers today. 687 00:32:24,137 --> 00:32:25,758 Hundreds driving to Mountwood Park 688 00:32:25,862 --> 00:32:27,793 about 30 minutes east of Parkersburg 689 00:32:27,896 --> 00:32:29,586 to participate in this search party. 690 00:32:33,482 --> 00:32:35,206 [Matthew] The community was concerned. 691 00:32:35,310 --> 00:32:37,413 Someone from Parkersburg was in trouble, they wanted to help. 692 00:32:37,517 --> 00:32:39,034 So, we were flooded with-- 693 00:32:39,137 --> 00:32:42,344 with tips, and people offering to volunteer in any way that they could. 694 00:32:44,758 --> 00:32:46,275 [David] Everybody genuinely cared. 695 00:32:46,379 --> 00:32:47,896 The whole community showed up. 696 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,551 Everybody wanted to help now. 697 00:32:49,655 --> 00:32:51,931 It-- It was very overwhelming. 698 00:32:52,034 --> 00:32:54,517 I couldn't keep the tears out of my eyes. [sobs] 699 00:32:54,620 --> 00:32:57,172 Because you see that many people trying to help you, 700 00:32:57,275 --> 00:32:58,827 and help you find your daughter, 701 00:32:58,931 --> 00:33:01,379 it's-- it's very overwhelming. 702 00:33:01,482 --> 00:33:03,793 And-- And shows you the support that this community has 703 00:33:03,896 --> 00:33:06,275 and there's still a lot of kind people. 704 00:33:11,965 --> 00:33:12,965 [James] Through the community search 705 00:33:13,068 --> 00:33:14,724 there was various items that were collected. 706 00:33:14,827 --> 00:33:16,827 Unfortunately, none of which, we believe 707 00:33:16,931 --> 00:33:18,793 had anything to do with-- 708 00:33:18,896 --> 00:33:21,137 with Preston Pierce or Gretchen Fleming. 709 00:33:21,241 --> 00:33:23,310 So, anytime I saw a report 710 00:33:23,413 --> 00:33:26,103 of an unidentified body being located anywhere, 711 00:33:26,206 --> 00:33:28,655 I would contact that agency and see what information they have. 712 00:33:30,448 --> 00:33:32,896 We had no evidence to say that she had passed away 713 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:34,241 but we just wanted to cover our bases 714 00:33:34,344 --> 00:33:36,448 and that's why we were reaching out to agencies 715 00:33:36,551 --> 00:33:37,689 throughout the-- Throughout the state. 716 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,827 [David] One morning, some reporter from a news station reports, 717 00:33:43,931 --> 00:33:46,379 "the body of the missing woman had been found" 718 00:33:47,965 --> 00:33:49,827 Got, you know, four kids in the house. 719 00:33:49,931 --> 00:33:52,793 They're reading this on social media. 720 00:33:52,896 --> 00:33:56,310 [Jennifer] Emma, Gretchen's sister, comes running upstairs 721 00:33:56,413 --> 00:33:58,000 because she's home from school at the time 722 00:33:58,103 --> 00:33:59,793 for her Christmas break, and she's like... 723 00:33:59,896 --> 00:34:01,413 "I heard they found Gretchen." 724 00:34:01,517 --> 00:34:03,862 I'm trying to get in touch with the detective. 725 00:34:03,965 --> 00:34:05,586 You know, I'm wondering why he didn't call me 726 00:34:05,689 --> 00:34:07,103 and tell me what's going on. 727 00:34:07,206 --> 00:34:08,896 I'm going beside myself. 728 00:34:09,862 --> 00:34:11,862 It makes me feel sick to my stomach. 729 00:34:19,724 --> 00:34:22,034 In January, there was a news outlet 730 00:34:22,137 --> 00:34:24,688 that the human remains may be linked to Gretchen. 731 00:34:26,793 --> 00:34:30,034 They reported a body being found in the Ohio river, 732 00:34:31,241 --> 00:34:32,655 which is just right across the river, 733 00:34:32,757 --> 00:34:35,931 which make sense in the vicinity where she went missing. 734 00:34:41,241 --> 00:34:43,551 Detective Zimmerman, he didn't know what happened either. 735 00:34:43,655 --> 00:34:47,034 He was just as ambushed as we were, reading it. 736 00:34:47,137 --> 00:34:49,034 So, he was already en route 737 00:34:49,137 --> 00:34:51,344 to try and figure out why he hadn't been notified 738 00:34:51,447 --> 00:34:52,965 by local authorities. 739 00:34:56,965 --> 00:35:00,689 [James] Through the various law enforcement agencies I did contact, 740 00:35:00,793 --> 00:35:04,241 the description, it didn't match Gretchen's. 741 00:35:04,344 --> 00:35:05,896 We had to reach out to the family 742 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,793 and tell them, you know, that this was not accurate. 743 00:35:09,827 --> 00:35:11,517 I was furious. 744 00:35:11,620 --> 00:35:14,689 I sent off that reporter a real nasty email 745 00:35:14,793 --> 00:35:16,448 like, "Do a little bit of due diligence 746 00:35:16,551 --> 00:35:18,689 "before you try and get a story." 747 00:35:18,793 --> 00:35:21,275 Because we have other children. 748 00:35:21,379 --> 00:35:23,551 We have aging parents 749 00:35:23,655 --> 00:35:25,310 that are the grandparents. 750 00:35:25,413 --> 00:35:28,758 We don't need even more stress in our life 751 00:35:28,862 --> 00:35:30,034 because you want a story. 752 00:35:38,827 --> 00:35:40,758 [James] After we did the Mountwood search... 753 00:35:40,862 --> 00:35:42,241 Although it didn't pan out, 754 00:35:42,344 --> 00:35:44,137 our team, we still didn't give up hope. 755 00:35:46,103 --> 00:35:48,931 We're still out doing searches in various areas 756 00:35:49,034 --> 00:35:50,931 and we're still analyzing 757 00:35:51,034 --> 00:35:53,344 any-- any of the digital evidence that we do have. 758 00:35:53,448 --> 00:35:55,137 And see if there is any connections that we can make 759 00:35:55,241 --> 00:35:56,965 with the locations. 760 00:36:00,448 --> 00:36:03,034 [David] So, in January, the police got a tip 761 00:36:03,137 --> 00:36:06,000 that, possibly, she could have been put down a well. 762 00:36:07,724 --> 00:36:10,103 So, Detective Zimmerman took a crew 763 00:36:10,206 --> 00:36:13,896 and they went and had a drilling company come in 764 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,448 and they drained the well looking for her. 765 00:36:23,068 --> 00:36:27,206 [Jennifer] You're on pins and needles, wondering, "What are we gonna find out?" 766 00:36:27,310 --> 00:36:29,827 "Is this the moment that we're gonna get the answers?" 767 00:36:31,448 --> 00:36:32,344 It's terrifying. 768 00:36:32,448 --> 00:36:34,103 I mean, obv-- We want the answers 769 00:36:34,206 --> 00:36:37,551 but, again, you're sitting there, terrified... 770 00:36:37,655 --> 00:36:39,896 "What if they find her in that well?" 771 00:36:46,620 --> 00:36:49,827 So this is the well that we did a search out in Ravenswood. 772 00:36:51,965 --> 00:36:55,275 Ravenswood is a 40-minute drive from Parkersburg. 773 00:36:55,379 --> 00:36:56,379 It's a small city. 774 00:36:58,034 --> 00:37:01,724 Took us about a week to do a complete search. 775 00:37:01,827 --> 00:37:05,413 It was a 25-feet deep well. 776 00:37:05,517 --> 00:37:08,793 And that was a challenge of itself, having to drain it. 777 00:37:08,896 --> 00:37:11,931 We had our city engineer here, doing a... 778 00:37:12,034 --> 00:37:13,827 He had prepared some tape with a camera 779 00:37:13,931 --> 00:37:16,034 and we were able to get... 780 00:37:16,137 --> 00:37:19,241 a visual on the inside but it wasn't very clear. 781 00:37:19,344 --> 00:37:21,965 So, we had a company come in and drain that. 782 00:37:23,103 --> 00:37:26,344 We searched the woods and the riverbank. 783 00:37:27,827 --> 00:37:30,620 And after that search, being here for about a week, 784 00:37:30,724 --> 00:37:32,344 we felt comfortable marking this off our list. 785 00:37:33,137 --> 00:37:34,758 Could not place Gretchen here. 786 00:37:42,482 --> 00:37:47,310 We're almost six months, and no arrest has been made. 787 00:37:47,413 --> 00:37:50,620 But it's still a very active investigation. 788 00:37:52,068 --> 00:37:54,655 They're gonna get to the bottom of this. It takes time. 789 00:37:54,758 --> 00:37:57,724 And as hard as it is to be patient, 790 00:37:57,827 --> 00:38:01,862 we have to let law enforcement do what they do. 791 00:38:03,172 --> 00:38:05,689 The police haven't slowed down at all. 792 00:38:05,793 --> 00:38:08,000 They're moving faster and faster 793 00:38:08,103 --> 00:38:09,689 as more information comes in. 794 00:38:09,793 --> 00:38:11,586 They're building their timeline. 795 00:38:12,862 --> 00:38:15,137 They haven't slowed down or stopped in this at all. 796 00:38:15,241 --> 00:38:18,379 In fact, I think the momentum is picking up, at this point. 797 00:38:21,344 --> 00:38:22,758 [James] Although we haven't been able to release 798 00:38:22,862 --> 00:38:25,241 a lot of detail and information in regards to this case, 799 00:38:25,344 --> 00:38:27,793 it still is very active, I want the public to know that. 800 00:38:27,896 --> 00:38:29,896 We are still currently working on this case. 801 00:38:31,448 --> 00:38:35,655 [Jennifer] I believe that Preston's the last one that was with her. 802 00:38:36,586 --> 00:38:38,034 I don't have any doubt 803 00:38:38,137 --> 00:38:42,931 that he is the person that has done something to her. 804 00:38:44,241 --> 00:38:47,275 I believe that he is a predator. 805 00:38:47,379 --> 00:38:51,793 I believe that he preys on young women. 806 00:38:51,896 --> 00:38:53,793 Young, pretty women. 807 00:38:53,896 --> 00:39:00,379 And Gretchen was a beautiful, kind young lady 808 00:39:01,206 --> 00:39:02,793 that was too trusting 809 00:39:02,896 --> 00:39:05,379 and I believe that he took advantage of that. 810 00:39:10,241 --> 00:39:12,655 [James] Based on all the information we gathered with this case, 811 00:39:12,758 --> 00:39:15,620 surveillance, and witnesses' statements, 812 00:39:15,724 --> 00:39:17,413 I can confidently say that 813 00:39:17,517 --> 00:39:19,275 Preston Pierce is a person of interest 814 00:39:19,379 --> 00:39:21,448 and I believe he has more information 815 00:39:21,551 --> 00:39:23,275 in regards to Gretchen's disappearance. 816 00:39:27,068 --> 00:39:29,586 Unfortunately, he stopped communicating with us. 817 00:39:29,689 --> 00:39:33,310 He can hide, he can run, but we're eventually gonna get him. 818 00:39:36,379 --> 00:39:39,103 [David] If any of you out there, know anything-- 819 00:39:39,206 --> 00:39:40,965 anything at all, a tidbit, 820 00:39:41,068 --> 00:39:43,758 you heard something, you heard something from a coworker, 821 00:39:43,862 --> 00:39:47,241 you heard it from a friend, please come forward. 822 00:39:47,344 --> 00:39:49,724 We have a reward of $100,000 823 00:39:49,827 --> 00:39:52,482 for anybody that has information that can being Gretchen home. 824 00:40:00,068 --> 00:40:01,275 [Matthew] I ask you to look within yourself. 825 00:40:01,379 --> 00:40:04,000 There's a family that needs questions answered. 826 00:40:04,103 --> 00:40:06,655 They're struggling with this everyday. 827 00:40:06,758 --> 00:40:08,689 And help this family get closure. 828 00:40:08,793 --> 00:40:11,068 Help us get the answers we need to find Gretchen. 829 00:40:12,896 --> 00:40:14,551 [David] If I could see Gretchen again, 830 00:40:14,655 --> 00:40:16,689 first thing I'd do is give her a big hug. [sobs] 831 00:40:16,793 --> 00:40:18,172 And tell her how much I love her. 832 00:40:18,275 --> 00:40:20,586 And how much I've missed her. 833 00:40:20,689 --> 00:40:24,965 [Jennifer] Imagine if this was your daughter, your sister, 834 00:40:25,068 --> 00:40:27,310 your cousin, your aunt, 835 00:40:27,413 --> 00:40:30,034 your family member that you love. 836 00:40:30,137 --> 00:40:33,379 How would you feel to be in this situation? 837 00:40:33,482 --> 00:40:35,344 It's horrible! 838 00:40:35,448 --> 00:40:40,413 Her brothers and her sisters and our family, we just all miss her so much. 839 00:40:40,517 --> 00:40:43,551 [David] I feel like a part of my life has been taken from me 840 00:40:43,655 --> 00:40:46,551 because I don't have the opportunity to see 841 00:40:46,655 --> 00:40:48,586 my little girl grow up. 842 00:40:48,689 --> 00:40:51,586 And-- And pursue her dreams, you know. 843 00:40:51,689 --> 00:40:53,931 Possible having a family, having children. 844 00:40:54,034 --> 00:40:55,862 Or whatever she chooses to do. 845 00:40:55,965 --> 00:40:58,448 I-- I just miss her and I love her. 846 00:41:00,103 --> 00:41:01,448 I just want her home. 847 00:41:20,448 --> 00:41:22,275 Tracy was a no-call, no-show. 848 00:41:22,379 --> 00:41:24,137 You thinking that something ain't right. 849 00:41:24,241 --> 00:41:25,931 While cleaning Tracy's apartment 850 00:41:26,034 --> 00:41:29,068 I ran across mail from Tracy's ex-boyfriend. 851 00:41:30,448 --> 00:41:32,482 She could have been gone due to foul play. 852 00:41:32,586 --> 00:41:33,689 We have to conduct a search.