What we lose in the Shadows (A father and daughter True Crime Podcast)
What we lose in the Shadows (A father and daughter True Crime Podcast)
Without a Trace: The Gretchen Fleming Mystery
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What happens when someone simply vanishes without explanation? The mysterious disappearance of 28-year-old Gretchen Fleming has left her family, friends, and an entire West Virginia community searching for answers for over two years.
The puzzle pieces of that fateful night remain scattered. We know she was last seen leaving a local establishment called My Way Lounge around 3 AM with Preston Pierce, a man who went by an alias and, most disturbingly, was a former law enforcement officer with 12 years of experience. While Pierce acknowledges Gretchen was in his car that night, he denies she came to his home - yet his inconsistent statements have made him a central person of interest in this perplexing case.
This story raises troubling questions about how someone can simply disappear in today's connected world. Was this foul play? Could trafficking be involved? Or is there another explanation for Gretchen's disappearance? If you have information, no matter how small, that might help solve this case, please contact the Parkersburg Police Department or submit an anonymous tip through West Virginia Crime Stoppers. Every detail matters in bringing Gretchen home.
FBI searches ex-officer's previous home who is person of interest in woman's disappearance
Contact us at: whatweloseintheshadows@gmail.com
Background music by Michael Shuller Music
Good morning and welcome to what we Lose in the Shadows a father-daughter true crime podcast. My name is Jamison Keys.
Speaker 2I'm Caroline. Good morning Caroline. How are you Good, how are you?
Speaker 1Very good. It's bright and sunny. It's a beautiful day.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm really happy that spring is here because, I was one more month, I think I would not have held up. Well, I need the sun. You're fine, you're resilient.
Speaker 1Last weekend I was a little under the weather was watching a documentary on the Karen Reed case. Documentary on the Karen Reed case A couple he was in Boston or one of the localities outside of Boston, a police officer, they were dating. They went out drinking just copious amounts, you know, like she had like seven or eight drinks.
Speaker 2Where was it?
Speaker 1Like I think it was, in the Canton right around that area and outside of Boston.
Speaker 2Oh, okay.
Speaker 1So Is it like more rural.
Speaker 2I wouldn't call it rural it's.
Speaker 1It's more of a more of like a bedroom community from boston, okay, but anyway. So so they're, they're out late, they go drinking, they have a fight, something happens and they were going to another person's house to you know party and stuff like that, just to have a few more drinks and and somehow he ends up dead. There's a lot of drinking, there's a lot of confusion, um so it's a wild case drinking really, yeah, confuses things.
Speaker 2I think whenever there's like a case involving drinking, it's always like, oh, if only no, it's the thing that they documented and she admits to it.
Speaker 1The amount was the staggering part, like she had like seven or eight drinks. Part of those were double shots. So how, in the world, how old was she she's? She's in her like 30s, I think. Well, but still you're driving, you're driving, she drove home.
Speaker 1That's what the problem is because she doesn't remember how he ends up and he probably had just as many drinks and I don't know. But it's a really confusing case. But I'm interested to see that. Uh, the the rest of it. I've heard of it but I haven't heard of it, so yeah, I think, oh, you didn't finish it I didn't finish the entire thing. And the case isn't finished, generally speaking.
Speaker 2Oh, do you think we'll do an episode on it?
Mysterious disappearance of Gretchen Fleming
Speaker 2I think we might, but let's see if there's a determination first yeah, yeah, um, so the case that I asked you to research today is, um, I got in a unique way, or I got word of in a unique way.
Speaker 2I was on tiktok and I was scrolling, you know, trying to take a break from work and life or whatever and I was sitting there and I was scrolling and it was, um, sometimes people kind of like do like a call out for stories I don't know is what I can explain.
Speaker 2So, um, this one woman was posted like just a picture of her like out having fun or whatever, and she was like tell me like the craziest town gossip in your hometown in the comments, and that was it. And so people, typically when that happens, you open up the comments and you look through and it's just crazy stuff, because people are like telling you their craziest town gossip, you know, and a lot of it's like, oh, like my best friend got pregnant and then you know this, that whatever you know like just kind of town gossipy stuff, you know, right, and not all that sinister, just kind of whoa, like that happened, not really the pregnancy, a lot of people get pregnant, but you know what I mean. Yeah, so one person said that her friend was, has been missing for two or three years now.
Speaker 1Right Two, I think.
Speaker 2Two years and, uh, she wanted to, you know, bring attention to it. And so I opened up the comments and people were kind of mentioning some things that, like, caught my attention. I was like you know, this is a perfect thing to talk about on our podcast, because it hasn't gotten a lot of attention and she's still missing the person who went missing. So I'll open up by saying the trigger warnings are abduction, uh, possible abduction, and um, missing a missing person, Um, and that's all that. I really that is explicit.
Speaker 1Absolutely so. Today, we're diving into this mysterious case that's basically haunted a community for over two years now. This is a case of Gretchen Fleming, a woman from Vienna, West Virginia, who vanished without a trace on December 4th 2022.
Speaker 228, so young.
The night Gretchen went missing
Speaker 1It's a case that left her family and friends, and even law enforcement, searching for answers what happened to Gretchen, who's the last person who's seen her, and why this case remains unsolved. So stay with us. We're going to break this down. Gretchen Fleming was born on December 22nd 1994 in Parkersburg, west Virginia, and she'd always stood out, known for her creative spirit, as a writer, as a musician, someone who marched to the beat of her own drum. Her unique personality made her memorable for those who ran in contact with her, including her close friends. One of her close friends described Gretchen as someone who never blended in. She had a distinct sense of style and a deep passion for music, which she pursued throughout her life and at the time of her disappearance, she was living with her grandmother coming back from North Carolina and to continue her music endeavors. But on December 4th 2022, gretchen went missing.
Speaker 2OK, so we're coming up. What was that December?
Speaker 1So it'll be three years in December.
Speaker 2OK.
Speaker 1So it was a typical night when Gretchen was last seen. She was leaving the my Way Lounge and Restaurant in Parkersburg in the early hours, around 3 am. She wasn't alone, she was with a man later identified as Preston Pierce. But what happens to her and everything else remains a mystery. Initially Gretchen's family wasn't too worried, you know, because she had a history of going out, going silent for a couple of days. But when an extended absence stretched into, you know, beyond her normal pattern, they began to fear something was wrong. So on December 12th, just eight days later, they reported her missing.
Speaker 2That's so scary.
Speaker 1As police began their investigation, it began to become clear that gretchen had been to multiple places that night. So the timeline is really kind of murky. But the thing we do know is the last known sighting of her was at the my way uh lounge when she left with preston pierce, and that's where things get really complicated so he's the one already off the bat.
Preston Pierce: Person of interest
Speaker 1I'm like seeming suspicious so uh pierce, who has been identified as a person of interest, admitted that gretchen had been in his car, but denied that she came to back to his home, and authorities later revealed that preston had made inconsistent statements statements so sketchy already. He also used another name, Daryl Lott. Oh, that's scary, that oh my gosh and this is going to be the trifecta for you and had once been a law enforcement officer, which raises more questions.
Speaker 2It does, because why are you lying about your name? And if he was like either telling her that he was a law enforcement officer, or if he was like dressed as one, or like showing her a badge or whatever, then it turns into like a power dynamic thing, because I don't know, I personally feel like you shouldn't be either dressed do we know if he was dressed in uniform?
Speaker 1I believe not okay, okay.
Speaker 2Well, at least there's that, because I feel like when I don't think they're supposed to go drinking anyways, dressed in uniform.
Speaker 1Oh, no, no, no, ok, good Because it just.
Speaker 1It seems like that'll get you fired. Yeah, ok, good. But as the days turned into weeks and then months, gretchen's family still held hope. They organized vigils, put up missing person posters and worked tirelessly to keep her case in the public eye, and worked tirelessly to keep her case in the public eye. One of the most heart-wrenching moments came in May of 2023, when Gretchen's father, david Fleming, spoke to the media. In the press conference, he expressed gratitude to the community and announced a substantial increase in the reward fund. Local business people had come together and raised $35,000 to bring the total to over $100,000 for information leading to Gretchen's whereabouts. It was clear that this was no ordinary case. The community was really, really invested in it, and the family got involved too. Her sister, emma Fleming, designed a t-shirt with the proceeds going toward the fund. It was a small but meaningful gesture that kept Gretchen's face in the public eye, and her family wasn't just hoping for answers. They were actively working to make sure that no one forgot about her.
Speaker 2That's great. That's really important to have that kind of support.
Speaker 1Absolutely, it's essential. Yes, it is. So let's talk about Preston Pearson. Ugh, so who is Preston Pearson and why is he in the center of the investigation? Well, preston, or Daryrell Lott as he was also known in some circles, which is his real name. I think Darrell Lott is his real name.
Speaker 2Okay, and do you get into why he switched this name?
Speaker 1I don't, I haven't been able to find out. That is so weird.
Speaker 1But Darrell Lott, in some circles was known as a former law enforcement officer with 12 years of experience in West Virginia. He's been linked to the disappearance but so far he hasn't been charged with anything. How old is he? He's older, actually. I think he's about 10 years older than Gretchen. So you know he hasn't been charged. He's a person of interest. My guess is and this is interesting because a former police officer and someone with that much experience he lawyered up immediately and he hasn't talked and said anything. He hasn't talked to the police, he hasn't given any information without his lawyer present. So you know, that's okay. That can be one of two things I don't want to come down as saying this is definitively this. It could be the fact that that's the smart play, especially if you don't can't bring anything into the investigation. You know, I don't know anything, I'm not going to walk myself into you know a problem or walk myself into a jail cell.
Speaker 2So maybe that's a smart play, but maybe it's not yeah, um, I think that if and I've heard other true crime podcasts mention this but if you are in a situation where the police are kind of like you, you can tell the police are suspicious of you for something, you should lawyer up, right? If you, definitely. If you have not done it, and if you have, you're supposed to be able to have representation. But I'm not going to talk to the people who have done these big bad things, but, like, you should lawyer up because, um, the police don't actually know what happens sometimes and they do their best to try and figure out what happened most of the time, right? So, if everything points to you, even though it wasn't you, you should lawyer up. You absolutely should. It's seeming like that was not what happened, because why is he lying about his name?
Speaker 1Yeah, that's the sketchy part for me. You have an alias.
Speaker 2That's so weird. I don't have an alias.
Speaker 1While the FBI and Parkersburg police have executed multiple search warrants, including one for Pierce's former house, no solid evidence has emerged Directly connects him to Gretchen's disappearance. But you know the search continues and law enforcement officials are working around the clock to piece together what happened.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think it's sketchy the alias, for sure. I think, also the inconsistent stories that he's telling the police. I don't think it's necessarily sketchy, like we talked about for the lawyer. I do think it's sketchy that he was the last person that she was seen with. I don't understand. Well, what does he say happened?
Speaker 1He doesn't, that's just it. And she was in his, she was in his car and then he said you know that he, he didn't take her home. You know, but but it doesn't go into explicit detail where they did go.
Speaker 2So you know it's really. There's just a lot of question marks and kind of red flags about the case and about him in particular. I also Right and I also think it's strange that he was a law enforcement officer but refuses to talk to the law enforcement officers.
Speaker 1I'm like that makes you look so guilty right, because and it's not always, you know, when there's smoke there is fire.
Speaker 2But not always, but always.
Speaker 1But you know most of the time the fake name is killing me.
Speaker 2Like why do you have that? There is no. I don't understand that. I don't understand that right?
Speaker 1no, it is. It adds a whole, a whole big. A little bit of ambiguity about it. What are you doing with a fake name?
Theories about Gretchen's disappearance
Speaker 2It's giving villain. It's giving villain. Yeah, it really is Okay.
Speaker 1Here's now. This is theoretical, I'm not. I'm not saying this is what happened, but I'm just saying you have to consider this Now, someone that has been familiar with the legal process, someone that is familiar with investigation. There's no body, there's no DNA evidence, there's no evidence period. She just vanished. She disappeared in the middle of the night. Right, how does that happen? I mean, in two years, okay, something can happen where you don't find something for a couple months or something like that, right, but two years. So that bothers me too, because who would know how to put something together that you wouldn't find the body and you wouldn't find evidence? And I'm not saying anything here, I'm just we're just talking. You know, I'm just. This is pure conjecture, saying anything here, I'm just we're just talking. You know, I'm just this is pure conjecture. But if someone were to try to get away with a crime, right, it would be someone that would know about the legal process, know about the way investigations are done, right.
Speaker 2If someone you know actually gets away with it, it's that, it's not. I think many people try to get away with it, but they don't because they don't know those things. But the fact that he does know these things, has 12 years of experience and is silent, yeah, it's just. It's so unfortunate, the entire situation is so unfortunate, but it's no evidence of where she went, Because if she slipped and fell, people would find her.
Speaker 1For sure.
Speaker 2Harmed or not, right, but it's, you know, it's kind of seeming like something really sinister did happen here unfortunately.
Speaker 1Yeah, because now I'm not saying Preston did anything like this. But there's only a few options here. One she disappeared because she wanted to disappear and she's off somewhere. But after two years and given the fact that she's so tight with her family, that's, I'm not even considering that an option.
Speaker 2It's unlikely, it's extremely unlikely.
Speaker 1Two, something dire did happen and her body was disappeared and it will be found, or maybe it won't be found, but you know, something terrible happened and let's hope that's not the case. Or she was trafficked that's my third point or she was trafficked. That's the only three things I can think of. I'm sure there's a million that I'm not thinking of, but given the fact there's no evidence, there's no body, I'm leaning toward number three, unfortunately.
Speaker 2Three or two for sure. Yeah, Unfortunately I hate, unfortunately I hate that and I hope I'm wrong.
Speaker 1No, I would love if she suddenly just turned up and said I needed a little time to myself, but honestly I can't. That's the least probable thing happening here.
Speaker 2Right, because after you see everyone looking for you and everything Right, you don't want to break your family's heart. Absolutely not.
Speaker 1And it doesn't sound like she was that kind of person, although everyone said she went to the beat of her own drummer, but that's a completely different path you're taking there, so I doubt that so do I right, like people could say that about me.
Speaker 2But if I don't show up for days, people know something's wrong.
Speaker 1So well, yes, right, but I'd be to the do know what.
Speaker 2I mean Like people could say that about a lot of people. So I don't yeah, I think that's just personality wise, but not anything saying that she would just run away on her own accord. And it seems like the police aren't aren't thinking that either.
Speaker 1Right, Right. And I don't know is I don't know if, um, I don't know if West Virginia is a place where people disappear from into trafficking.
Speaker 2I think a lot of cities in the United States and other countries. This is like a worldwide pandemic, Sure, but here in the United States there's a lot of cities and a lot of hubs for missing women to get pushed into trafficking, unfortunately.
Speaker 1Yeah, but you know the thing about the thing about her, if you want to think about it this way, is um.
Speaker 2it's normally marginalized people that get sucked into um sometimes sometimes, sometimes, but I think there is, unfortunately, uh, quite a market for all types of women Right Scary and children, that's even scarier.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2Well, you know, both are scary in their own right, of course.
Speaker 1Right, but I mean runaways are. They're not, as it's not as evident Like this, right, if you knew anything about anything, you realized a young woman disappears without a trace, that's going to raise some flags. Woman disappears without a trace, that's going to raise some flags. So I can't imagine. I mean.
Speaker 2I mean, I guess it's possible, but God only knows. You know, that's a really good point. I think it is possible. But yeah, now that we've discussed it, I think probably what happened was he lost his temper or, you know, did something allegedly.
Speaker 1Unfortunately.
Speaker 2Yeah, and I, I think that's what it seems like Of course we don't know, and I think that's what it seems like Of course we don't know. That's what I would, unfortunately, think.
Family's hope and contact information
Speaker 1So you know, despite the lack of answers, gretchen's family has not lost hope. Her grandma, the lowest swimming, has been a vocal advocate keeping Gretchen's story alive in the community. In one interview she expressed her strong belief that police were getting closer to finding the truth. That's amazing. So, like I said, it's been two years since she vanished and the investigation is still ongoing. But authorities aren't giving up. James Stalnaker of the Parkersburg police said that Pierce remains a person of interest and the investigation is far from over do you know if they have searched his house already?
Speaker 1they have oh, okay, yeah, and they've. They've done several searches and, as a matter of fact, they I think I saw that the last the fbi, got a search warrant for his residence, I think in the latter part, like november or something like that of last year okay, and we would have heard something if something was there.
Speaker 2Right, right. Most likely If it was something that was like crucial to the investigation, right? Yeah, I think not losing hope is a key point, right, because before you know anything, you should have hope.
Speaker 1For sure, and, you know, with the help of the FBI and the police they are continuing to pursue all the leads and Gretchen's family and the community has rallied behind the search. They're hoping someone somewhere will come forward with some bit of information, no matter how small you might think it is, that could finally bring answers.
Speaker 2Absolutely yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1But her family remains steadfast in the belief and really the deep that they're. They're not backing down, and neither are the investigators. They're going to find out what happened to Gretchen.
Speaker 2I support them in that. I really truly hope that they get answers and hopefully bring her home safely.
Speaker 1So, as always, the search continues. If you have any information about Gretchen Fleming's disappearance, you're urged to contact the Parkersburg Police Department or the FBI. No details are too small. It could be the key to solving this case.
Speaker 2If you have any type of information that you think would be pertinent to the case, or even if you feel maybe it would be pertinent to the case, please call the Parkersburg Police Department at 304-424-8444. And if you don't, if you don't want to talk to the police, but you want to talk to an anonymous tip line through crime stoppers, which is a non-profit, that um relays tips to the police and fbi without um giving giving them the person who stated it. It's completely anonymous. That number for West Virginia is 304-255-7867. Follow the show on whatever streaming site you're listening on.
Speaker 1And remember. All of the source material will be available in the show notes.
Speaker 2And follow us on Instagram at what we Lose in the Shadows. And follow us on Instagram at what we Lose in the Shadows and let us know if you want to hear a specific case.
Speaker 1Or if you just want to give us some feedback.
Speaker 2Okay, join us in the shadows next Tuesday. Bye.
