Insets (from left to right): Gretchen Fleming and Preston Pierce (Parkersburg Police Department). Background: Volunteers search for Fleming in West Virginia (WOWK/YouTube).
A man accused of killing a woman with whom he left a West Virginia bar before dumping her body and fleeing the state is headed back to where it all began.
Preston Pierce, 58, has been indicted for first-degree murder, felony murder, concealment of a deceased human body, and kidnapping in the death of 27-year-old Gretchen Fleming.
Following his arrest in North Carolina, the defendant has been extradited back to West Virginia, the Parkersburg Police Department announced.
Fleming was last seen in the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2022, leaving the My Way Lounge in downtown Parkersburg, West Virginia. According to police, she was with Pierce, and she left her wallet and purse behind.
“After failing to contact family or friends for just over a week, she was reported missing to the Parkersburg Police Department on December 12, 2022,” the law enforcement agency added. A massive search effort including hundreds of volunteers commenced.
For nearly three years, investigators pored over possible leads and searched for evidence to tie Pierce to Fleming”s disappearance. And in September 2025, police found human remains in the woods about 20 miles south of Parkersburg in Wirt County, West Virginia.
The remains were confirmed to be Fleming.
A Wood County, West Virginia, grand jury indicted Pierce on those charges on May 15. He was tracked to the area of Asheville, North Carolina, where authorities — including U.S. marshals — arrested him.
According to regional ABC affiliate WCHS, Pierce is a former police officer who changed his name from Darrell Lott. The Parkersburg Police Department said in January 2023 that Pierce admitted Fleming was in his car around the time she went missing, but then he declined to elaborate.
Pierce is being held by authorities “pending arraignment in Wood County Circuit Court,” police said on Thursday, noting that the date had not yet been scheduled.
