Gretchen Fleming

PARKERSBURG — On a shelf in Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board’s office, in front of framed, black and white pictures from the department’s history, sits a white candle, wax at the top melted, wick blackened.

It’s the candle Board held in City Park nearly one year ago during a vigil for Gretchen Fleming, the Vienna woman who was last seen leaving the My Way Lounge in the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2022.

One year later, the investigation remains open. Board said he doesn’t need the candle to remember Fleming but it is a tangible symbol of the case, which he said is “not even close” to cold.

“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,” he said. “Detective (J.M.) Zimmerman comes in every day, and that’s still his priority.”

Fleming, a Parkersburg High School graduate who was 27 years old and living with her grandparents in Vienna, was reported missing by her family on Dec. 12, 2022. In the weeks after, police said they had a person of interest in the case but did not release his name, citing the ongoing investigation.

Multiple published reports identified the individual and on Monday, Board confirmed the man’s name is Preston Pierce. Board declined to share any more information about the man, saying he has not been charged in connection with the case.

“We would like to speak with him to get any information that he would have that would bring this case” closer to closure, he said.

Pierce could not be reached for comment Monday.

Over the last year, the department has continued to obtain and execute search warrants and send evidence out to be tested, Board said.

The community has remained engaged in the case, Board said, while acknowledging some people may be “concerned that it’s taken a while.”

The investigation “cannot be emotionally driven,” he said. “There is a due diligence to Gretchen, to her family and to the community at large to do this methodically.”

Board said Zimmerman has remained in regular contact with the family.

Louise Fleming, Gretchen’s grandmother, posted photos of her on Facebook recently, describing the time since she last saw or spoke to her as “the worst year of my life.” She asked people to pray for the police investigating the case and restated her confidence in them.

“They are working so hard on this case, please don’t second guess what they are doing,” Louise Fleming said. “We are 100 percent supporting their efforts. They will see that Gretchen gets the justice she deserves.”

Louise Fleming asked people to continue to display banners, yard signs and fliers asking for information about her granddaughter “so she will be remembered till she is found.”

“Our family appreciates all the kind words, prayers and concern that our community continues to give us,” she said.

Board noted that not only is this month the anniversary of Gretchen Fleming’s disappearance, but Christmas Eve is her birthday. If anyone has information about the case that they haven’t shared, “it is my continual prayer … that they come forward and speak with us, that they feel compelled to do so,” he said.

A total $100,000 reward for information leading to the location and return of Fleming and the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance remains in effect.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Parkersburg Police Department at 304-424-8444 or Zimmerman at 304-424-1072. Anonymous tips can be left online at ppd.parkersburgwv.gov.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.