PARKERSBURG, W.Va. –An arrest has been made in connection with the 2022 disappearance of Gretchen Fleming, a Wood County resident.
Parkersburg Police chief Matthew Board announced Friday afternoon that Preston D. Pierce, 58, was arrested in the Asheville, North Carolina, area by the United States Marshals Service, the West Virginia CUFFED Task Force and the Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Board also announced that a Wood County grand jury handed down a four-count indictment Friday morning. Pierce is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, concealment of a deceased human body and kidnapping.
Fleming, who lived in Vienna, disappeared three and a half years ago in 2022. She was last seen leaving My Way Lounge & Restaurant in downtown Parkersburg during the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2022. Her family reported her missing on Dec. 12, 2022.
Pierce was identified as a person of interest in the case early in the investigation; however, he was never charged.
Board said detectives never stopped investigating the case.
“Over the next three and half years it was unrelenting, the gentlemen on my right and left, Lt. Mike Stocker, the Detective Bureau Commander, and Detective James Zimmerman, the lead investigator on the investigation, that’s kind of what they focused on most days when they came to work over the next last three and half years, compiling evidence, continuing the investigation, and not letting it go in the pursuit of answers,” Board said during the press conference.
Pierce told police in early 2023 that Gretchen Fleming had been in his car, but he provided no other details.
Board also announced that investigators received a break in the case in September 2025. He said human remains were found in Wirt County near Palestine, and through collaboration between the West Virginia State Police and the Parkersburg Police Department, the remains were sent for genetic testing. The results showed the remains belonged to Fleming.
Officials said they do not yet know how long Fleming’s body was in Wirt County or the cause of death.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Parkersburg Police Department executed a search warrant in November 2024 at a house on Division Street where Pierce previously lived.
They said that at the time, no new information was ready to be released and that the search warrant was part of ongoing efforts to find answers for the Fleming family.
Board said the family has shown unwavering support throughout the investigation.
“The faith that they have shown throughout the course of this not just the investigation but the tragedies that have kind of happened on the periphery of this, the patience they have shown over three and half years, and their continued support of us and faith in us is more appreciated than I can put into words,” he said.
Board said the case is tragic and not how anyone wanted it to come to an end.
“This is obviously not the outcome that we’ve all prayed for, this is not what we wanted but it is my hope that through bringing Gretchen home and holding Mr. Pierce accountable for his actions will help them get the peace they need and begin the mourning process,” he said.
Pierce is currently awaiting extradition back to West Virginia.
If convicted, he faces life in prison with or without mercy on the murder and kidnapping charges, and one to five years for concealment of a deceased human body.