Katharina Buczek
Gretchen Fleming is remembered by her loved ones as a creative and independent young woman who loved traveling, music, and writing.
She grew up in West Virginia, and she went on to study political science at William Peace University and Shaw University, located in North Carolina.
Then, by 2022, she was 27-years-old and had recently returned home from college. She lived in Vienna – a small town in West Virginia – with her grandmother. She also worked at an H&M location in the Grand Central Mall.
The evening of December 3, 2022, started off normally, too. That night, Gretchen went out with a friend and visited various bars and restaurants located in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
At one point, they stopped at an establishment known as the Front Row Bar. Afterward, Gretchen moved on to a tavern known as the My Way Lounge & Restaurants, which was located at 501 Juliana Street.
Later, at 3:00 a.m. the following day, December 4, she was last captured on surveillance footage leaving the tavern. However, Gretchen was with an older man, and together, they walked toward his vehicle – a Black Nissan Rogue 1 Sports SUV.
Now, because of the security camera’s location, the pair were not captured entering the car together. But Gretchen never made it back to her house that night and was never seen or heard from again.
About a week later, on December 12, 2022, her loved ones contacted the Parkersburg Police Department and filed a missing person report after they couldn’t get in touch with her.
Once an investigation was launched, it was discovered that Gretchen had left both her purse and phone at a different tavern known as The Front Row. She’d visited this tavern, located at 4000 Emerson Avenue, earlier that evening.
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