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Hunt for missing West Virginia woman turns to 'large-scale' search as police 'need bodies' to help

Gretchen Fleming has been missing since Dec. 4, 2022, when she left a Parkersburg bar with a man. Police are asking for help searching for her on Saturday.

Police in West Virginia need volunteers to help law enforcement's "large-scale" search this weekend for Gretchen Fleming, who's been missing for two months after leaving a bar with a man.

Fleming, 28, was reported missing by her family on Dec. 12, but she hasn't been seen since she left the Parkersburg bar My Way Lounge with a man during the overnight hours of Dec. 3 into Dec. 4.

Police said they have a person of interest, and he was seen with Fleming at the bar that night, but they haven't confirmed his identity.

Parkersburg police said they need "able-bodied volunteers" to help in the search scheduled for Saturday between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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"We have received several questions about bringing, k9's, horses, and 4-wheelers/side by sides. At this time we only need bodies to assist with the search. We appreciate everyone's responses and willingness to assist," Parkersburg police wrote on Facebook.

"Participation will involve strenuous work in rugged, wooded terrain and possibly cold and wet weather," police said on Facebook. 

Parkersburg Police Lt. James Stalnaker told Fox News Digital in a late December interview that the man who left the bar with Fleming has given police "inconsistent" statements. 

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Fleming lives with her grandmother in Vienna, West Virginia, which is about a 15-minute drive from the bar. 

But Fleming doesn't drive and came to My Way Lounge earlier in the night on Dec. 3 with a different person, police said, but she left without her purse, which contained her phone, debit and credit cards, but she never returned to retrieve her belongings. 

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Additional surveillance footage that police pieced together from various cameras shows that the man's car traveled toward his home about two miles from the bar. Police have executed search warrants on his house, his car and electronic devices. 

Anyone with information is urged to contact lead detective James Zimmerman at 304-424-1072 or the Parkersburg Police Department at 304-424-8444 and reference case #P2207164.

Police are particularly interested in speaking with anyone who communicated with Fleming between the evening of Dec. 3 and the early-morning hours of Dec. 4.

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