Laura Mand Lewis is listed in NamUs as Missing Person case MP13687, with the case describing her as a White/Caucasian female associated with Rochester, Vermont, and Woodlawn Cemetery. The NamUs record gives her date of last contact as August 28, 2011, and states that she was missing from Rochester, Vermont. The attached case data identifies the investigating agency as the Vermont State Police - Vermont Intelligence Center, with a reported agency case number of 12D300307.
The same case data lists her age as 18, her height as 5 feet, and her weight range as 110 to 140 pounds, with hair and eye color recorded as unknown.
The circumstances of Laura’s case are unusual and deeply tied to the destruction caused by Tropical Storm Irene. According to the case information, she was missing from Woodlawn Cemetery during flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. Public reporting from Rochester describes how the storm transformed Nason Brook, a normally quiet stream near the cemetery, into a destructive torrent. Floodwaters washed out part of Woodlawn Cemetery, disturbing graves and carrying human remains away from their resting places.
This case appears to involve missing human remains from the cemetery rather than a disappearance under ordinary missing-person circumstances. News coverage after Irene reported that approximately 50 graves at Woodlawn Cemetery were washed away, and that only about half of the remains had been recovered by the time families later gathered for a reburial ceremony. Other reporting stated that more than two dozen sets of remains were still missing after being carried downstream into the White River.
Because the attached API data does not list a case resolution status of Alive or Deceased, the case should not be described as resolved based on the provided record. However, Laura’s association with Woodlawn Cemetery and the Hurricane Irene flood indicates that the case concerns the loss or non-recovery of remains from a gravesite. The exact date of death is not clearly stated in the available case information, and the public details are vague, so the most accurate description is that Laura Mand Lewis remains listed in NamUs as a missing person case connected to the cemetery washout and recovery effort following the August 28, 2011 flood.
The broader context is heartbreaking. Tropical Storm Irene caused severe destruction across Vermont, and in Rochester it not only damaged homes, roads, and the landscape, but also disrupted the peace of families whose loved ones had already been laid to rest. For those connected to Laura Mand Lewis and the other individuals whose graves were affected, the disaster created a second grief: the uncertainty of whether their loved one’s remains could be recovered, identified, and returned to a proper burial place. The continued NamUs listing reflects that unresolved uncertainty and the ongoing importance of identification, documentation, and remembrance.Last Seen: Aug 28, 2011
