Ethel Mable Gibbs was listed in NamUs as a missing person under case number MP13710. She was 83 years old when she was last known to be associated with Rochester, Vermont, on August 28, 2011. NamUs identifies her as a White/Caucasian female and lists the investigating agency as the Vermont State Police – Vermont Intelligence Center. The case information provided for her states that she was “missing from Woodlawn Cemetery during flood caused by Hurricane Irene,” and the attached case data
does not show a resolved status of Alive or Deceased, so the case should be treated as unresolved unless newer official information says otherwise.
The circumstances around Ethel’s case are deeply unusual and heartbreaking. Her disappearance was not described in the available records as a typical last-seen event involving a living person walking away from a home, vehicle, or public place. Instead, the case is tied to the destruction at Woodlawn Cemetery in Rochester during the catastrophic flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. Online reporting from the period describes how floodwaters from a swollen stream tore through the cemetery, washing away graves, caskets, and human remains. The Associated Press reported that dozens of sets of remains were scattered from the cemetery, with some carried downstream and others left damaged or difficult to identify.
Woodlawn Cemetery suffered devastating damage during the August 2011 storm. Local reporting later described Nason Brook as swelling into a violent torrent that chewed away the earth beneath the cemetery, sending caskets into floodwaters and scattering remains. The damage affected not only cemetery grounds but also the families connected to those buried there, forcing loved ones to endure the grief of losing burial places and, in some cases, not knowing whether relatives’ remains would ever be recovered.
Reports about the aftermath indicate that around 50 graves were washed away at Woodlawn Cemetery. Vermont Public, citing the Associated Press, later reported that only about half of those graves had been recovered by the time families gathered for a reburial ceremony. The same report noted that Rochester was among the Vermont communities hardest hit by Irene, with roads washed out and residents cut off from the outside world for days. This context helps explain why recovery and identification efforts were so difficult: the disaster damaged infrastructure, displaced cemetery remains, and left the community dealing with widespread destruction at the same time.
The broader impact of Irene in Vermont was severe. Contemporary reporting described the storm as catastrophic for parts of the state, with dangerous flooding, road washouts, evacuations, damaged bridges, and isolated towns. In Rochester, the cemetery disaster became one of the most painful examples of Irene’s lasting human toll. The flood did not only destroy property; it disturbed final resting places and created unresolved questions for families whose loved ones had been buried there.
For Ethel Gibbs specifically, the publicly available online records provide limited personal detail beyond her name, age, location, NamUs number, and the flood-related cemetery circumstances. Her hair and eye color are listed as unknown in the provided NamUs data, and no clothing, accessories, transportation details, or distinctive physical features are included in the attached case information. DNA reference samples from a brother are noted in the provided data, suggesting that identification resources were collected for comparison if remains were recovered. The absence of a case resolution status in the provided data means there is no clear public indication here that Ethel has been found alive or that her case has been formally closed as deceased.
Ethel’s case should be understood with compassion for both her and the wider Rochester community affected by Irene. The available information points to a disaster-linked missing-person case involving remains disturbed from Woodlawn Cemetery, rather than a disappearance under ordinary circumstances. Unless an official updated source states otherwise, Ethel Mable Gibbs remains listed in connection with the August 28, 2011 flooding at Woodlawn Cemetery in Rochester, Vermont, and the exact outcome of her case remains unclear from the available public information.Last Seen: Aug 28, 2011
