Nelson Charles Gibbs is listed in NamUs as Missing Person case MP13716, associated with Rochester, Vermont, with a date of last contact of August 28, 2011. Public case listings identify him as a white male and connect his disappearance to Woodlawn Cemetery in Rochester during the catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. The available public records do not indicate that his case has been resolved; the case-resolution field provided in the attached data is blank, not “Alive” or
“Deceased.” Based on the sources located, there is no confirmed public information showing that he has been found alive or that his remains have been definitively recovered.
The circumstances of Nelson’s case are tied to one of the most painful and unusual consequences of Tropical Storm Irene in Vermont. During the August 2011 storm, floodwaters overwhelmed Nason Brook beside Woodlawn Cemetery. Reports describe the normally quiet brook turning into a destructive torrent that carved into the cemetery, undermined burial plots, and washed away caskets and human remains. The event was devastating not only because of the physical destruction, but because it disturbed the resting places of families’ loved ones and forced the Rochester community to confront grief a second time.
Contemporary reporting said roughly 50 graves at Woodlawn Cemetery were washed away. Some remains were recovered close to the cemetery, while others were found downstream or remained missing. Accounts from local and regional news described caskets lying in or near the riverbed, old bones scattered by the flood, and relatives being asked to help identify the dead through details such as clothing, jewelry, or physical features. For families, the search was deeply personal and distressing, because the flood did not simply damage property; it separated loved ones from the burial places their families had chosen for them.
Nelson Gibbs’ public missing-person entry states that he was missing from Woodlawn Cemetery during the flood caused by Hurricane Irene. This indicates that the case concerns a person whose remains were associated with the cemetery disaster, rather than a typical disappearance from daily life. A Find a Grave memorial matching the name Nelson Charles Gibbs lists burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in Rochester, Windsor County, Vermont, and identifies him as having died in 1920, which aligns with the cemetery-related nature of the case while also underscoring how limited and fragmented the publicly available information is.
The broader recovery effort continued long after the storm. In 2012, local reporting said recovered remains were being held in secure concrete vaults while Rochester worked toward repairing the damaged cemetery and returning the recovered dead to the earth. That same report stated that more than two dozen sets of remains were still missing, believed to have been swept downstream into the White River. By 2013, coverage reported that 28 recovered bodies had been reburied, but that 24 people from Woodlawn had still not been found and that active searches had stopped.
A reburial ceremony was later held at Woodlawn Cemetery for recovered remains, giving some families a renewed place to mourn and honor their relatives. Vermont Public reported that only about half of the roughly 50 washed-away graves had been recovered, and family members spoke of the sorrow of having to bury loved ones twice. In that context, Nelson’s case remains part of a larger community tragedy: a natural disaster that disrupted graves, scattered remains, and left some families without the certainty or closure that recovery could provide.
Publicly available sources do not provide a detailed personal history for Nelson Charles Gibbs, nor do they give a confirmed recovery date or a definitive resolution. Because the available case-resolution information is not marked “Alive” or “Deceased,” and because no public source located here confirms that Nelson has been identified among recovered remains, the case should be described with care as unresolved based on available public information. His name remains connected to the Woodlawn Cemetery flood disaster, and the uncertainty surrounding his recovery reflects the lasting human cost Hurricane Irene left behind in Rochester.Last Seen: Aug 28, 2011
