State police: Body of missing Essex man found in the Winooski River in Duxbury
April 11, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti The body of an Essex man who went missing in December turned up this week in the Winooski River in Duxbury, according to Vermont State Police.
John Gaye, 45. Photo courtesy of Vermont State Police
The discovery was made around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday by someone walking along the river near the Bolton Falls dam, police said.
The Waterbury Fire Department assisted troopers with the recovery and the body was taken to the Vermont Chief Medical Examinter’s office in Burlington, police said.
An autopsy on Friday so far identified the deceased as John Gaye, age 45, of Essex, police said. Information on the cause and manner of his death are still pending, but this death is not considered suspicious, police said.
Gaye, described by police as from Essex Junction and Graham, Kentucky, went missing in December. State police on Dec. 18 joined Essex Police in the investigation that led them to Waterbury where investigators believed he had entered the Winooski River. Police located Gaye’s vehicle parked at Parro’s Gun Shop and Indoor Range on U.S. Route 2.
The Vermont State Police Underwater Recovery Team searches on the Winooski River on Thursday, Dec. 19. Photo by Gordon Miller
On Dec. 19 and 20, state police Underwater Recovery Team members searched along a stretch of the river west of downtown Waterbury in the vicinity of the Waterbury wastewater treatment plant and downstream past the Vermont Railway bridge and Parro’s. The search, however, failed to turn up any evidence of Gaye’s whereabouts. With water levels high, winter conditions setting in, and no clues, the search efforts were called off.
In Friday’s report of the discovery of the body, state police did not specify whether the location was above or below the dam, along the riverbank, or out in the river itself.
No further details were available as of late Friday.