Woman's Body Identified; Hurricane Ike Drowning Victim

A contract worker at ExxonMobil in Beaumont has become the first Hurricane Ike victim from the Bolivar Peninsula.

Chambers County investigators positively identified a body discovered Tuesday as that of 58 year old Gail Ettenger of Gilchrist.

Searchers found her body in a debris field in southern Chambers County. Investigators say Ettenger drowned.

The sheriff's office says Ettenger called a friend at 2:30 in the morning on the Saturday Hurricane Ike hit Southeast Texas. She told the friend water was ankle deep in her elevated beach cabin on Tyrrell Road in Gilchrist. That's the last time anyone heard from her.

Ettenger was an employee of Kelly Scientific Resources and had worked in the lab at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Beaumont for seven years.

Late Friday afternoon a spokeswoman for Kelly spoke with KFDM News.

"All of us at Kelly are shocked and saddened by this tragedy," said Jill Goodeaux of Kelly.

"Gail was a valued associate of Kelly Scientific Resources. We will miss her and extend our deepest sympathy to her family and friends."

Gail is survived by her mother, son and daughter.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

(NEWS RELEASE FROM CHAMBERS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)

Chambers County authorities have positively identified the recovered body of a white female Hurricane Ike victim as that of Gail L. Ettenger, 58 of Gilchrist, Texas. 

Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive stated that the identification was made through fingerprint comparisons, with the assistance of the Beaumont Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI. 

Ettenger's body was discovered in a debris field in southern Chambers County on Tuesday afternoon.  Her most recent address showed to be on Tyrrell Road in Gilchrist, on the Bolivar Peninsula; an area that virtually does not exist anymore due to the wrath of Hurricane Ike.  She was an employee in the lab at the ExxonMobil Refinery in Beaumont, Texas.  Ettenger was last heard from at approximately 2:30 a.m. on the Saturday of Hurricane Ike.  She phoned a friend to say that water had risen to ankle deep levels in the elevated beach cabin she called home.

Gail Ettenger leaves behind a mother in Florida, a son and daughter on the east coast, and numerous friends and co-workers in Southeast Texas.  Funeral arrangements are pending.