A Vermont woman scrubs grime from gravestones and researches who is buried there

RUPERT, Vt. (AP) — Carrying a large pump spray bottle and a small, sturdy brush, Caitlin Abrams stood before two starkly contrasting graves in a modest cemetery in western Vermont. Overcast skies hung low over a nearby hillside in full autumn color.

Last year, Abrams had delicately cleaned the tombstone of Mary Bailey, who died in 1852 at just 21 years old. The still-pristine white marble stone stood out compared to the neighboring grave, holding Bailey’s sister Eliza, covered in grime and moss collected over the decades.

Working in quick, gentle strokes, Abrams used her brush and sprayer to peel away dirt hiding the floral details on Eliza's grave before moving to the next.

“Sometimes you can definitely see a difference right away,” she said. “Other times, it’s a month later you’ll come back and go ‘oh my gosh, it’s beautiful.’”

Abrams is one of the many social media creators who have found success posting videos of themselves cleaning graves. They can attract large audiences, often including those looking for cleaning content or videos with repetitive and subtle sounds known for their calming effect.

The trend was particularly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as people searched for safe hobbies, finding connections over death during a pandemic. It's also sparked criticism, with some worried that strangers are capitalizing on gravesites without notifying descendants and risking damaging the sites.

Yet Abrams doesn’t solely focus on the cleaning process. She researches and then shares the details she has found of the individual lives in her videos while filming the moss and buildup being washed away. Abrams focuses on 18th and 19th century headstones in remote yet picturesque graveyards in Vermont, and her viewers are drawn to her deep dives into the past that also touch on the dark nature of death and spirits.

“I let them pick me,” Abrams said, referring to how she selects what graves to clean. “I’m drawn to it and kind of look at it and see how I feel.”

Abrams likes to focus on the stories of young women and children, pointing to the connection she has as a mother of two in a world where men’s stories are often elevated.

Yet researching the dead takes time. It requires Abrams to cross-reference birth, marriage and death certificates, as well as newspaper clippings.

“It’s like journalism, but for dead people,” she joked.

While there’s no central agency counting how many cemeteries are in the U.S., data visualization expert Joshua Stevens attempted to map more than 144,000 of the nation's graveyards and cemeteries, many of which not only could use a good cleaning but also need restoration and preservation.

Online interest in the labor surrounding the upkeep of graveyards is encouraging, but can be a double-edged sword, said John Appell, a monument and gravestone restoration professional and CEO of Atlas Preservation.

“This is not a blanket statement, but there’s certainly a significant number of people that seem to be out there that kind of just want fame,” he said.

Without proper training, graves can become damaged with aggressive brushing or crumble if handled too roughly, he said. An amateur genealogist in 2021 admitted she had scrubbed roughly 200 gravestones at a Maryland cemetery in a way that left them damaged.

Workshops for volunteer cleanup efforts are one way to learn the skill before heading out to your local cemetery. In 2016, hundreds of volunteers in Louisiana helped restore a cemetery dating back to the Civil War.

“Cleaning is just one aspect of a much bigger subject,” Appell said, pointing to the need to also preserve monuments and structures inside historic cemeteries.

Abrams agreed that proper cleaning, as well as permission from cemeteries, are crucial before setting out to clean a grave.

Brushing off tombstones is a regular ritual in some cultures, including in Mexico where entire families clean and decorate graves, which are covered with orange marigolds for Day of the Dead. The holiday begins Oct. 31, remembering those who died in accidents; it continues Nov. 1 to mark those who died in childhood, and then those who died as adults on Nov. 2.

In the United States, cemeteries were among the country’s first public parks where communities could come together, Abrams said. But that sentiment has been lost over the years in the U.S. She hopes her work can help remove the fear surrounding cemeteries.

“I like the idea of a cemetery as a place where people can come and be and exist with the people who have passed before us,” she said.

Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

Caitlin Abrams, who became popular on TikTok for her grave cleaning videos, cleans a gravestone at a cemetery in Rupert, Vt., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Gravestones in the Rupert Street Cemetery in Rupert, Vt., are pictured Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Caitlin Abrams, who became popular on TikTok for her grave cleaning videos, cleans a gravestone at a cemetery in Rupert, Vt., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Caitlin Abrams, who became popular on TikTok for her grave cleaning videos, scrapes away moss and lichen from a gravestone at a cemetery in Rupert, Vt., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

Caitlin Abrams, who became popular on TikTok for her grave cleaning videos, scrapes away moss and lichen from a gravestone at a cemetery in Rupert, Vt., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a wide-ranging criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.

Lucas, who has been in elected office for decades, used her political power to insulate the operation from scrutiny, according to an indictment charging her and six other defendants, including several of her relatives. She “put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve,” said U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who spoke at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.

Lucas surrendered, a Justice Department spokesperson said, and was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court on Thursday afternoon.

The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas' hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May. At the time of the search, Lucas — who has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration — characterized it as an attempt to intimidate her.

“This is the circus we always expected it to be, and we will wait for further details to have a more specific response,” said Brian Woolfolk, chief counsel for the L. Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund.

A statement attributed to Lucas posted on her social media account did not directly address the substance of the charges but said Thursday's actions amounted to the federal government wielding its “full weight” against a great-grandmother.

“I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down,” Lucas said in the statement.

The brash 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state Senate, where she is the president pro tempore, overseeing the chamber in the lieutenant governor’s absence. More significantly, she leads the powerful Senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow. She’s used the position to stop and ultimately kill legislation she opposes.

The indictment comes as Trump’s Justice Department has faced intense scrutiny over investigations and prosecutions against foes of the president that critics have called politically motivated.

Blanche rejected any suggestion that politics played a role in Lucas’ case, noting that the investigation began well before the second Trump administration started in January 2025.

“We don’t do political paybacks,” Blanche told reporters.

A person familiar with the May search told The Associated Press at the time that the probe was opened during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

Patel said in a statement that the charges allege “Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, ‘the Lucas Enterprise’ — using Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”

“No one is above the law," the statement said, "and this FBI will continue to follow the facts with our Justice Department and ensure those responsible for criminal conduct are held accountable.”

A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021, selling hemp and CBD products. While marijuana is legal to possess in Virginia, recreational retail sales of the drug are not yet underway, though shops across the state do sell other cannabis-derived products.

Lucas also runs a network of companies that provide residential, transportation and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities.

Court records related to the case for months have been sealed, though earlier this year the Department of Justice sent at least two rounds of letters notifying journalists, politicians and others in Lucas’ orbit that their communications with Lucas had been intercepted as part of a court-approved wiretap that ran for two one-month time spans.

At the time of the search, many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas, expressing skepticism about the basis for the search, given the Department of Justice’s efforts to establish criminal conduct by perceived Trump opponents.

Lucas has publicly spoken about her ownership stake in the cannabis shop as recently as June, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name.

Lucas, who represents a district that includes her hometown of coastal Portsmouth, operates with a sometimes-profane, unapologetic style that’s drawn comparisons to Trump.

She amassed a six-figure following on X and national attention, using the social media platform to advocate forcefully for her priorities and to bash her critics, including former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She’s also occasionally blasted members of her own party, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, with whom she’s had disagreements.

Earlier this year, Lucas helped lead Democrats’ ultimately unsuccessful plan to gerrymander the blue-leaning state’s congressional districts into a map intended to elect 10 Democrats and only one Republican. Along the way, she posted quips about four GOP members the intended map sought to oust, joking that they soon would be working at McDonald’s. She and other Democrats defended the maps as a reasonable response to Trump-backed efforts to boost the GOP’s midterm advantage in other states.

Lucas has notched several historic firsts in her career. According to a biography from the state library, in 1971 she became the Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s first female shipfitter, a physically demanding job that involves working on metal assemblies for vessels.

She launched her political career in 1984, when, the biography said, she became the first Black woman elected to the Portsmouth city council.

In her decades in the state Senate, Lucas has been a staunch advocate for abortion rights and increased public school funding and a leading voice on issues of racial justice and civil rights.

In 2019, after Democrats flipped control of the chamber, her peers elected her to serve as president pro tempore. And in 2024, she was tapped to lead the chamber’s budget committee, gaining enormous sway over any legislation tied to the state budget. In that post, she played a leading role in killing Youngkin’s proposal to bring Washington’s NBA and NHL teams to a proposed $2 billion development in Virginia.

Rankin reported from Richmond. Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.

FBI Director Kash Patel, right, and US Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, answer questions during a press conference announcing the indictment of Virginia State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

US Attorney General Todd Blanche answers questions during a press conference announcing the indictment of Virginia State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

FBI Director Kash Patel, right, US Attorney General Todd Blanche, center, and Assistant US Attorney Theophani Stamos, during a press conference announcing the indictment of Virginia State Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Thursday Oct. 22, 2026, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

FILE - Virginia Senate President pro tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, listens to debate on the Senate floor, Feb. 17, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Ryan M. Kelly, File)

FILE - Virginia Senate President pro tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, listens to debate on the Senate floor, Feb. 17, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Ryan M. Kelly, File)