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When we read about the fate of someone like 91-year-old Elsie Gettman, it makes us furious and vengeful. Lynch-mob fantasies suddenly seem appealing.

But however much blame is owed to Gettman’s grandson and caregiver – and it seems like it’s a whole lot – he didn’t make her disappear all by himself. It takes a village to ignore someone this completely.

Gettman was found Monday living in the worst kind of filth, in her tiny home on Euclid. She was lying on a filth-soaked mattress, with bedsprings literally buried in her back, police say. The smell was noticeable 40 feet away.

Family members went to authorities after Gettman’s grandson stopped letting them into the home, authorities said. But the house didn’t get that filthy overnight, and we wonder how it is that no one noticed it before now.

Or maybe they did notice, and they minded their own business.

Minding your own business is, of course, a great Western tradition. Like lynch mobs.

But it’s also the only thing that can make our neighbors vanish in the midst of us. And if Elsie Gettman became that invisible, we wonder who else is out there unseen, and what kind of lives they’re living.