A frantic search has been underway since Monday for a Pennsylvania grandmother who authorities believe is trapped in a deep sinkhole connected to an unstable abandoned mine.
According to CNN, the family of Elizabeth Pollard, 64, called authorities around 1 a.m. Tuesday to say she and her 5-year-old granddaughter left the previous afternoon to look for their missing cat, who had not returned since. I told him. reported.
Pennsylvania State Police Officer Steve Limani confirmed that Pollard's car was later found parked near a restaurant in Unity Township, with her granddaughter alone inside.
A new sinkhole was discovered just a short distance from the car.
“We knew at that point that this could be a very bad situation,” Limani told reporters.
The girl remained in the car for nearly 12 hours in sub-zero weather, but was otherwise unharmed.
“She was a 5-year-old girl who was waiting in the car for her grandmother to come home,” Limani said, adding that the child was unable to tell authorities what happened to Pollard. added.
The sinkhole, which is about the width of a manhole and about 30 feet deep, “didn't exist earlier in the day,” but “there was just grass woven in where she stepped,” Limani said. explained.
Although a large-scale search and rescue operation is underway, authorities have not heard any noise from the sinkhole, and the mine connected to the sinkhole is extremely vulnerable.
Engineers are using water to flush mud from the holes, but Limani said the process is putting more stress on the structure of the abandoned mine.
“The water issues we are experiencing require extreme caution,” state trooper saidaccording to CBS News. “The integrity of that mine is beginning to be compromised.”
Although he has no idea exactly where Pollard is in the deep hole, Limani said he is likely still alive in the air pocket.
“There's nothing that says she's not alive or that there's no chance of her surviving,” he said. “There's nothing to definitively say 100 percent that couldn't happen. And until that 100 percent happens, how can we say there's any other way?”
“To be honest, we need a little bit of luck,” he added.
Experts say the temperature underground is 55 degrees Celsius, much warmer than above ground in Pennsylvania.
So far, searchers have only found shoes inside the mine using cameras.
“Let's just say this is a modern shoe and not one that was found in Marguerite's Mine in 1940,” said Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Basha.
Pollard's son Axel Hayes told CBS Pittsburgh he still has hope.
“Right now I just hope she's alive and well and that she's going to survive and that my niece still has a grandmother and that I still have a mother that I can talk to,” he said in a virtual interview. said.
