Early Wednesday morning, rescue teams began a search for a 64-year-old woman who disappeared while searching for her missing cat and is believed to have fallen into a newly formed sinkhole linked to an old coal mine in western Pennsylvania.
Rescue operations continued overnight in Marguerite, where Elizabeth Pollard was reported missing. A spokesperson for state police indicated that they were reevaluating their strategies in light of the unsafe conditions developing at the mine. “The integrity of that mine is starting to become compromised,” Trooper Steve Limani stated during a press conference.
Bright lights illuminated the snowflakes fluttering down as search crews operated both above and below ground at the scene. On Tuesday, teams deployed a pole camera with a listening device into the sinkhole but were unable to detect any sounds. The footage obtained from the camera showed what appeared to be a shoe located approximately 30 feet (9 meters) under the surface, according to Limani. “It almost feels like it opened up with her standing on top of it,” he remarked.
The search for Pollard commenced after her family alerted authorities around 1 a.m. Tuesday, expressing concern for her safety since she had left on Monday evening to look for her cat, Pepper. Upon investigation, officers found her vehicle parked near Union Restaurant in Marguerite, approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh. The police also located Pollard’s 5-year-old granddaughter, who was found safely asleep in the car.
Witnesses, including hunters and workers from a nearby restaurant, reported that they had not noticed the sinkhole in the hours leading up to Pollard’s disappearance, which led rescuers to believe that the sinkhole must have formed recently. Given the frigid overnight temperatures, crews utilized an excavator to dig in the vicinity of the sinkhole.
“We are pretty confident we are in the right place. We’re hoping there is still a void she could be in,” Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Company Chief John Bacha shared with local media. By late Tuesday afternoon, search teams were accessing an old mine in their efforts to locate her, while also creating an additional entrance due to concerns pertaining to the stability of the ground surrounding the sinkhole. Authorities pledged to continue their search efforts for Pollard until she is found.
Pollard resided in a small neighborhood directly across the street from where her car and granddaughter were located. Limani noted that the young girl “nodded off in the car and woke up. Grandma never came back.” She remained in the vehicle until two state troopers safely rescued her. The fate of Pepper remains unknown.
Officials explained that sinkholes are a common occurrence in this area due to the ground settling from coal mining activities. A team from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which responded to the incident, suggested that the underground cavity is likely a result of mining operations at the Marguerite Mine, which ceased activity in 1952 under the management of H.C. Frick Coke Company. The coal seam in this region is situated around 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface.
According to Neil Shader, a spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection, the state’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation will investigate the site once the search mission concludes to determine if the sinkhole was indeed caused by the subsidence related to mining activities.