Sinkhole may have swallowed Pennsylvania grandmother looking for missing cat: police
UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) - Pennsylvania State Police and other first responders are looking for a missing grandmother who may have fallen into a sinkhole while looking for her missing cat.
State Police in Marguerite say around 1 a.m. ET Tuesday, the family of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard contacted law enforcement saying she had not returned while looking for her missing cat on Monday.
Troopers said in a press conference that during the search, they found Pollard's young granddaughter in her vehicle near Monday's Union Restaurant in Marguerite, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh.
They believe the 5-year-old, who was found safe, had been in the vehicle for approximately 10 hours. The child has been reunited with her family.
While searching nearby for Pollard, troopers noticed a manhole-sized hole that appeared to be new, as it had gone unnoticed by hunters and restaurant workers who were in the area in the hours before Pollard's disappearance.
After finding the hole, authorities said it became an "all hands on deck scenario" to begin a rescue mission. It's not clear how deep the hole is, but the area was previously home to coal mining.
According to Trooper Steve Limani, approximately 100 people have been involved in the search so far. The situation is described to be active, and an excavator was brought in to dig in the area.
Crews lowered a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole in Marguerite on Tuesday morning but detected nothing. A second camera lowered into the hole showed what could be a shoe.
“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 told Triblive.
A team from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which responded to the scene, concluded the underground void is likely the result of work in the Marguerite Mine, last operated by the H.C. Frick Coke Company in 1952. The Pittsburgh coal seam is about 20 feet below the surface in that area.
Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Neil Shader said the state’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation will examine the scene after the search is over to see if the sinkhole was indeed caused by mine subsidence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.