In an attempt to find a lady who officials believe died after falling into a sinkhole atop an abandoned coal mine in Pennsylvania, digging crews started up again early Thursday.
The location where 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard is believed to have fallen through a recently opened sinkhole approximately three days ago has seen less than a dozen searchers return, including state police and excavator operators.
Late on Wednesday, authorities declared that they no longer believed Pollard would be found alive. She was last seen looking for her missing cat, Pepper, on Monday night. About ten hours later, her automobile was found in the town of Marguerite, close to her home, with her 5-year-old granddaughter safely inside.
On Thursday, Pollard’s son, Axel Hayes, was at her home approximately half a mile from the sinkhole with his father, Kenneth Pollard, anticipating the worst but holding out hope that the search would yield positive results.
In a phone conversation, Hayes stated, “We’re just trying to hold out hope.” Right now, we’re not entirely sure how to feel.
In his house, 75-year-old Kenny Pollard displays a picture from a trip he and his wife, Elizabeth, took to Clearwater Beach, Florida, some ten years ago. (Photo by Matt Freed/AP)
Work personnel were operating a bulldozer and crane close to the sinkhole after overnight snowfall left a thin layer on the ground. An update on the search could be given later in the day, according to state police on the scene.
Trooper Steve Limani, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Police, informed reporters late Wednesday that work will not continue overnight because they had not found any evidence of life or any other justification for pressing the excavation in a way that might endanger rescuers.
Hayes stated that he understood the choice: I would rather that no one else suffer harm.
In Marguerite, a town in Westmoreland County about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, the hole is next to Monday’s Union Restaurant. The sinkhole, which investigators believe may have erupted as Pollard passed over a section of mine subsidence, was located 20 feet from Pollard’s car.
Search crews’ efforts to locate her have been hampered by dangerous circumstances inside the mine, such as parts where the roof has collapsed, water and sticky mud, and wooden supports that have been there since the mine’s last operation around 70 years ago.
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