Authorities Doubt Woman Will Be Found Alive in Pennsylvania Sinkhole, Searchers Say

UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa.—The search for a woman believed to have fallen into a sinkhole in western Pennsylvania has transitioned into a recovery operation after two challenging days of excavating through mud and rock yielded no signs of life, authorities reported on Wednesday.

The team engaged in the search for 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard concluded their efforts on Wednesday evening, with plans to resume their work on Thursday morning.

Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper Steve Limani stated at a news conference that officials have ceased to believe that Pollard will be found alive, yet the search for her remains continues.

“We’ve had no indications of life or anything” to motivate rescuers to “keep pushing and rushing, risking harm to others,” Limani explained. He mentioned that oxygen levels underground were dangerously low.

For two days, emergency crews and volunteers have been attempting to locate Pollard. Her family reported her missing early Tuesday, and her vehicle, with her unharmed 5-year-old granddaughter inside, was discovered approximately two hours later, near what is presumed to be a newly formed sinkhole over an old, deteriorating mine.

“We feel like we failed,” Limani remarked about the shift from rescue to recovery efforts. “It’s tough.”

Limani commended the rescuers who entered the abandoned mine to clear materials in the quest for Pollard in the village of Marguerite, located about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh.

“They emerged from there covered in mud, completely exhausted. As one group was winched up, the next was being lowered in. It was a continuous cycle,” Limani remarked.

Authorities had previously stated that the mine’s roof had collapsed in several areas, making it unstable.

“We did reach the area we thought she might be in. We have been there,” Pleasant Unity Fire Chief John Bacha, the incident’s operations officer, mentioned earlier Wednesday. “What occurred at that moment is unclear; perhaps the mud flow shifted her position. There are multiple seams and shafts within the mine that converged at this point.”

Search teams have been utilizing electronic devices and cameras while surface digging is ongoing with heavy machinery, Bacha noted. Plans are in place to significantly expand the surface opening in the coming days, especially with winter weather predictions in the area.

Geological engineer Paul Santi assessed the likelihood of Pollard’s survival if she fell into the sinkhole as “very small.”

“Numerous complications exist,” said Santi, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines. “There’s debris, water that could potentially fill the area. While it’s essential to conduct a rescue, I would be shocked if she came through this unharmed … it would require that she was spared by the fall, by the debris, and that there was a sufficient air pocket for her to survive.”

Sinkholes are prevalent in the region due to subsidence caused by coal mining practices. Rescuers have been using water to dissolve and remove clay and debris from the mine, which has remained closed since the 1950s.

Rescuers utilized a pole camera equipped with a sensitive listening device, but it picked up no sounds. Another camera lowered into the hole revealed what could possibly be a shoe approximately 30 feet down, according to Limani on Tuesday. Search teams also employed drones and thermal imaging devices without success.

Pollard’s family notified police around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, stating she was last seen around 5 p.m. on Monday while searching for her cat, Pepper. That night, temperatures fell well below freezing.

Limani indicated that the search team met with her family prior to the announcement of transitioning from rescue operations to recovery efforts. “I believe they understand,” Limani stated.

Pollard’s son, Axel Hayes, characterized her as a joyful person who enjoyed going out for leisure. She and her husband adopted Hayes and his twin brother when they were infants. Although she previously worked at Walmart, she has not been employed recently.

Hayes referred to Pollard as “a wonderful person overall, a great mother” who “never harmed anyone.”

He mentioned that at one time, Pollard had around 10 cats.

“Every cat she encountered had a special bond with her,” Hayes noted.

According to police, Pollard’s car was located parked behind Monday’s Union Restaurant in Marguerite, roughly 20 feet from the sinkhole. Local hunters and restaurant staff reported not having seen the manhole-sized opening in the lead-up to Pollard’s disappearance, suggesting the sinkhole may have formed recently.

Pollard resided in a small neighborhood directly across from where her vehicle and granddaughter were discovered by state police. The fate of the missing cat remains uncertain.

By Gene Puskar and Mark Scolforo