Police card A composite image showing the pit and Elizabeth Pollard. Ms Pollard smiles at the camera, has long blonde hair and wears a black blouse with white patterns. The hole is lit by a flashlight and is surrounded by grass at the opening. Police document
Police believe Elizabeth Pollard fell into a large hole while searching for her cat
Authorities in Pennsylvania are searching underground for a woman who allegedly fell into a 30-foot-deep pit that may have opened beneath her feet while searching for her missing cat.e0584260-b1cc-11ef-a0f2-fd81ae5962f4.jpg.webp
Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was reported missing by family members after she went looking for the cat on Monday night.
The authorities who arrived for the first time on the scene almost fell into the same hole, which they believe is connected to an abandoned coal mine. Microphones and cameras were lowered into the hole, but Ms. Pollard has not yet been found. Authorities say their cameras picked up what appeared to be a shoe.
Ms. Pollard's car was found parked behind a restaurant in the town of Marguerite, 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, on Tuesday morning.
Her five-year-old granddaughter was in the car, authorities said, adding that the girl was cold but not injured.
Pennsylvania State Police Officer Stephen Limani told reporters that the hole was the size of a municipal building. What are the sinkholes and what are their causes?
CBS An aerial view shows rescue workers working around the sinkhole, which is located next to a single-story building. A tractor, crane and fire extinguisher are also nearby. CBS
Rescuers widened the original hole and opened a second one in an attempt to access the victim
"It was about the size of a manhole cover, but the pocket underneath is significantly larger, and in trying to send cameras down there, we determined it would take about 30 feet before we could see much debris," Mr. Port said.
Authorities believe the sinkhole opened while Ms. Pollard was inside looking for her cat, Pepper. They hope she will be rescued in an underground "vacuum." "It appears that the hole may have formed while Mrs. Pollard was walking," said Mr. The port.
"We see no record of a time when this hole could have been there before Mrs. Pollard decided to walk and look for her cat."
More than 100 people took part in rescue operations on Wednesday, he added. State government mining experts are also at the site and authorities have dug an additional pit to access the site, which they fear is unstable.34752b70-b1d1-11ef-a0f2-fd81ae5962f4.jpg.webp
Temperatures, which have dropped below freezing in recent days, are much warmer in the hole than on the surface. Authorities have not yet detected any dangerous gas that is sometimes found in abandoned mines. John Bacha, chief of the Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Company, told reporters that the shoe found does not appear to be from when the mine was still in operation.
"It's a modern shoe, not something you would find in a coal mine in Marguerite in the 1940s," he said, according to NBC News.
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