Search for missing Pa. grandmother in sinkhole shifts to recovery effort: Police

UNITY TWP., Pa. -- The dangerous search for a missing grandmother who officials believe fell into a deep sinkhole in Pennsylvania is now considered a recovery effort, police said Wednesday.

A challenging excavation has been underway at an abandoned coal mine in Unity Township since Tuesday when police said Elizabeth Pollard was reported missing after she was not heard from after searching for her cat.

The sinkhole is believed to be tied to the mine and formed while Pollard was walking in the area, officials said.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said authorities are "virtually positive" that she is in the mine, though do not believe she could still be alive at this stage based on the conditions underground, including the level of oxygen.

"I know we had a lot of hopes," Limani said during a press briefing Wednesday evening, calling the development "difficult."

"Unless it's a miracle, most likely it's recovery," Limani said, later noting that it's "definitely recovery" at this stage.

Rescue crews have been pumping oxygen into the mine, though it's "lower than what you'd want for someone to try and sustain their life," he said.

Cameras and sound devices have not found any signs of life that would warrant them to try to push ahead with urgency at the risk posed to search crews, he said.

He said authorities have had an "emotional" conversation with Pollard's family to update them on the shift to a recovery effort.

"It feels like we failed," an emotional Limani said. "But if somebody else gets hurt, I think it would be worse."

Limani said crews will continue to work to recover Pollard and are preparing for inclement weather to resume the search on Thursday.

"We're not quitting," he said. "We are going to continue to work through this. It's just taken longer than we thought. And the mine is just not in good condition."

Pollard was last seen Monday evening, police said. Her vehicle was located shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday with her 5-year-old granddaughter safe inside, though Pollard was nowhere to be seen, police said.

While searching for Pollard in the area, troopers found an apparent sinkhole with an opening about the "size of a manhole" 15 to 20 feet away from the vehicle, according to Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani.

Local firefighters, a technical rescue team and the state's Bureau of Mine Safety worked alongside an excavation team to remove dirt to access the sinkhole, Limani said.

Search crews were able to make entry into the mine area, though the integrity of the mine has been compromised by the water they are using to break up the ground, Limani said. Parts of the mine have started to buckle and collapse, he said.

"We're afraid we're going to make it worse if try to continue to plow forward with the techniques that we were using," he said.

The area where the sinkhole formed has a "very thin layer of earth" and appears to have been deteriorating "for a long time," Limani said. Other areas near the sinkhole have been deemed unsafe and will be quarantined off with round-the-clock police surveillance, Limani said.

The mine last operated in 1952, according to the state's Department of Environmental Protection. The depth to the coal seam in this area is approximately 20 feet, a department spokesperson said.

Once the scene is clear, the department will investigate the site "to determine if this issue is the result of historic mine subsidence," the spokesperson said.