Rescue teams in Pennsylvania are searching for a grandmother who may have plunged into a sinkhole while looking for her missing cat.
Elizabeth Pollard, 64, has not been heard from since Monday afternoon when police believe she fell into the hole in Marguerite, about 40 miles (65km) east of Pittsburgh.
Heavy machinery has been deployed to examine the site, while crews work above and below ground.
Search teams have also accessed a nearby mine to try to find her and dug a separate entrance because of concerns the ground around the sinkhole was unstable.
“As soon as you stuck the camera down through to look, you had this big void, and it was all different depths,” Marguerite Fire Chief Scot Graham told reporters at a news conference.
“We did find what appears to be a shoe, and let’s just say it’s a modern shoe,” added Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire chief John Bacha.
The local Urban Search and Rescue Task Force are examining the sinkhole for Elizabeth Pollard. Pic: AP
Rescue teams worked through the night in Marguerite, Pennsylvania. Pic: AP
The family of Ms Pollard called police at about 1 am on Tuesday to report her missing after saying she had gone to search for Pepper, her cat.
Her car was found parked by a local restaurant said Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson, Trooper Steve Limani. But she was not inside.
Trooper Steve Limani from Pennsylvania State Police said they need to get ‘a little bit lucky’
“What we did find was her five-year-old granddaughter, who was in the vehicle… luckily that five-year-old was ok,” he said.
“The sinkhole, it appears, was most likely created during the time while, unfortunately, Ms Pollard was walking around. There is no evidence of any time when that hole would have been here prior to her deciding to walk around looking for her cat,” he added.
It is believed the manhole-sized opening was new, but sinkholes like that are not uncommon in the area because of subsidence from local coal mining activity.
A team from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said they believe the underground void is likely to be linked to the Marguerite Mine, last operated by the H C Frick Coke Company in 1952.
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The Pittsburgh coal seam is about 6m (20ft) below the surface, while this sinkhole is estimated to be at least 9m (30ft) deep.
While temperatures have been freezing, they are warmer below ground and rescue teams say oxygen levels have remained stable.
When asked about the prospect of finding Ms Pollard alive, Trooper Limani said: “We need to get a little bit lucky… we need a little bit of luck on our side.”
Content Source: news.sky.com