Sinkhole May Have Swallowed Missing Grandmother

Pennsylvania woman disappeared while searching for cat Monday night
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2024 7:08 PM CST
Sinkhole May Have Swallowed Missing Grandmother
This Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. image provided by the Pennsylvania State Police shows the top of a sinkhole in the village of Marguerite, Pennsylvania.   (Pennsylvania State Police via AP)

On Monday, a woman in western Pennsylvania left her 5-year-old granddaughter in her car while she searched for her missing cat, Pepper. Elizabeth Pollard never returned, and authorities fear the 64-year-old may have been swallowed by a sinkhole. State Trooper Steve Limani said Tuesday that a sinkhole about the size of a manhole cover was found around 20 feet away from Pollard's car, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "The sinkhole appears to have been created during the time Ms. Pollard was walking around," he said. "We don't see a time when it would have been created earlier."

Limani said Pollard was last seen around 5pm Monday. Her family reported her missing around 1am Tuesday and her car was found outside a restaurant around two hours later. Her granddaughter was found safe inside the vehicle. She "nodded off in the car and woke up. Grandma never came back," Limani said, per the AP. Authorities believe the sinkhole, which is at least 30 feet deep, is linked to a coal mine that closed more than 70 years ago. Pollard disappeared in Marguerite, an old coal mining community around 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, the New York Times reports. Sinkholes are common in the area.

Dozens of firefighters worked at the site on Tuesday. Fire Chief John Bacha of the Pleasant Unity Volunteer Fire Department said rescuers put a camera down the hole and spotted a shoe, the Times reports. Limani said no noises have been heard from the sinkhole but rescuers still hope Pollard will be found safe. "We're not stopping. We will continue until we recover her. That's how we act in this community," he said, per the Post-Gazette. "We will stay up to work throughout the night. No one will be stopping." (More sinkhole stories.)

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