Search team recovers remains of Pennsylvania woman who fell into sinkhole

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Associated Press, via WTOP

Search team recovers remains of Pennsylvania woman who fell into sinkhole
The Associated Press

December 6, 2024, 1:38 PM



Rescue workers continue to search, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, for Elizabeth Pollard, who is believed to have disappeared in a sinkhole while looking for her cat, in Marguerite, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

The remains of a woman who fell into a sinkhole were recovered Friday, four days after she went missing while searching for her cat, a state police spokesman said Friday.

Trooper Steve Limani said the body of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard was being taken to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy.

A coroner was dispatched by law enforcement shortly after 11 a.m. to Unity Township, where crews have been excavating the abandoned coal mine in an effort to locate Pollard.

Axel Hayes, Pollard’s son, said in a brief phone interview Friday that he had not heard from authorities and planned to call his father, Kenny Pollard, to let him know.

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Read more: https://wtop.com/national/2024/12/coroner-says-searchers-think-they-have-found-missing-pennsylvania-woman-last-seen-near-sinkhole/

[ultralite001]

1. 💔💔💔

TIA...

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Cross gently, Elizabeth.

[FakeNoose]

3. This woman had the most horrible luck, the ground caved in underneath her

I hope her death was quick and merciful. May she rest in peace.

[Emile]

4. Sink hole caused by coal mining?

[get the red out]

5. I was wondering

That was what I was wondering too, I am sure PA has old closed mines around that are no longer remembered, like back in Eastern Kentucky where I grew up.

[maxsolomon]

7. Yes. The ceiling of the old mine gave way.

Opened a 30' deep shaft to the surface underneath her feet. In her yard.

[Botany]

6. In old coal country areas in the mountains do

... not go look for kitty in the dark and in snowfall too. You can just be walking and
then you can disappear in a second. Dark or light.

[rickford66]

8. I grew up in Scranton PA and this was common.

A whole building could sink a dozen or more feet. In the 60's the mines were flushed with water and filler (I guess stone, sand and other available material). The setup in front of my parent's home was there for several months. Some mines were pretty close to the surface since the hard coal wasn't that far down. We could even see soft coal if we dug down a few feet. As usual, the beneficiaries of the coal were long gone and the taxpayers paid for the fix.

[FakeNoose]

9. Yes it's a problem in many areas of Pennsylvania

Many of the oldest mines weren't carefully mapped, or the old maps are lost. So in many cases it's not even possible to trace where the mine tunnels were originally dug and covered up.

Since most of those old mines went out of use 100 or so years ago, there have been subsidence, cave-ins, lime deposits dissolving and refreezing, etc. It's really a nightmare what can go wrong on property that might look safe but really isn't.

[Clouds Passing]

10. Elizabeth