Sinkhole swallows Pennsylvania grandmother searching for her cat, officials say

A Pennsylvania woman looking for her pet cat is believed to have fallen into a large sinkhole, police said. The 64-year-old was a resident of Unity Township and went missing after the evening of Dec 2. Elizabeth Pollard went looking for her cat, Pepper, at around 5 pm and was not seen since then. 

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said that a relative reached out to the police on the night of Dec 3 when she did not return. 

The 64-year-old had been looking for her cat with her five-year-old granddaughter. According to the New York Times, when they went searching for her, they found the little girl still in the car. Since it was parked near the sinkhole, it led officials to believe that the woman had fallen into the sinkhole.

Limani told reporters that the girl was fine. She told the police that her grandmother left looking for the cat. While she was out the girl fell asleep in the car and when she woke up, she found that her grandma had not returned. This led police to fear the worst. "At that point in time, we realized this could be a very bad situation," Limani said at another press conference.

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The sinkhole seemed to have appeared right around the time Pollard was at the scene looking for her cat. 

“It appears that it was most likely created during the time while, unfortunately, Ms Pollard was walking around.

Hole opened up on a former coal mine

Rescue teams are on the site, digging up and lowering cameras to find the grandmother. Excavators are digging up dirl to let rescuers access the sinkhole. The state's Bureau of Mine Safety is also helping with the operation. 

Limani is hoping that the operation turns out to be a rescue mission.

“We’re hoping everyone keeps their family in their prayers, that this ends up being a rescue mission, and that’s how we’re going to continue to conduct ourselves.”

As per the Associated Press, the teams have found a shoe "about 30 feet below the surface". Limani said, “It almost feels like it opened up with her standing on top of it."

Officials said that the place the sinkhole opened up was likely a former coal mine and was last operated by the HC Frick Coke Company in 1952. A spokesperson for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection stated that it would investigate if the sinkhole was a result of historic mine subsidence.