Authorities in Unity Township believe a missing woman has fallen into a massive sinkhole while looking for her cat late Monday.
Elizabeth Pollard, 64, left her 5-year-old granddaughter in a car behind Union Restaurant and went looking for the cat but never returned.
While officers were looking for her, they discovered a sinkhole just feet away from the vehicle.
They believe the sinkhole was created when Pollard was walking around due to the existing old coal mines in the area.
“You couldn’t even get close enough to the hole because of the way it was undermined,” Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Company Chief John Bacha said.
Investigators used cameras and listening devices to search the massive sinkhole but found no signs of Pollard, except from a shoe captured on a camera.
“Let’s just say it’s a modern shoe, not something you would find in a coal mine in Marguerite in 1940,” Bacha said.
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Mines and Ligonier Construction have joined search efforts.
Pollard’s granddaughter was safely returned to her parents after spending nearly 12 hours in below-zero temperatures.
