Body of missing grandmother who fell into sinkhole recovered after 4-day search

(WTRF) – The search for 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard, who fell into a sinkhole in Pennsylvania earlier this week, has concluded after local authorities confirmed her body has been found.

Pollard was reported missing early on Tuesday morning, after having last been seen looking for her cat in Westmoreland County. Search crews began operations at the site of a sinkhole near an abandoned coal mine, working diligently to dig out and reinforce the area for nearly two days.

By Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police announced that the effort had shifted from a rescue operation to a recovery phase.

On Friday, her body was recovered, a state police spokesperson said.

“I was hoping for the best, I really was,” Axel Hayes, Pollard’s son, told the Associated Press in a phone interview. “I was hoping she was still alive, maybe in a coma or something. I wasn’t expecting all of this.”

The search focused on a sinkhole that began as a manhole-sized gap and may have only recently opened above where coal was mined until about 70 years ago. Hunters and restaurant workers who were in the area in the hours before Pollard’s disappearance told police they hadn’t noticed the sinkhole.

Police said they found Pollard’s car parked about 20 feet (6 meters) from the sinkhole with her 5-year-old granddaughter sleeping inside. The cat, Pepper, has not reappeared, Hayes said.

The effort to find Pollard included lowering a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole, although it detected nothing. Crews removed a massive amount of soil and rock to try to reach the area where they believed she fell into the chasm about 30 feet (9 meters) deep.

Pollard grew up in Jeanette, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Unity Township, where she lived for much of her adult life. She previously worked at Walmart and was married for more than 40 years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.