Authorities suspect that the missing grandmother from Pennsylvania might have fallen into a newly formed sinkhole. The suspicion arose after authorities at the scene found Elizabeth Pollard's car parked next to the large sinkhole.
A sinkhole is a large hole that appears when a surface collapses or sinks. According to USGS and Wikipedia, when water dissolves layers of rock or stone over a period of time and creates empty spaces, the lack of support or external disturbances causes the surface above these empty spaces to collapse forming large holes.
In areas with limestones or gypsum, groundwater seeps through dissolving it. Rainwater that becomes acidic can also eat away underground rocks to create cavities or holes.
Droughts paired with heavy groundwater withdrawal or drought followed by heavy rainfall can also increase the chances of Sinkhole formation. Human activities like drilling, construction, groundwater overuse, sewer collapses, abandoned mines, etc can also be a reason. The USGS website states that,
Sinkholes are most common in what geologists call, “karst terrain.” These are regions where the types of rock below the land surface can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. Soluble rocks include salt beds and domes, gypsum, limestone and other carbonate rock. Florida, for instance, is an area largely underlain by limestone and is highly susceptible to sinkholes.
According to St. Johns River Water Management District, though naturally occurring Sinkholes cannot be prevented, the ones formed as a result of human activities can be prevented by decreasing groundwater pumping, maintaining high water tables, etc.
Grandma who disappeared from Pennsylvania may have fallen into a newly formed Sinkhole, police suspects.
Elizabeth Pollard is a 64-year-old from Unity Township, Pennsylvania who went looking for her missing cat Pepper at 5 p.m. on December 2. Later, at about 1 a.m. on December 3, a relative of hers reported her missing complaint to the police.
The authorities discovered Pollard's car parked next to a newly formed sinkhole. They also found Pollard's five-year-old granddaughter still in the car. According to reports, the child fell asleep, and when she woke up her Grandma was still not back.
According to the Guardian, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection believes that the sinkhole might be connected to the works of an old abandoned mine.
The rescue operation is underway and expected to continue till night. The authorities have started removing dirt and have lowered cameras into the hole, for any sign of Pollard. The first camera that was lowered into the hole could not capture anything, but the second camera was able to locate a shoe about 30 feet below the surface.
The rescue mission is being carried out by local authorities, Pennsylvania State Troopers, local rescue teams, firefighters, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mine Safety, etc. The rescue team has also entered the hole to search for Elizabeth Pollard.
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According to ABC, Trooper Steve Limani told reporters on the scene that,
Hopefully she's in an air pocket(...)This is a rescue to me until something says that it's not.
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