Body found near sinkhole in Pennsylvania during search for missing woman: NPR

Rescue workers are searching for Elizabeth Pollard, who is believed to have disappeared into a hole in the ground while searching for her cat, in Marguerite, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.

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A Pennsylvania coroner’s office said Friday that investigators believe they have found the body of a woman last seen four days earlier near a sinkhole above a closed coal mine.

Westmoreland County Deputy Coroner Sean Hribal said searchers believe they have found the remains of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard.

Just after 11 a.m., a coroner was dispatched by law enforcement to Unity Township, where teams were excavating the abandoned coal mine to locate Pollard.

State Police Trooper Steve Limani told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the search team felt great relief that Pollard had been found.

“We ran out of options, time and resources,” Limani told the newspaper. “I was afraid we wouldn’t find her.”

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

Kenny Pollard, 75, holds a photo in his home from a vacation he and his wife Elizabeth took in Clearwater Beach, Florida, about 10 years ago.

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Elizabeth Pollard was last seen Monday evening looking for her cat Pepper near a restaurant half a mile from her home. Pollard’s family reported her missing around 1 a.m. Tuesday as the temperature in the area fell below freezing.

The search focused on a sinkhole with a manhole-sized surface fissure that may have opened recently in the village of Marguerite, above where coal was mined until about 70 years ago.

Police said they found Pollard’s car parked about 20 feet from the sinkhole. Pollard’s five-year-old granddaughter was found safe in the car.

Hunters and restaurant workers who were in the area in the hours before Pollard’s disappearance told police they did not notice the sinkhole.

The attempt to find Pollard involved lowering a mast camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole, but it discovered nothing. Crews removed a huge amount of earth and rock to reach the area where they believe she fell into the approximately 30-foot-deep chasm.

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