An elderly woman who fell into the sinkhole in Pennsylvania feared death as police said that the search operation is likely to have now entered into the recovery efforts.
According to BBC, 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard was reported missing by her family after she went out to find her cat on Monday night, December 2, 2024.
Officials believe that the woman might have fallen into a 30-ft (9m) deep sinkhole while searching for her cat and began a rescue operation in the sinkhole, which is connected to a mine in the town of Marguerite.
But after two days of searching, the police on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, feared that the search efforts may be turned into a recovery operation as the rescuers still needed an extra day of digging to find the woman.
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Stephen Limani said, “Unless it's a miracle, most likely this is (a) recovery (effort),” adding, “I know we have a lot of hopes, and maybe there is still a glimmer of hope, but based off of oxygen levels being a little lower, even though we've pumped oxygen into the mine, it's lower than what you would want for someone to try and sustain their life. It's been difficult.”
Moreover, the police noted that because of the “fragile state of the mine,” they had to change the strategy and change what they were trying to do earlier, as the abandoned mine had become a dangerous place to send people in to search underground.
“We were trying to basically suction the removal of dirt and debris and rocks and even using water to try and soften the debris up or even push it out of our way to [now] where we have to dig out a massive area, more than four times the size of the area that we had originally done, to try and secure the mine so we can access it to try and go in there and recover her," Limani explained.
Even after placing the electronic devices, including cameras and microphones, the rescuers found no sign of Mrs. Pollard, but the rescue personnel vowed that they were “not quitting” and would continue to work.
