Search efforts are underway for a Pennsylvania grandmother who fell into a massive sinkhole while searching for her missing cat.
Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was reported missing by concerned family members about 1am on Tuesday who believe she disappeared while searching for her cat, Pepper, in Unity Township, Westmoreland County.
Troopers found her car parked behind Monday's Union Restaurant with her five-year-old granddaughter still inside a little over an hour after the alarm was raised. A sinkhole was then located just feet away.
'We at that point in time realized that this could be a very bad situation,' Steve Limani, a state trooper, told CNN.
The discovery triggered search and rescue efforts to find Pollard with the assumption that she fell down the hole.
The sinkhole is similar to the size of a manhole on the surface but gets much wider below ground - posing greater challenges for search efforts.
But the area is dotted with old coal mines - leading troopers to believe that it was not there before she began searching for Pepper and was most likely created when she was walking around.
Officers noted how she may have gone missing as early as 5pm - the last time she was seen by customers at the restaurant while looking for Pepper.
Massive search efforts are underway for 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard, a grandmother from Pennsylvania, after she fell into a deep sinkhole while looking for her cat, Pepper
State police responded to a call where they found Pollard's car with her 5-year-old granddaughter still inside and a sinkhole just feet away that is similar to the size of a manhole but widens as it gets deeper
The search, which consisted of more than 100 people working together along with an abundance of resources and technology, has so far brought no sign of Pollard
An initial look into the hole consisted of using a ladder and a harness - but there were no signs of Pollard.
'You couldn't even get close enough to the hole because of the way it was undermined,' John Bacha, the Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Company Chief, told CNN.
The massive search that followed utilized cameras and listening devices that were dropped into the hole as well as more than 100 people working together at one point to search for the missing grandmother.
But the resources and technology used in the search picked up no sounds or images of Pollard - except for one camera that captured what appeared to be a shoe.
'Let's just say it's a modern shoe, not something you would find in a coal mine in Marguerite in 1940,' Bacha added.
Ligonier Construction is now working alongside officers and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mines to evacuate and dig up the sinkhole.
So far, there has been no communication with Pollard.
Pollard's 5-year-old granddaughter was unharmed and is now back with her parents, despite sitting in nearly below-freezing temperatures for nearly 12 hours.
The area is dotted with old coal mines - leading troopers to believe that it was not there before she began searching for Pepper and was most likely created when she was walking around
Pollard was last seen by customers at Monday's Union restaurant where her car was discovered - which held her young granddaughter who was waiting for her grandmother's return for nearly 12 hours
So far, there has not been any communication with Pollard, but the search is set to continue throughout the night
But she was unable to give any further details about what happened.
'She was just a five-year-old girl that was waiting in the car for her grandmother to come back,' Limani added.
Mike O'Barto, the chair of the Unity Township Board of Supervisors, told WPXI that they put a resolution together which declared a disaster emergency - giving the township and EMS the chance to acquire any equipment they may need for the search without having to go through the bidding process.
Rescuers are hoping that she may be stuck in the void - which has plenty of oxygen and warmer temperatures than outside - and unharmed.
'Let's be honest, we need to get a little bit lucky,' Limani told CNN.
Search efforts are set to continue overnight.
