Body of missing Pennsylvania grandmother found at bottom of sinkhole
Elizabeth Pollard was last seen in Unity Township on Monday night while looking for her cat, troopers said. A witness saw her walking near a restaurant around 5 p.m. When she didn't return home by 1 a.m., a relative called police.
Drone video shows site of sinkhole that claimed life of Pennsylvania grandmother
Aerial video shows where the body of a 64-year-old Pennsylvania woman was found after she apparently fell into a sinkhole. (Video: KDKA via NNS)
UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The body of a 64-year-old Pennsylvania grandmother has been found four days after she went missing at the site of a gaping sinkhole, according to Pennsylvania State Police (PSP).
Elizabeth Pollard was found at 11:05 a.m. Friday morning about 30 feet below the surface in a sinkhole, PSP Public Relations Officer Steve Limani said at a press conference Friday afternoon.
Pollard's body was about 12 feet southwest of where the original sinkhole occurred, a location influenced by what authorities described as a "Hershey Kiss"-shaped debris pile inside the sinkhole.
Drone shot of the sinkhole.
(KDKA via NNS / FOX Weather)
"When she fell through the shaft, she landed and struck that mound of, we'll call it like a ‘Hershey Kiss’ – it appears that she rolled or moved that 12 feet or so where our initial spot was," Limani said.
He noted that Pollard likely hit the top of the mound and then was pulled by gravity to her final location.
Specialized equipment moving dirt around the sinkhole behind the restaurant.
( KDKA / NNS / FOX Weather)
Pollard was last seen in Unity Township on Monday night while looking for her cat, troopers said. A witness saw her walking near a restaurant at about 5 p.m. When she didn't return home by 1 a.m., a relative called the police.
At around 3 a.m., PSP located Pollard’s car behind the restaurant. They noted that Pollard’s 5-year-old granddaughter was inside the vehicle, presumably for the eight hours between when Pollard was last seen and when police arrived.
"We, at that point in time, realized this could be a very bad situation," Limani said on Tuesday.
Drone shot of the sinkhole.
(KDKA via NNS / FOX Weather)
Upon further inspection of the area, police located a sinkhole about the size of a manhole that was 15-20 feet away from the vehicle, he said.
Sinkholes are not uncommon in the area due to subsidence or gradual caving in of the ground caused by coal mining activity in the area, according to Pleasant Unity Fire Chief and Operations Officer John Bacha.