Crews worked through the night and as dawn broke Wednesday in the search for a woman believed to have fallen down a sinkhole in Unity.
Floodlights illuminated the area just off Marguerite Road and emergency vehicles hummed a feet away from homes as the operation surpassed the 24-hour mark amid below-freezing temperatures. Members of the Pennsylvania Urban Search & Rescue team worked in shifts to conduct operations overnight.
Elizabeth Pollard, 64, of Unity, was last seen at 5 p.m. Monday at Monday’s Union Restaurant. State police believe Pollard drove to the parking lot behind the restaurant, handed two hunters a flyer about her missing cat, Pepper, and walked into in an adjacent field to look for the feline. A manhole-sized sinkhole opened up beneath her, police said.
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Search and rescue personnel accessed a mine Tuesday evening that is believed to have caused the sinkhole, but were contending with debris and clay, which slowed the operation, officials said.
Mud-soaked firefighters and search crews from around the county took breaks and sought warmth inside the restaurant with donated food and drinks. Temperatures dipped into the 20s overnight. Restaurant owner Anita Iannuzzo made seafood gumbo and chicken noodle soup while state Trooper Steve Limani said local restaurants and residents made donations to help fuel the operation.
Officials from the state Bureau of Mine Safety are on site working with as many as 100 people from multiple agencies, as well as a search and rescue dog. Equipment from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County and Ligonier Construction Co. is among those being used to clear dirt and debris. Crews were working about 40 feet below ground.
“The cooperation has been phenomenal,” said Mertz, who added he’s gotten offers of help from neighboring counties. “I think that the incident management team has done an outstanding job.”
Around-the-clock operation
Dozens of firefighters who were called in Tuesday from around the county to help with the arduous work were sent home later in the evening to rest. Some were being called back to the scene early Wednesday.
“That’s part of this great county’s mutual aid system, everybody’s willing to lend a hand,” said Bud Mertz, director of Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety. “It’s a very, very sad, but unique situation.”
Pollard was reported missing at 1 a.m. Tuesday and crews have been working nonstop since about 3:30 a.m. A camera dropped into the sinkhole revealed a shoe about 25 feet below ground level. Upon initial review, state Department of Environmental Protection officials believe the sinkhole was caused by the abandoned Marguerite Mine, which was last operated by H.C. Frick Coke Co. in 1952.
Rescuers dug a separate entrance to where they believe Pollard is because the ground around the sinkhole is unstable. Officials have vowed to search for her underground until she is found. The site is a few miles off Route 30 east, between the Inn at Mountain View and the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.
The safety of crews involved has been an important focus of the operation, officials said.
“They’re trying to do the best they can to be aggressive and protect the potential for the loss of life,” Limani said.
Authorities have expressed hope that warmer temperatures below ground combined with normal oxygen levels, or the potential of an air pocket, could make a rescue possible.
Marguerite Road was closed to traffic between Lemon Road and Coke Oven Hill Road.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.