'It's been difficult:' Unity sinkhole rescue effort turns into recovery mission

Efforts to rescue a woman believed to have been swallowed by a sinkhole in Unity have turned into a recovery mission, authorities said Wednesday evening, as first responders believe the chances of finding Elizabeth Pollard alive are slim.

After nearly two days of nonstop efforts to locate Pollard, involving volunteers and heavy machinery, emergency crews planned to take a more measured approach for safety’s sake, moving to a dawn-to-dusk operation, according to state police spokesman Trooper Steve Limani.

“It’s been difficult,” said an emotional Limani. “It feels like a little bit of a loss, as an emergency responder and as a police officer.

“It feels like we failed. But if somebody else gets hurt, I think it would be worse.”

A once-surgical approach to searching for Pollard, 64, of Unity, turned to a “heavy dig” operation early Wednesday. Conditions became too dangerous to send search-and-rescue personnel into the former Marguerite coal mine into which Pollard fell, said Pleasant Unity Fire Chief John Bacha.

The long-abandoned mine was “way too unstable to send people down there,” said Bacha, operations manager for the rescue effort.

Limani likened the mine to a fragile “house of cards.”

“The mine is just not in good condition,” he said. “It’s got areas where it’s started to collapse and decay and buckle a little bit.”

Conditions worsened as emergency crews descended into the mine, Limani said. “Buckling started to happen. Other areas started to drop, and new debris would fall from the ceiling. It just kept getting scarier.”

As the potential hazards for the crews increased, he said, “the potential just kept getting lower and lower” for bringing out Pollard safely.

Limani said crews were unable to locate Pollard, and there were no signs of life detected with cameras or sound devices. A shoe was seen twice underground but did not lead to any other clues, he said.

Though oxygen was pumped into the mine, he said, the level inside was “lower than what you’d want for someone to sustain their life.”

“Maybe there’s still a glimmer of hope,” he said before adding, “Unless it’s a miracle, most likely it’s just recovery.”

He said officials had a heartfelt discussion with Pollard’s family as they decided to scale back the emergency response.

“The family could still use prayers,” he said. “I think they get it. We’re going to recover (Pollard), and we’re going to do right by them. We’re virtually positive she’s in the mine.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster for all the people involved.”

Scores of emergency personnel from multiple agencies worked since early Tuesday to find Pollard, who went missing Monday evening while searching for her cat, Pepper, in the area of Monday’s Union Restaurant.

Authorities believe she fell into the nearly 30-foot-deep sinkhole.

At a news conference midday Wednesday, Bacha said, “The roof of the mine has collapsed in several places. There are also several different seams of the mine that come together in the area where this happened.

“Going into the mines is not a safe thing to do at this point.”

Part of the noon press conference regarding the Unity search for Elizabeth Pollard. pic.twitter.com/wVYW8eGLk6

— Patrick Varine - Tribune-Review (@VarineTrib) December 4, 2024

Limani said equipment would be used to continue excavating and shoring up an area of the mine near the sinkhole. Crews also prepared for wintry weather expected to bring high winds and snow to the area overnight from Wednesday through Thursday morning.

“We’re going to work smart and make sure that we don’t create a more horrific scenario for the people in this community and potentially collapse that entire mine,” he said.

During the first day of operations at the sinkhole site, water was being used to help break down clay and earth in an effort to remove the material from the mine. That water, at 28 degrees, was pushed through a 55-degree environment that had been untouched for seven decades, Limani said before dawn Wednesday.

“The water being pushed through the mine to help break down the materials so we can suck it out is causing distress on the integrity,” he said. “That distress is actually becoming dangerous for potential other mine subsidence to take place, and it’s putting some of the people at risk, and we’re probably going to have to switch gears … and a little bit more complicated of a dig.”

An engineer from the state Bureau of Mine Safety has been on site to help with the operation. Crews will be adding supports to protect against collapse.

“We’re in it, we just can’t be running water through it,” Limani said. “The water helps break up the thick, clay sludge that’s in there. And that water is also deteriorating parts of that mine.”

By Wednesday evening, Limani said, crews had excavated an area equal to roughly two box trucks stacked on top of each other.

He said experts have estimated the excavation may have to be made four times as large as the recovery effort continues.

“It’s going to be at least another day of just solid digging,” he said.

Limani said authorities planned to cordon off an area at the rear of the restaurant property and maintain surveillance. They are concerned about the surface’s stability and want to prevent anyone from walking there.

“There are several places that are very sketchy that we would not deem safe,” he said. “We see visual sinking where it could be dangerous if you’re on foot.”

Limani said the owners of Monday’s Union Restaurant are aware the excavation is expected to reach very near the garage behind the restaurant and have demonstrated support for the emergency operations.

“They’re entrenched in this community,” he said.

State police say they believe Pollard drove to the parking lot behind the restaurant, handed two hunters a flyer about her missing cat and walked into an adjacent field to look for the feline. The manhole-sized sinkhole opened beneath her, police said.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday, troopers discovered Pollard’s 5-year-old granddaughter inside a vehicle parked behind a garage at the rear of the restaurant. The girl was alone for hours but did not require medical attention, Limani said.

Floodlights illuminated the area just off Marguerite Road overnight, and emergency vehicles hummed a few feet away from homes in below-freezing temperatures. Members of the Pennsylvania Urban Search & Rescue team worked in shifts to conduct operations.

Search and rescue crews continue around 11am, digging behind Monday’s Union Restaurant in Unity in search of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard, who is believed to have fallen into a mine sinkhole. pic.twitter.com/BOB6Y5fqRu

— Patrick Varine - Tribune-Review (@VarineTrib) December 4, 2024

Search-and-rescue personnel Tuesday evening accessed the mine but were contending with debris and clay, which slowed the operation, officials said.

That area has been deteriorating for quite some time, Limani said.

“There is a very thin layer of earth, and, to be honest with you, it appears to be mostly just grass interwoven where she had stepped,” he said. “There wasn’t much earth at all to hold up that space.”

Mud-soaked firefighters and search crews from around the region took breaks and sought warmth throughout the night inside the restaurant with donated food and drinks. Monday’s Union Restaurant owner Anita Iannuzzo made seafood gumbo and chicken noodle soup. Limani said local restaurants, businesses and residents made donations to help fuel the operation.

As many as 100 people from multiple agencies were at the scene, as well as a search-and-rescue dog. Equipment from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County and Ligonier Construction Co. is being used to clear dirt and debris.

Crews were working about 40 feet below ground.

“The cooperation has been phenomenal,” said Bud Mertz, director of Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety, who added he has received offers of help from neighboring counties. “I think that the incident management team has done an outstanding job.”

LIVE: I’m here outside of Monday’s Union Restaurant in Unity, where emergency crews have been searching around the clock for a woman believed to have fallen into a sinkhole.

Follow along with me for social media coverage of the scene @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/9RiAQjtD5o

— Megan Swift (@mgswift7) December 4, 2024

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 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,” Mertz said. “It’s a very, very sad, but unique situation.”

Pollard was reported missing at 1 a.m. Tuesday, and crews had been working nonstop since about 3:30 a.m. that day

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.

Renatta Signorini and Patrick Varine are a TribLive staff writers. They can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com and pvarine@triblive.com.