A Pennsylvania community is mourning the loss of a 64-year-old woman, whose body was recovered four days after she fell into a sinkhole.
Elizabeth Pollard - a grandmother and resident of Unity Township - was first reported missing on the morning of December 3.
She had gone out the previous evening with her 5-year-old granddaughter to search for her lost cat.
While her granddaughter was later found safe and asleep in Pollard's car, the grandmother's whereabouts remained a mystery until Friday, December 6, when her body was discovered approximately 30 feet below ground.
“During the course of the removal of dirt and sifting through things, we did find Elizabeth,” Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani announced during a press conference, per PEOPLE. "She was about 12 feet southwest of where the original sinkhole occurred."
The area where Pollard was found overlapped with an abandoned mine shaft, complicating search efforts. Marguerite Fire Chief Scot Graham explained that crews had to rely on machinery to recover Pollard’s body due to unsafe conditions.
Authorities believe Pollard fell through a deteriorating section of the mine, landing on a mound of dirt. From there, she fell approximately 12 feet away from the initial sinkhole.
"The best we could figure out right now,” Limani explained, “because obviously we don’t have the autopsy back…[is] when she fell through the shaft and she landed and struck that mound— [then] it appeared that she rolled or moved that 12 feet or so where our initial spot was."
Rescuers experienced further difficulty "because we knew she was probably going to hit the top [of that mound] and where she went from there was going to be the difficulty of how the gravity affected her location".
"The condition of the mine that we’ve been working through has changed our potential outlook," Limani said, adding that the recovery process was slowed by the fragile state of the terrain.
An autopsy will determine Pollard's exact cause of death.
The sinkhole, which formed as the mine collapsed, has raised safety concerns in the area. Authorities are now working to stabilize the ground by refilling the hole and installing grout to prevent further collapses.
The New York Times adds that Limani said there was no sign of the cat.
Pollard’s recovery brought painful closure for her family, who had braced "for the worst".
"I couldn’t have been more happy for the family that we were able to find her because that was the only thing they were concerned with,” Limani said. “We grieve for you. Our heart aches for what you’re having to go through.”
Pollard’s son, Axel Hayes, expressed both relief and sorrow. “I am more happy that they found her, but not in the condition we were hoping for,” he told The New York Times.
Hayes added: “We were hoping she had maybe fallen and hit her head and was maybe unconscious or in a coma and that it wouldn’t come to this.”
The tragic accident has highlighted the importance of addressing the hazards posed by aging infrastructure, such as abandoned mines, in residential areas. As the community works to process the loss of a beloved neighbor, Pollard’s family is focused on honoring her memory.
“She was a loving grandmother, a kind person," Hayes said. "We can only thank everyone who worked tirelessly to bring her back to us."