Grandma vanishes looking for cat — and her body is found in sinkhole, PA cops say

UPDATE: Elizabeth Pollard, missing since Dec. 2 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, was found dead Dec. 6, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Trooper Steve Limani said in a news briefing streamed by WTAE that Pollard’s body was found 30 feet deep in a sinkhole as crews removed dirt. The remains were located 12 feet away from where the sinkhole had opened up.

“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 after yesterday (when the search became a recovery mission),” Limani said.

The original story is below.

A 64-year-old woman who went missing while looking for her cat may have fallen into a sinkhole, Pennsylvania authorities say.

Pennsylvania State Police received a call at about 1 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, that Elizabeth Pollard had “gone out to look for her cat” the previous afternoon and had not been heard from since, Trooper Steve Limani said in a news briefing streamed by WTAE.

The investigation led troopers to Unity Township, and authorities found the missing woman’s vehicle behind a restaurant, Limani said. Pollard’s 5-year-old granddaughter was in the vehicle, and troopers said the girl was OK.

Only a few feet away, troopers discovered a manhole-size sinkhole had opened up in the ground, according to Limani. That sinkhole, he said, was not there earlier in the day and was likely created while Pollard searched for her cat.

Troopers said the sinkhole is about 30 feet deep, and debris within it has presented difficulties in the search for Pollard, according to KDKA. It opened up above a former coal mine.

Specialized equipment has been brought in to help search for the missing grandmother, fire officials said in the briefing. An excavation team was also brought in to move dirt around the sinkhole.

Limani said the 5-year-old grandchild was unharmed. Pollard’s last known sighting was at 5 p.m. Monday and it wasn’t until 3 a.m. that her vehicle was discovered with the child inside.

“Thank God she stayed in the car. Thank God,” he said. “Because with the temperatures outside, with the fact that that hole was in close proximity to the vehicle, that could have been horrific.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the search for Pollard remains a rescue mission, Limani said.

“We’re not stopping. We will continue until we recover her... that’s just how we act in this community,” the trooper said.

Unity Township is in Westmoreland County, about a 40-mile drive southeast from Pittsburgh.

This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 2:19 PM.