Search for Missing Grandma Who May Have Fallen In Sinkhole Is Now Recovery Operation

64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard was looking for her cat when she disappeared.

What began as a search operation is now a recovery mission, as officials continue to look for a Pennsylvania grandmother who apparently fell into a sinkhole while looking for her cat earlier this week.

Elizabeth Pollard, who lives in a coal mine town 40 miles outside of Pittsburgh was last seen about 5:00 p.m. Monday, searching for her cat, Pepper, when she disappeared, troopers said. Pollard's family contacted state police at around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning to report that she had not come home.

Police found Pollard's car behind a restaurant around 3:00 a.m. with her 5-year-old granddaughter safe inside, the agency reported. State troopers found a sinkhole in the area near the car nearly the size of a manhole cover, noting that the sinkhole was most likely created during the time Pollard was walking around.

"We don't see any evidence of any time where that hole would have been there prior to deciding to walk around and look for her cat," Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper Steve Limani told KDKA of the sinkhole.

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Pollard's granddaughter was unable to provide details about what happened, and had sat in the car for almost 12 hours in freezing temperatures when she was found unharmed by police.

While crews were initially searching for Pollard in hopes of finding the missing grandmother, they have now shifted gears to trying to recover Pollard from the sinkhole, after entering their third day of the search.

"We were at it again as soon as the sun came up," Limani said late Thursday morning. "Nothing yet."

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During a news conference Wednesday night, Limani said crews have performed an impressive, grueling effort on the ground attempting to locate the 64-year-old woman in an area around an abandoned mine.

He reportedly said authorities are "virtually positive" she's in the mine, but don't believe she could still be alive.

Limani said crews had worked "a full two days" pumping water through a long-abandoned underground mine at the site, suctioning out dirt, debris and rocks to clear an area and search for Pollard -- a process that has been no easy feat.

"(Crews) were just busting their butts, covered in mud, everything they could to move debris," Limani added. "During the course of our day today, we've experienced some difficulty when it came to trying to work on the mine and access to the mine and the fragile state the mine is in," he continued, adding that the mine may collapse as a result.

Because of the condition of the mine and as a safety precaution for those looking for Pollard, Limani said crews will now being working dawn until dusk to dig out a large plot, "more than four times the size of the area that we had originally done, to try and secure the mine so crews can access it to try and go in there and recover her."

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"It's going to be at least another day of just solid digging," he added.

Despite crews pumping oxygen into the mine, Limani said oxygen levels remain lower than what someone would want inside "for someone to try and sustain their life."

On Wednesday, PSP Communications Director Myles Snyder told USA TODAY a camera lowered into the hole revealed what appears to be a shoe. And while that appears to be a link to Pollard, there have been no signs of life since she disappeared.

"It's now a matter of trying to find her and do right by her family," Limani said.