Penn. Grandma falls down massive sinkhole while trying to save cat.

Search efforts are underway for a Pennsylvania grandmother who fell into a massive sinkhole while searching for her missing cat.

Elizabeth Pollard, 64, was reported missing by concerned family members about 1am on Tuesday who believe she disappeared while searching for her cat, Pepper, in Unity Township, Westmoreland County.

Troopers found her car parked behind Monday's Union Restaurant with her five-year-old granddaughter still inside a little over an hour after the alarm was raised. A sinkhole was then located just feet away.

'We at that point in time realized that this could be a very bad situation,' Steve Limani, a state trooper, told CNN.

The discovery triggered search and rescue efforts to find Pollard with the assumption that she fell down the hole.

The sinkhole is similar to the size of a manhole on the surface but gets much wider below ground - posing greater challenges for search efforts.

But the area is dotted with old coal mines - leading troopers to believe that it was not there before she began searching for Pepper and was most likely created when she was walking around.

Officers noted how she may have gone missing as early as 5pm - the last time she was seen by customers at the restaurant while looking for Pepper.

LINK