A 64-year-old woman was found dead four days after she fell through a shaft at the top of an abandoned mine in Pennsylvania, officials say.
Elizabeth Pollard was reported missing by family members after she went looking for her cat on Monday night.
Investigators later determined that he fell into a 30-foot (9m) shaft connected to an abandoned coal mine in the town of Marguerite.
On Wednesday, police said they strongly believed the search was a recovery mission, rather than a rescue.
The discovery of Ms Pollard’s body was confirmed by the Westmoreland County Coroner to KDKA-TV, part of CBS, the BBC’s US affiliate.
On Thursday, the search teams said they were worried that the mine might collapse as they continued to search for his body.
“The goal is to remove the debris and get them out of the ground removing the debris,” Pennsylvania State Trooper Steve Limani said Thursday.
“We will take that waste and put it in different piles,” he added. “We’re going to get people to investigate this mess, looking into it, maybe we can charge a cell phone or anything that might be important.”
Early in the search effort, recovery teams used electronic devices and cameras lowered into the hole, but found nothing.
Rescuers have also been using water to remove dirt and mud from the mine, which ceased operations in the middle of the 20th century.
At one point, more than 100 people were involved in the search.
Sinkhole deaths are rare in the US, but they do happen.
According to the American Geosciences Institute, Pennsylvania is among the most sinking states, along with Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Similar holes had been reported in the area where Ms Pollard died, mainly due to the sinking and shifting of disused landmines.