The Florida man who was swallowed by the sinkhole is still missing today and presumed dead. The gapping hole that sucked Jeff Bush and his bedroom into the bowels of the earth is too unstable to search, according to “Fox and Friends Weekend" on Saturday, March 2, 2013.
The situation for the family is unbearable as their loved one is in a hole in the ground and the search is at a stand-still while the family waits, according to ABC News on Friday. The sinkhole is expected to get bigger, so not only did the family lose a beloved family member, but they’ve also lost their home.
Looking at the home from the street, you would never know that a sinkhole opened up within its walls. It looks like any other house in the neighborhood, except for the police, rescue personal and media surrounding the property. Hillsborough County officials have ordered the evacuation of houses adjacent to the Bush home, as they are in danger if the sinkhole does expand, as predicted by the experts.
The family told reporters that around 11 p.m. on Thursday night, they heard a loud noise that sounded like a car crash. They then heard Jeff screaming for help. When Jeremy Bush went into Jeff’s bedroom, a gapping sinkhole swallowed up the room. All Jeremy could see was a section of the bed protruding out of the hole. He started to dig for his brother, but dirt kept falling in on him.
When the authorities and rescuers arrived, Jeremy was with four other family members, who had joined him by then in trying to dig Jeff out of the sinkhole. The family was ordered out of the house because it was “extremely unstable” and they feared they’d lose more people in that sinkhole.
The sinkhole remained 20 to 30 feet wide through Friday, but it has gotten much deeper than the original 20 foot depth when it first opened up. A sinkhole expert was brought in to help access the area. Larry Madrid of the Madrid Engineering Group said another collapse can happen today, or in a few days. The hole could get bigger slowly or it could happen all at once. This is a very unpredictable situation. Items from the house falling into the sink hole are getting sucked deep down into the earth, much like what happened to Jeff Bush.
Bill Bracken, an engineer working with the Hillsborough County Search and Rescue said, “Given the size of the hole, I cannot tell you why (the entire house) hasn’t collapsed yet.”
Sophisticated electronic equipment was used yesterday by the rescuers to listen for any sounds within the hole. The devices allowed them to listen for signs of life within the sinkhole, but nothing was detected.
Jeremy Bush told the media just how he tried to save his brother:
"I jumped in the hole and was trying to dig him out, but I couldn't find him," said Jeremy Bush in tears. "I thought I could hear him hollering for me to help him."
"I didn't see any part of him when I went in there," he said. "All I seen was his bed and I told my father-in-law to grab a shovel so I could start digging, and I just started digging and started digging, and the cops showed up and pulled me out of the hole and said the floor was still falling in."
Jeremy had to be rescued by the first responders. One of the crew actually jumped into the sinkhole to get Jeremy out. He needed to be pulled out of the hole, as the floor was still falling into this gapping hole.
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