Recovery Effort Ends For Florida Man - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) - Officials have called off the effort to recover the body of a Florida man swallowed by a sinkhole below his home.

Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill says crews are still trying to learn how far the underground cavity reaches and whether more homes are at risk. He says heavy equipment will be brought in Sunday to begin demolishing the house.

Local officials say the sinkhole is not a typical one. It's described as a "chasm," and say that's prompting them to move cautiously. Engineers are trying to assess the extent of the danger. They say the sinkhole has compromised a neighboring house too.

Experts say there's a lot of limestone in that part of central Florida, making it prone to sinkholes. The area is known as "sinkhole alley," and accounts for two-thirds of the sinkhole-related insurance claims in the state.
   
Thirty-seven-year-old Jeff Bush was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Devices lowered into the hole didn't detect signs of life.
    
Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.