Heartbreaking final moments of man who vanished without a trace after a sinkhole swallowed up his entire bedroom
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Fox 13/ABC News
The final moments of a man who was killed after a sinkhole swallowed up his entire bedroom have been revealed by his brother.
Over a decade ago now, Jeffrey Bush, from Florida, vanished after being sucked into a sinkhole which opened up below his house in Tampa.
Shockingly, his entire bedroom became engulfed, taking Jeff along with it.
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The tragic incident, which took place on 1 March 2013, saw a sinkhole estimated to measure around 20 feet across and 20 feet deep opened up right below Jeff's bedroom.
Jeremy, his brother, has since recalled the heartbreaking final moments of his sibling.
The devastated brother told CNN's 'AC360' at the time that he 'ran toward' the bedroom to help, but by the time he reached it 'everything was gone'.
"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care," Jeremy recalled.
"He was screaming my name. I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him. I wanted to save my brother. But I just couldn't do nothing."
Jeremy told The Guardian in a separate interview how he jumped into the hole himself to try and reach for his brother.
After risking his own life, all Jeremy could see was 'the cable wire running from the TV going down into the hole,' alongside 'a corner of the bed and a corner of the box spring and the frame of the bed'.
A police officer was forced to drag Jeremy out once they had arrived to ensure he didn't suffer the same horrible fate.
The crew then got to work to save Jeff, lowering specialist equipment into the hole.
But unfortunately, Hillsborough County fire rescue spokesperson Jessica Damico confirmed there was no sign of him and ongoing observation showed no signs of life either.
The ground and the house in general were considered to be too dangerous for engineers to venture into after a few days, too.
Jeremy's wife and daughter were in the house at the time of the tragic incident.
He claimed his daughter was missing her uncle.
"She keeps asking where her Uncle Jeff is. I lost everything. I work so hard to support my wife and kid and I lost everything," Jeremy said.
The state of Florida is no stranger to sinkhole problems due to the limestone underneath the soil which can melt from prolonged periods of rain.
There were about 27,000 reported sinkhole incidents across Florida in 2022, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection database.