Screaming man sucked into huge sinkhole in bedroom and hasn't been seen since

19 April 2023 , 10:00

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Jeffrey Bush, 37, was asleep when a sinkhole opened up beneath his home in Seffner, Florida (Image: abc Action News)

A man disappeared after being sucked into a giant 100ft sinkhole that opened beneath his bedroom - and he's not been seen since.

Jeffrey Bush was heard screaming for help from his brother Jeremy, who was at home in 2003 when he was sucked into the gaping hole.

Jeremy said it took him only seconds to race to his brother's room and jump into the hole, but the dirt was quickly rising to neck level and Jeffrey was nowhere to be seen.

It's now been 10 years since the incident and no sign of Jeffrey has ever been seen - so he is presumed dead.

The day after the sinkhole opened, the house and grounds were deemed too dangerous by engineers and no further rescue attempts could be embarked on.

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The house was torn down and the hole was filled with gravel so that it didn't cause any more damage.

But years later the sinkhole opened again - and now it's been fenced off from the public.

Speaking at the time, Jeffrey said: "The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care.

"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 had to be helped out of the sinkhole himself by a policeman in Tampa, Florida after the shocking incident at about 11 pm.

Sinkholes open often where the rock is soft. (Hillsborough County Sheriff)

Officials lowered equipment into the sinkhole but didn't see any sign of Jeffrey.

At the surface, experts say it was about 30 feet across but below the surface it was 100 feet across.

From the outside of the small, sky blue house, nothing appeared wrong aside from the yellow police tape circling it.

Jeremy Bush's wife and his two-year-old daughter were also inside the house.

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Jeffrey was asleep when disaster struck (abc Action News)

"She keeps asking where her Uncle Jeff is," he said. "I lost everything. I work so hard to support my wife and kid and I lost everything."

A fire rescue spokeswoman said when the officer arrived, there was nothing left of the bedroom.

"There was no furniture. All he saw was a piece of the mattress sticking up," she said.

Sinkholes are particularly common in Florida due to the limestone underneath the soil which can gradually dissolve in rain water.

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John Bett