Jeff Bush went to Zephyrhills High School, and loved fishing and video games. His family said he worked in landscaping for the Department of Transportation.
Jeffrey Bush disappeared into the earth without a trace.
No body for the family to bury. Even his bedroom furniture and belongings were sucked into the ground when a sinkhole opened... under the Seffner, Fla., home where he slept.
The fact that rescue workers were unable to retrieve his body has made the rare incident infinitely more painful for the family, brother Jeremy Bush said. Rescue teams from Hillsborough County at the time deemed the ground too unstable to attempt a rescue or retrieve the body and instead filled the hole with gravel.
On the night of Feb. 28, after hearing a loud crash, Jeremy Bush ran to one of the bedrooms to see a deep, dirt-covered hole, about 20 feet across, where his brother was sleeping just moments before, he said. He jumped into the hole and clawed through the dirt searching for his brother. The hole was as deep as he is tall. He could see the house's plumbing poking out beneath the floor, he said.
Within minutes, a sheriff's deputy arrived and helped pull him from the hole, telling him the ground was still crumbling around them, Jeremy Bush said. They ran out of the home. No one ever went inside again, he said.
As the family watched from the street, engineers lowered a microphone into the hole to try to pick up signs of Jeffrey Bush. But a second collapse rattled the foundation and sucked the equipment into the hole, Jeremy Bush said.
After more tests the next day, engineers deemed the property too dangerous for rescue or recovery, said Willie Puz, a Hillsborough County spokesman. The engineers "advised us that additional collapses could happen at any time and it was an unsafe scene," he said. "We made our decisions based off that."
Tearful family members placed flowers and a teddy bear in front of the home, saying their final goodbyes to Jeffrey Bush. The house was demolished and the hole filled in with four truckloads of gravel, essentially creating his grave.
UPDATE: August 2015 The sinkhole, surrounded by a chain link fence, has opened up again.
UPDATE: July 10, 2023, the sinkhole opened a third time.
∼36 year old Jeff Bush is missing and presumed dead after being swallowed by a sinkhole, at his home in Seffner. The huge sinkhole, measuring approximately 30 feet wide, opened up at approximately 11 pm on Thursday night, February 28, 2013, as Jeff slept in his bed.
His brother, Jeremy Bush, heard Jeff's screams, and jumped into the hole in a desperate attempt to save his brother. Jeremy was pulled out by a Hillsborough County Sheriffs Deputy, but neither Jeremy nor the Deputy were able to reach Jeff.
Listening devices lowered into the sinkhole failed to detect any signs of life. Although the family continues to pray for a miracle, Jeff is presumed deceased.
The other five family members in the house at the time, including Jeremy, his wife, and 2-year-old child, were evacuated to safety. Neighboring houses on either side of the Bush home were also evacuated.
Recovery efforts have been hampered by the instability of the earth around the hole. Engineering crews continue to try to stabilize the area surrounding the collapse.
Jeff is survived by his brother, Jeremy Bush, his brother's girlfriend, Rachel Wicker, & his niece, Hanna Bush, all whom escaped the collapse along with other members of Rachel's family including her father, Norman Wicker, & aunt, Janell Wheeler.
The home where the sinkhole began has since been demolished. Jeff's remains were never found.
Jeffrey Bush disappeared into the earth without a trace.
No body for the family to bury. Even his bedroom furniture and belongings were sucked into the ground when a sinkhole opened... under the Seffner, Fla., home where he slept.
The fact that rescue workers were unable to retrieve his body has made the rare incident infinitely more painful for the family, brother Jeremy Bush said. Rescue teams from Hillsborough County at the time deemed the ground too unstable to attempt a rescue or retrieve the body and instead filled the hole with gravel.
On the night of Feb. 28, after hearing a loud crash, Jeremy Bush ran to one of the bedrooms to see a deep, dirt-covered hole, about 20 feet across, where his brother was sleeping just moments before, he said. He jumped into the hole and clawed through the dirt searching for his brother. The hole was as deep as he is tall. He could see the house's plumbing poking out beneath the floor, he said.
Within minutes, a sheriff's deputy arrived and helped pull him from the hole, telling him the ground was still crumbling around them, Jeremy Bush said. They ran out of the home. No one ever went inside again, he said.
As the family watched from the street, engineers lowered a microphone into the hole to try to pick up signs of Jeffrey Bush. But a second collapse rattled the foundation and sucked the equipment into the hole, Jeremy Bush said.
After more tests the next day, engineers deemed the property too dangerous for rescue or recovery, said Willie Puz, a Hillsborough County spokesman. The engineers "advised us that additional collapses could happen at any time and it was an unsafe scene," he said. "We made our decisions based off that."
Tearful family members placed flowers and a teddy bear in front of the home, saying their final goodbyes to Jeffrey Bush. The house was demolished and the hole filled in with four truckloads of gravel, essentially creating his grave.
UPDATE: August 2015 The sinkhole, surrounded by a chain link fence, has opened up again.
UPDATE: July 10, 2023, the sinkhole opened a third time.
∼36 year old Jeff Bush is missing and presumed dead after being swallowed by a sinkhole, at his home in Seffner. The huge sinkhole, measuring approximately 30 feet wide, opened up at approximately 11 pm on Thursday night, February 28, 2013, as Jeff slept in his bed.
His brother, Jeremy Bush, heard Jeff's screams, and jumped into the hole in a desperate attempt to save his brother. Jeremy was pulled out by a Hillsborough County Sheriffs Deputy, but neither Jeremy nor the Deputy were able to reach Jeff.
Listening devices lowered into the sinkhole failed to detect any signs of life. Although the family continues to pray for a miracle, Jeff is presumed deceased.
The other five family members in the house at the time, including Jeremy, his wife, and 2-year-old child, were evacuated to safety. Neighboring houses on either side of the Bush home were also evacuated.
Recovery efforts have been hampered by the instability of the earth around the hole. Engineering crews continue to try to stabilize the area surrounding the collapse.
Jeff is survived by his brother, Jeremy Bush, his brother's girlfriend, Rachel Wicker, & his niece, Hanna Bush, all whom escaped the collapse along with other members of Rachel's family including her father, Norman Wicker, & aunt, Janell Wheeler.
The home where the sinkhole began has since been demolished. Jeff's remains were never found.
Jeff Bush went to Zephyrhills High School, and loved fishing and video games. His family said he worked in landscaping for the Department of Transportation.
Jeffrey Bush disappeared into the earth without a trace.
No body for the family to bury. Even his bedroom furniture and belongings were sucked into the ground when a sinkhole opened... under the Seffner, Fla., home where he slept.
The fact that rescue workers were unable to retrieve his body has made the rare incident infinitely more painful for the family, brother Jeremy Bush said. Rescue teams from Hillsborough County at the time deemed the ground too unstable to attempt a rescue or retrieve the body and instead filled the hole with gravel.
On the night of Feb. 28, after hearing a loud crash, Jeremy Bush ran to one of the bedrooms to see a deep, dirt-covered hole, about 20 feet across, where his brother was sleeping just moments before, he said. He jumped into the hole and clawed through the dirt searching for his brother. The hole was as deep as he is tall. He could see the house's plumbing poking out beneath the floor, he said.
Within minutes, a sheriff's deputy arrived and helped pull him from the hole, telling him the ground was still crumbling around them, Jeremy Bush said. They ran out of the home. No one ever went inside again, he said.
As the family watched from the street, engineers lowered a microphone into the hole to try to pick up signs of Jeffrey Bush. But a second collapse rattled the foundation and sucked the equipment into the hole, Jeremy Bush said.
After more tests the next day, engineers deemed the property too dangerous for rescue or recovery, said Willie Puz, a Hillsborough County spokesman. The engineers "advised us that additional collapses could happen at any time and it was an unsafe scene," he said. "We made our decisions based off that."
Tearful family members placed flowers and a teddy bear in front of the home, saying their final goodbyes to Jeffrey Bush. The house was demolished and the hole filled in with four truckloads of gravel, essentially creating his grave.
UPDATE: August 2015 The sinkhole, surrounded by a chain link fence, has opened up again.
UPDATE: July 10, 2023, the sinkhole opened a third time.
∼36 year old Jeff Bush is missing and presumed dead after being swallowed by a sinkhole, at his home in Seffner. The huge sinkhole, measuring approximately 30 feet wide, opened up at approximately 11 pm on Thursday night, February 28, 2013, as Jeff slept in his bed.
His brother, Jeremy Bush, heard Jeff's screams, and jumped into the hole in a desperate attempt to save his brother. Jeremy was pulled out by a Hillsborough County Sheriffs Deputy, but neither Jeremy nor the Deputy were able to reach Jeff.
Listening devices lowered into the sinkhole failed to detect any signs of life. Although the family continues to pray for a miracle, Jeff is presumed deceased.
The other five family members in the house at the time, including Jeremy, his wife, and 2-year-old child, were evacuated to safety. Neighboring houses on either side of the Bush home were also evacuated.
Recovery efforts have been hampered by the instability of the earth around the hole. Engineering crews continue to try to stabilize the area surrounding the collapse.
Jeff is survived by his brother, Jeremy Bush, his brother's girlfriend, Rachel Wicker, & his niece, Hanna Bush, all whom escaped the collapse along with other members of Rachel's family including her father, Norman Wicker, & aunt, Janell Wheeler.
The home where the sinkhole began has since been demolished. Jeff's remains were never found.
Jeffrey Bush disappeared into the earth without a trace.
No body for the family to bury. Even his bedroom furniture and belongings were sucked into the ground when a sinkhole opened... under the Seffner, Fla., home where he slept.
The fact that rescue workers were unable to retrieve his body has made the rare incident infinitely more painful for the family, brother Jeremy Bush said. Rescue teams from Hillsborough County at the time deemed the ground too unstable to attempt a rescue or retrieve the body and instead filled the hole with gravel.
On the night of Feb. 28, after hearing a loud crash, Jeremy Bush ran to one of the bedrooms to see a deep, dirt-covered hole, about 20 feet across, where his brother was sleeping just moments before, he said. He jumped into the hole and clawed through the dirt searching for his brother. The hole was as deep as he is tall. He could see the house's plumbing poking out beneath the floor, he said.
Within minutes, a sheriff's deputy arrived and helped pull him from the hole, telling him the ground was still crumbling around them, Jeremy Bush said. They ran out of the home. No one ever went inside again, he said.
As the family watched from the street, engineers lowered a microphone into the hole to try to pick up signs of Jeffrey Bush. But a second collapse rattled the foundation and sucked the equipment into the hole, Jeremy Bush said.
After more tests the next day, engineers deemed the property too dangerous for rescue or recovery, said Willie Puz, a Hillsborough County spokesman. The engineers "advised us that additional collapses could happen at any time and it was an unsafe scene," he said. "We made our decisions based off that."
Tearful family members placed flowers and a teddy bear in front of the home, saying their final goodbyes to Jeffrey Bush. The house was demolished and the hole filled in with four truckloads of gravel, essentially creating his grave.
UPDATE: August 2015 The sinkhole, surrounded by a chain link fence, has opened up again.
UPDATE: July 10, 2023, the sinkhole opened a third time.
∼36 year old Jeff Bush is missing and presumed dead after being swallowed by a sinkhole, at his home in Seffner. The huge sinkhole, measuring approximately 30 feet wide, opened up at approximately 11 pm on Thursday night, February 28, 2013, as Jeff slept in his bed.
His brother, Jeremy Bush, heard Jeff's screams, and jumped into the hole in a desperate attempt to save his brother. Jeremy was pulled out by a Hillsborough County Sheriffs Deputy, but neither Jeremy nor the Deputy were able to reach Jeff.
Listening devices lowered into the sinkhole failed to detect any signs of life. Although the family continues to pray for a miracle, Jeff is presumed deceased.
The other five family members in the house at the time, including Jeremy, his wife, and 2-year-old child, were evacuated to safety. Neighboring houses on either side of the Bush home were also evacuated.
Recovery efforts have been hampered by the instability of the earth around the hole. Engineering crews continue to try to stabilize the area surrounding the collapse.
Jeff is survived by his brother, Jeremy Bush, his brother's girlfriend, Rachel Wicker, & his niece, Hanna Bush, all whom escaped the collapse along with other members of Rachel's family including her father, Norman Wicker, & aunt, Janell Wheeler.
The home where the sinkhole began has since been demolished. Jeff's remains were never found.
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