It’s been 10 years since Jeffrey Bush disappeared in his own home, and no trace of him has ever been found. The 37-year-old was asleep in bed at his home in Seffner, Florida, when the ground caved in around him, swallowing him into a massive sinkhole. On the night of February 28, 2013, his brother Jeremy heard a loud crash and ran into Jeffrey’s room only to find a vast crater in place of his sibling’s bed. Jeremy jumped into the hole in a desperate bid to rescue his brother but was swiftly pulled to safety as the ground around him continued to cave in. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," he told The Guardian at the time. "But I just couldn't do nothing. "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him." Within minutes, local law enforcement had arrived and engineers lowered a microphone into the pit to try to pick up signs of Jeffrey. However, a second collapse sucked the equipment down into the sinkhole and the property was deemed too dangerous for rescue or recovery. Video released of Seffner sinkhole that claimed life of Jeff Bush youtu.be The house was subsequently fenced off and eventually demolished, with the gaping 20ft-wide cavity filled in with gravel. But then, more than two years later, on August 19, 2015, the hole reopened. Specialists at the time pointed out that it was very rare to see such a phenomenon reemerge in the exact same spot. Florida is particularly susceptible to sinkholes as it is home to a high number of underground caverns which are made up of limestone, a rock which easily dissolves in water. In fact, they’re so common, that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. And, indeed, someone had visited the Stevens’ home just weeks before the tragedy to check for sinkholes and other risks on the property, apparently for insurance purposes. "[The inspector] said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing,” Jeremy told The Guardian. “And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole.” So what happened to Jeffrey’s body? Well, Philip van Beynen, a University of South Florida environmental scientist, concluded that it had most likely dropped into a 60ft-tall water-filled void between the sinkhole and the lower bedrock. The body would have sunk much deeper than the gravel pit seen from the street, van Beynen told USA Today. He stressed that any attempt to retrieve it would have been unwise, if not impossible, as the ground around the hole could have collapsed as well. "It would be extraordinarily difficult and incredibly expensive," he noted. Still, that’s little comfort to the Stevens’ who never got to bury their loved-one or, even, to properly say goodbye. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A California candidate for Congress has blamed an aide for sending out an email saying that he was quitting the race in Orange County out of a “lack of joy” - but admitted that he did write it. “Life is short. I believe one should enjoy their work. For the past four months, I have not enjoyed mine,” Aditya Pai wrote in the email, before announcing that he was in fact quitting. In the second email titled “Apologies for the scare. I am not going anywhere” Mr Pai, 31, said the first email was sent by a now-former aide accidentally. He, however, said he had written the email. “I wrote that letter as an emotional processing exercise after an exhausting glimpse into the political machine,” Mr Pai wrote in the second email. “I sent it to some mentors and staff for perspective before getting back to work; it was never supposed to be shared. Now that it was, I see a silver lining in your seeing it.” Mr Pai, who is trying to unseat, Rep Michelle Steel, told the Orange County Register that he was at the gym when the first email was sent. He initially thought it was a test email. But, when he realised the email had gone to “literally everyone” he called his parents and mentors for advice, who told him that he had to get through the campaign “to be in a position to serve and serve as I’ve always enjoyed it.” “In that first email, the only thing that was inaccurate was the resulting decision,” he told the newspaper. Now, with the mask off, Mr Pai said he can run an authentic campaign. “There was a bit of catharsis in that letter coming out,” he told The Hill. “There was a silver lining. I feel free in being myself.” “Rest assured: I am here to run, win, and serve you to the absolute best of my ability,” he wrote in the second email. Mr Pai and three other Democratic candidates are vying for the seat held by Rep Steel which covers California’s 45th congressional district or much of northwestern Orange County. While historically Orange County has mostly voted Republican, demographic shifts have turned the county purple and Ms Steel’s district is regarded as a swing district. Read More CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here's what you need to see and know today Union leader urges PM to return ‘to real world’ to settle doctors’ pay dispute Prosecutors say a California judge charged in his wife's killing had 47 weapons in his house A brief history of natural disasters in Hawaii, from tsunamis to wildfires Summer camp in California gives Jewish children of color a haven to be different together Maui residents had little warning before flames overtook town. At least 53 people died.

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