sinkhole linthicum maryland
It has downed large trees, a large portion of a chain-link fence and virtually anything else in its path.

It's a 15-by-40 foot sinkhole, and Lucy Miller says it's creeping closer to her house every day.

"It's moving, and it's moving towards my property and I don't want these trees to all come down and I don't want anybody to get hurt," Miller said. "That's my problem."

Miller and her husband, Jerry, approached the nearby Lynn Hill Apartments about the problem and were told the hole is on county land.

The county said it was the state, because it sits along a state road, and the state pointed back to the apartment complex as the owner of the land.

"It seems that someone could go to the records bureau some place and pull out the deed to see who owns the property, but it seems to be too much of a bother for somebody or they just don't want to admit it," Jerry Miller said.


Adding to the Millers' frustration is the fact that it took years for them to get someone to fix the first sinkhole here years ago.

This is now the second time they've had to try to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding who is responsible for the property, the runoff that created it and the risk it poses to the many children who live in the apartments above it.

"Well, they fixed it before," Lucy said. "There was a big hole there before. Somebody fixed it, but they didn't fix it right, because it came back again."

"Nobody knows," Jerry Miller said. "The apartments said they didn't fix it. The state said they didn't fix it, but somebody fixed it."

While the ownership of the massive sinkhole remains a mystery, the Millers say it could be a real tragedy if tons of dirt and soil should collapse on top of someone risking their life.