Steve Cordle

KEYSTONE, W.Va. — The search for a man trapped in an expansive, abandoned West Virginia coal mine was called off Thursday afternoon due to dangerous conditions inside the mine.

Attempts to rescue 30-year-old Clay Epperly were temporarily stalled Wednesday due to low oxygen levels, but they briefly resumed Thursday, after crews brought in fans to improve air quality in the shafts. But conditions worsened again Thursday evening.

Family members told The Bluefield Daily Telegraph that Epperly’s body was not found, and the mine is now going to be sealed.

Epperly went missing Monday night when he and three friends went exploring in the 100-year-old mine that was sealed in 1987. The three other men could face criminal charges, West Virginia State Police have said.

On Wednesday, Southern Mines Chief Operating Officer Tom Lusk told members of Epperly’s family who have been keeping a vigil at nearby Burke Baptist Church that everything that can be done is in progress, but “it’s a bad situation, folks.”

Rescue workers went in about two miles, he said, but oxygen levels were dropping from 19 percent to 14 percent, he said.

Epperly, along with three friends, 38-year-old Steve Cordle, 35-year-old Brandon Collins and 22-year-old Justin Bolen entered the mine about 10 p.m. Monday night. Epperly reportedly was separated from them and they went back into the mine looking for him at about 2 a.m. Tuesday.

The search by rescue volunteers started later Tuesday morning when McDowell County 911 received an anonymous call about four men lost in an abandoned mine on Burke Mountain near the town of Keystone, according to Senior Trooper B.D. Gillespie of the West Virginia State Police. Three of the men were later located. They left the scene after receiving oxygen.

Several members of Epperly’s family said Wednesday they couldn’t understand why the rescue operation had to be suspended because time is so important.

Luck explained that protocol must be followed because of the danger of the low oxygen levels as well as the possibility of combustible gases.

“Any area of oxygen deficiency is dangerous,” Lusk said. “It’s a complicated shaft. These old mines are deadly. That’s why we urge people to stay out of them.”

Epperly’s mother, Lois, said her son is a good man.

“He has worked hard all of his life,” she said. “He drove a coal truck for years until he lost his job, like about everybody else here.”

Epperly has two daughters, ages 2 and 4.

Early Wednesday afternoon, onlookers parked their cars on Burke Mountain Road, which overlooks the mine, in an attempt to watch the rescue efforts.

One speculated — and hoped — that Epperly may have gotten out through a “punch hole,” or another entrance to the mine.

However, he noted if the “blackdamp got him,” the man would have an altered mental state.

Blackdamp is a gas that reduces the oxygen in the air.

“It’s dangerous in there,” said 36-year-old Thomas Mitchell, a friend of Epperly’s. “That blackdamp can kill you. It’s like covering your mouth and nose with your hand and trying to breathe.”

The three other men who entered the mine could face several charges, including felony breaking and entering, attempt to commit a felony and charges relating to previous break-ins at the mine, Gillespie said.

Another McDowell County man had to be rescued from the same mine in January 2015.

He and another man entered the mine and became separated from each other. The one who got out waited a day before reporting the other man missing. He was rescued after spending about two days in the mine, was unresponsive when found but regained consciousness at the scene.

The man was charged with breaking and entering and attempting to commit a felony, according to the West Virginia State Police.

Police said he was searching for copper to sell.

Boothe, Perry and Jordan write for The Bluefield Daily Telegraph in Bluefield, West Virginia.