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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.

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Google says it’s rolling out its AI-powered chatbot Bard across Europe and in Brazil, expanding its availability to hundreds of millions more users

The Indian government has announced that it would impose a heavy 28 per cent tax on the funds collected by online gaming firms from its customers, dealing a blow to the country’s fast-growing industry valued close to $2bn. India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, consisting of federal and state ministers, said on Tuesday that it has agreed to levy a 28 per cent indirect tax on online gaming, casinos, and horse racing, adding there should be no distinction between “game of skill” and “game of chance.” Industry experts have voiced concerns that the increased tax burden on the companies may lead to extra charges levied from customers. Companies have so far only paid a small tax on the fee charged from customers for playing games involving real money, but Tuesday’s new rule would impose a 28 per cent tax on the amount these firms collect from players in every game, dealing a hefty blow to their operations. “The implementation of a 28 per cent tax rate will bring significant challenges to the gaming industry. This higher tax burden will impact companies’ cash flows,” Aaditya Shah, an executive at the gaming app IndiaPlays, told Reuters. The new move also comes amid a number of reports across the country of gaming addiction and financial losses among fantasy cricket players and online card games. Commenting on the GST Council’s decision, Roland Landers, chief of the trade body All India Gaming Federation which represents firms like Mobile Premier League, Gameskraft, and Paytm First Games, said it is “unconstitutional, irrational, and egregious”. “This decision will wipe out the entire Indian gaming industry and lead to lakhs of job losses and the only people benefitting from this will be anti-national illegal offshore platforms,” Mr Landers said in a statement, TechCrunch reported. Ashneer Grover, co-founder of the Indian fintech company BharatPe and a former Shark Tank India judge, tweeted that the move may pose risks “not only for online games – but across sectors. Across startups.” “You got billions in from foreign investors as FDI (foreign direct investment). Celebrated FDI inflow! Now the same investors will apply regulatory risk discount to India and funds will dry up,” he said. “RIP – Real money gaming industry in India....It was good fun being part of the fantasy gaming industry - which stands murdered now,” Mr Grover tweeted. Read More A look at sports gambling rules among Big 4 pro leagues Seventh Indian cheetah died of ‘traumatic shock’ after fight with female, post mortem shows Record monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people in northern India this week £10 phone with e-wallet and streaming can bridge India ‘digital divide’, experts say Elon Musk reveals plan to use AI to reveal mysteries of the universe xAI: Everything we know about Elon Musk’s new AI company