His border collie, Junta, jumped in after him and also could not be recovered.<\/p>\n
“Of course she did try to save him, but they couldn’t get her out because her, she kept going lower and lower, as well,” Chellew said.<\/p>\n
The property was later found to be above an old gold mine. Over the following year, crews filled the 20-by-20-foot shaft beneath the house with more than 200 tons of concrete. Chellew still lives there.<\/p>\n
“I felt really comfortable doing it. Now, my friends don’t think that way. They think I’m a little crazy, but I’m not because in my heart, I know this is where I belong,” she said.<\/p>\n
Chollew said she decided to speak publicly because she wanted people to understand the true cause of her son’s death.<\/p>\n
“And it upset me only because I wanted the truth to be out there,” she said. “I think it does because I only had one child, and I lost him in this tragedy. And I want people to know that this is a possibility. There are mines here.”<\/p>\n
Seven On Your Side Investigates recently toured the historic Tesla coal and sand mine near Tracy, including one opening where state officials installed a gate intended to prevent unauthorized entry while allowing bats to continue using the site. The gate was later damaged by a vandal.<\/p>\n
“And we don’t want you entering these mines, so please do not vandalize these, these gates. They’re there for a reason,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n
According to state figures, 185 people have died in abandoned mines in California since 1950, while another 443 incidents have resulted in injuries or what the state classifies as near misses.<\/p>\n
Officials said the work of identifying and evaluating abandoned mines continues, but the scale of the task remains significant.<\/p>\n
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