Dive Summary:

• The bodies of two young cousins, ages 6 and 7, were recovered from a 24-foot deep pit in Stanley, N.C., following hours of searching after a dirt wall collapsed on them Sunday afternoon.
• The father of one of the children had been digging on the site with a backhoe earlier in the day, and deputies are investigating what was being built and whether he was doing it with professional help and the proper permits.
• One of the man's neighbors, who told reporters he works in construction, said that the pit lacked a structure to support its walls and that he had questioned the man about its depth, while other neighbors reportedly said the man was building a large protective bunker.

From the article:

... Burleson described the pit as 20 feet by 20 feet with a sloped entrance leading down to the 24-foot bottom. The children were at the bottom of the pit retrieving a child-sized pickaxe when the walls fell in on them, Carpenter said. ...