King said he has repeatedly asked MSHA for a copy of a report completed Monday by a panel of mine safety experts from across the country. The report supposedly analyzed the current condition of the Crandall Canyon Mine, which MSHA officials have said is too dangerous to re-enter.

"That may or may not be the case, and we certainly are not going to second-guess their qualified experts," King said. "We would like to see for ourselves and be able to analyze and talk to our own experts."

Despite the undying hope that something can be done, the families of the trapped miners struggled with the day's news.

"I don't think I have to say what their reaction is," King said. "They are very, very, very disappointed, distraught and very frustrated with good reason."

The families were told they must "consider the possibility that their family members, their brothers and their fathers and their loved ones are not coming out of there." There was no mention of a seventh hole, and King said the owners have the ultimate say on the future of the mine.

King was part of a team of lawyers who represented 20 of the 27 families impacted by the disastrous 1984 fire at the Wilberg Mine in nearby Orangeville. He called the current situation "similar but dissimilar" to that tragedy.

"They never intended to not get the people out of there," he said of the rescue attempts at the Wilberg Mine. That mine was sealed in order to trap the oxygen and put out the fire, and it was nearly a year before the bodies of the men and one woman were recovered.

King said Murray's people have "nothing on the drawing board to get to these people," and he'd like to know why other methods to reach the trapped miners were not attempted.

"I'm not getting any sleep — and I'm not sure how Martha Sanchez and Nelda Erickson and all the rest of them are even coping. To not have any closure is a horrible thing."

The six miners became trapped nearly 1,900 feet underground when a portion of the mine collapsed Aug. 6 in a seismic event that registered 3.9 on the Richter scale. Since then, rescuers have been frantically drilling and digging to reach them.

On Aug. 16, another cave-in killed three rescuers and injured six others. Underground rescue attempts have been called off since the second collapse.

Families have been left clinging to the hope that their loved ones have survived the 20 days underground.

"Let's hope we can get through," said Paula Christensen, a cousin of Don Erickson. "I don't think they need to be buried down there."

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E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com; ldethman@desnews.com