Exploring caves, also known as spelunking, is a hobby many enjoy. While it can be rewarding and fascinating to adventure through these spaces, it can sometimes be really dangerous.
One of the most well-known and tragic caving accidents happened 15 years ago in Nutty Putty Cave. It’s still a sad, cautionary tale.
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Nutty Putty Cave is located in Utah.
Embed from Getty ImagesNutty Putty Cave was a popular spelunking destination in Utah County, UT. The cave was discovered in 1960 and was known for being difficult to navigate due to narrow passages and many twists and turns.
Various cave areas were even given names like “The Birth Canal” and “The Scout Eater,” highlighting the difficulties of the descent and exploration.
John Jones decided to go caving at Nutty Putty.
John Jones belonged to a large Mormon family and had six siblings and many nieces and nephews. As a kid, his father would take him and his younger brother caving across the state of Utah. But, he hadn’t done much spelunking in adulthood.
When he went to explore the cave, he had recently become a dad with a second child on the way. He was also in medical school to become a pediatric cardiologist.
The incident began on November 24th, 2009.
Embed from Getty ImagesJohn went to Nutty Putty that day with his brother, Josh. They arrived at 8 p.m. with nine other friends intending to explore the cave.
The first hour went well as the group looked around the largest area of the cave. Then, John, his brother, and two others in the group decided to try and pass through a narrow passage called The Birth Canal that was supposed to open to a larger space.
John went first through the tight passageway.
John worked through this difficult section but didn’t see a larger area ahead. As he kept moving forward, the passage got even tighter and made a sharp turn down.
John kept squeezing through the passage, likely thinking he would reach a wider area. But, at this point, it was too late to move backward.
He had mistakenly entered into a different passageway.
While reports are conflicting as to which tunnel he actually went into, it’s clear that he missed The Birth Canal, which opened to a wider area. Instead, he was in either Ed’s Push or Scout Eater, two areas leading nowhere.
John moved forward until he could no longer move and entered a crack that was straight down. He couldn’t turn back.
At this point, he was 100 feet below ground and stuck in a tunnel around 10 by 18 inches, smaller and more jagged than the opening of a washing machine.
The rescue attempt began rather quickly.
Josh was behind John and tried to pull him out without success. So, Josh hurried back out of the cave and called for help while another member of their group stayed in the cave with John.
Susan, a local rescue volunteer, was first on the scene around midnight. After her, many other rescuers came and tried to find a plan. They tried to use a rope system while drilling away part of the rock, but the drilling didn’t work well.
John was trapped for hours as the rescue teams worked.
Because John was nearly upside down with his feet facing the rescuers, it was especially difficult to pull him out, despite their creation of a pulley system.
Being upside down for so long meant John’s heart had to work extra hard. He was struggling to breathe. Eventually, the crews could lower a two-way radio to John so he could speak to his wife, who was waiting aboveground. He had been trapped for 19 hours.
It seemed like the rescue efforts were going to work…
After installing their pulley system, the rescuers moved John slowly out of the passageway. He was almost free when things took a turn for the worse.
The rope went loose, and the team found that a bolt had broken, causing John to slide back down. Soon after, John isn’t responding. He was pronounced dead at midnight on November 25th at only 26 years old.
The aftermath of the tragedy.
Despite the rescue efforts of 137 people working for 27 hours, John tragically passed away. The authorities decided removing him from the cave would be too dangerous. A week later, they decided to seal the cave shut to prevent other caving accidents.
John Jones remains in the cave. His family placed a plaque for him at the entrance.
The tragedy still resonates with people today.
While this happened over 15 years ago, it’s a tragic story that reminds people of both the fragility of life and the importance of preparation.
Caving is a dangerous sport, and it’s important to have the experience to navigate difficult systems. Otherwise, it could be disastrous.
