Called The Last Descent (see above), it gives you an accurate glimpse of Johns ordeal and what it feels like to be trapped in the most narrow of cave passageways when claustrophobia and then hopelessness set in. They used to do this often as a bonding experience when John and his brother, Josh, were younger with their father. Im sure it was really hard on the Joneses when I got married, but they welcomed Donovan with open arms, she said. This is the passage that John Jones thought he had found when he got stuck. It was very characteristic of a hypogenic cave.". In the wake of Jones death, the Utah County Sheriff floated the idea of permanently sealing the cave. Not even after his death did the authorities manage to remove his body. But its no use second-guessing things. John Edward Jones was a 26-year-old medical student, family man, and a . (Photo: Dave Cawley, KSL Newsradio). They were first explored by Dale Green in 1960 who named them for their clay. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Dave Roos "It was a crawly little cave," says Downey. John grew up and went to school in St. George, Utah, where he graduated from Dixie High School in 2001. . She said she remembers thinking that she was sure there was something to learn from what happened. In fact, the cave has a 45-degree room called The Big Slide, which was predicted to be the location of a fatality by some. They found that using a pulley system to pull him free was the best plan. (Photo: Jones family) Two days before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 24, 2009, Jones entered Nutty Putty Cave with 11 other people. Using the pulley, rescuers started to pull John before disaster struck. It was believed to be really easy and that's why all of your Boy Scouts and locals went in with flashlights and sandals and things. It has drawn many visitors since its discovery, and it quickly became famous for its narrow and slippery passages, twists, and turns. At the time of the Nutty Putty cave incident John Jones was attending medical school in Virginia and this 6 foot guy was in the prime of his life, no doubt, with a beautiful family and promising career ahead of him. This increase in danger led the authorities to severely restrict the number of visitors that were allowed inside Nutty Putty Cave. He had to try to press forward. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Jones was held in place like a hook, unable to move without causing serious harm due to the bends his body was placed in. In fact, I was recommended this movie by one of my friends who has also tried caving before. At 11:56 p.m. on the night before Thanksgiving, the search and rescue team determined Jones had died. John and Josh prayed at this point of the cave ordeal, and John said Guide us as we work through this, Save me for my wife and kids. The heart attack was caused due to excessive strain on the heart because of his downward position. But it was later found that he was stuck in an unchartered territory near Eds Push.. News cameras broadcast the 27-hour ordeal in which 137 volunteers attempted to rescue Jones, who began to lose consciousness as blood pooled in his head and put increasing stress on his heart. She started a photography business and went back to school part time, taking classes in graphic design, but continued to feel confused about the future and stressed about her unexpected role as sole provider for her family. John Jones was no stranger to exploring caves, he had gone with his father and brother many times before, as a child, and exploration of caves was a well-liked activity in his family in general. He tried to exhale the air in his chest so that he could fit through a space that was barely 10 inches across and 18 inches high, about the size of the opening of a clothes dryer. Jones Family Photo 8 of 15 An unidentified rescue worker, works near John Jones in the Nutty Putty Cave, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. Despite the heroic effort to save him, Jones died a few minutes before midnight, the day before Thanksgiving. Explorer Cami Pulham crawling out of the passage known as the Birth Canal in Nutty Putty Cave. The first rescuer was Susie Motola, who reached John at 12:30 am, by which time John was already stuck for over three and a half hours. No matter what he tried, he wasnt able to get out of the jam he was in. Evander Holyfield Spouse: Who Is Candi Calvana Smith. Leavitt has spent 29 years as a Boy Scout leader, and the cave was a favorite place of the young men ages 14 to 18. Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday after being convicted of murdering his wife and son. In one of the cases, rescue crews took 14 hours to free a 16-year-old Scout who weighed 140 pounds and was 57 tall, making him much smaller than John using a complex series of pulleys. Its hard to be alone, its so hard to be lonely, and its hard to be a single parent, and its hard to be just sort of lost.. She spent time with those she loved and also started to paint, finding that expressing herself through photography and painting was like therapy. Spelunker John Jones stuck upside down in a cave. A deputy from the Utah County Sheriffs Office stands guard at the partially closed entrance to Nutty Putty Cave near Elberta Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. John Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park, died Thursday Nov. 26, 2009 nearly 28 hours after he became stuck upside-down in Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking site about 80 miles south of. To further complicate the situation, Jones ribcage would catch on a lip of rock when the rescuers attempted to pull him back up and over the crux. Formerly popular with cavers and known for its narrow passageways, Nutty Putty has been closed to the public since 2009 following a fatal accident that year. It's been a long five years since John Jones got stuck and died in Utahs Nutty Putty Cave, which was then sealed up and became his final resting place. Eventually, he got trapped upside down in a narrow bend measuring only 40 cm at its widest point. Utah County Sheriffs Sgt. According to rescuers, John Jones could not have been saved because the angle at which he was stuck and the kind of cave he was in made it impossible to get him out. Like countless Boy Scouts before him, Matt Paulson's very first caving experience was at Nutty Putty. Web On 24 November 2009 John Edward Jones tragically passed away while exploring a hydrothermal cave in Utah known as Nutty Putty cave. John Edward Jones was born on January 21, 1983, and was a Utah native. Police also located thumbnail images on Josh Powells computer that had been retrieved from the internet late on the afternoon of Dec. 6, 2009, the last day Susan Powell was seen alive. Jones was exploring the cave with a group of people when he became stuck in a narrow offshoot of. I read this like a year ago and I still think about him from time to time. Rescuers had spent 27 hours trying to save John. It meant the world to me. Unfortunately, the pulley system failed and Jones sank deeper into the hole. The tight, cramped and confined space is shown with rescue gear attached to the ceiling, near John Jones in the Nutty Putty Cave, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. A rescuer working near John Jones in Nutty Putty Cave on Nov. 26, 2009. It had reopened just six months before John Jones had entered the cave. Donovan then took a teaching job in Dallas through Teach for America, and the couple welcomed a son, Emerson, last December. Ambassador Cindy McCain was been appointed head of the U.N. World Food Program, officials announced on Tuesday. "It was a perfect cave for beginner cavers, recreational cavers and Boy Scout groups," he said. The cave system was named after the soft, brown, putty-like texture of the clay found in many of its passages. Web Emily Jones-Sanchez discusses tragedy Jo. At this point, John Jones was crawling head first into a cave that was essentially getting narrower and more perpendicular to the ground, which meant that there came a point where he was at an almost 90 degree angle in the cave, and it was so narrow that he was held between the columns of the cave. John Edward Jones, 26, will have his final resting place in the Nutty Putty Cave, as members of the Utah County Sherriff's office announced there will be no more rescue efforts due to the. The Grotto set up an online reservation system that only allowed one group in the cave at a time, and the entrance to the cave was padlocked shut at night. Yea, they closed and sealed the cave because it was just too difficult to retrieve the body. Officials sealed off Nutty Putty Cave for good a week after Johns death. I wonder why they didn't give him enough drugs to knock him out. The cave has always been popular with cavers and Boy Scouts who enjoy exploring the dark underground. Utah County Sheriff's Office 9 of 15 In 2016, filmmaker Isaac Halasima produced and directed a full-length feature film about the life and failed rescue of John Jones. bodies of climbers left behind on Mount Everest. Found my old spelunking pictures. Rescuers tied John with a rope connected to a series of pulleys. He died at the age of 23 leaving behind a wife Emily a daughter Lizzie and another child that was. Dale Green was the first to investigate it in 1960. Picture of John Jones. The first rescuer to reach John was a woman named Susie Motola, who arrived at about 12:30 AM on November 25. I reviewed the whole mission, wishing wed have done this tiny detail differently or done that a little sooner. Videos (and images) that make your palms sweat. With no hope of rescue and his heart having suffered hours upon hours of strain due to his downward position, John was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest shortly before midnight on the evening of November 25, 2009. Jones stopped responding to the rescue team late that night. John Jones was 26 at the time of the incident, and he had a wife, Emily, a daughter of 1 year, Elizabeth, and a son on the way that would have been born in June 2020. The story was both tragic and frightening in the same moment. John Jones was in a part of the Nutty Putty Cave system that he thought was the Birth Canal and he inched his way into the narrow passage head first, moving forward using his hips, stomach, and fingers but he realized he'd made a grave mistake when he found the passage getting narrower and not giving way like the Birth Canal should have been. I was really surprised, but it broke my heart, she said. Nutty Putty Cave is a hydrothermal cave in Utah County, Utah, located west of Utah Lake. John Jones was a 26-year-old medical student who was. Members of Jones party worked their way back out of Nutty Putty to the top of Blowhole Hill, where they were able to use a cell phone to call for help. John had not been inside a cave for years and wanted to relive his childhood hobby. During an interview with the media Deseret. He found what he thought was the Birth Canal and inched his way into the narrow passage head first, moving forward using his hips, stomach, and fingers. Nutty Putty Cave is a hydrothermal cave located west of Utah Lake in Utah County, Utah, United States. But the incident of John Edward Jones highlighted its presence worldwide. Additionally, the caves popularity with the public led many of the rock surfaces in the cave to become excessively smooth, increasing the risk of slippage. While exploring with his brother, Jones mistook a narrow tunnel for the similarly tight "Birth Canal" passageway and became stuck upside-down in an area measuring 10 by 18 inches (25 by 46 cm), around 400 feet (120 m) from the cave's entrance. They succeeded in rigging a rope and pulley system to help lift him past the obstacle. He named them for their clay. "There were also some larger passages. Everything was ready, and they pulled as hard as they could. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Fuck that. I felt like Heavenly Father is going to take care of us and its going to be OK.. Her younger brother was in school at BYU and kept telling her he had found the perfect guy for her his roommate, Donovan Sanchez. Paulson explains that Nutty Putty is what's known as a hypogenic cave, formed when superheated water is forced upward into a bed of limestone, and minerals in the water eat away at the rock above to create cave shafts. They split up to search for it, and this was when John got stuck in one particular passage. She remains close with the family, including Johns siblings, who still call and check on her and ensure her family can make it to the annual Jones family reunion. At 28 hours upside down in the Nutty Putty Cave, rescuers attempted one last pull using a series of complex pulleys. [4] It contains 1,400 feet (430m) of chutes and tunnels and, prior to closure, had been accessible via a narrow surface hole. Before 2009, this cave had four separate rescues of cavers and Boy Scouts, who got stuck inside the cave's tight twists, turns, and crawls. Josh tried to pull at his brothers calves to no avail. On 24 November, 2009, John Edward Jones tragically passed away while exploring a hydrothermal cave in Utah known as 'Nutty Putty cave'. I feel like I can love John more, and better, because of my relationship with Donovan. On November 24, the group ventured into the Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking spot known for its tight twists, turns and crawls. casey_h6 While attempting to find the Birth Canal, Jones took a wrong turn and ended up in an unmapped section of the cave near Ed's Push. Jones died after being trapped for over 24 hours. Rescuers concluded that it would be too dangerous to attempt to retrieve his body; the landowner and Jones' family came to an agreement that the cave would be permanently closed with the body sealed inside, as a memorial to Jones. After the death of John Jones, the cave was permanently closed and sealed off to the public. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. In 2009, Jones reportedly entered the cave on an expedition with his friends and family. So, both the devout Mormon brothers prayed, Guide us as we work through this. For the first day of filming, Halasima flew in. A film was created about the life of John Jones, called The Last Descent. Because the cave was formed upward because of superheated water forming limestone, many additional minerals make up the complex structure. https://www.deseret.com/2014/11/24/20553477/five-years-after-tragedy-nutty-putty-cave-remains-sealed, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutty_Putty_Cave. Nutty Putty Cave lived up to its reputation on the night of Johns death. Web After those rescues in 2004 the Nutty Putty Cave was closed to the public. Anyways I just discovered the John Jones story and am fascinated by it. Who was John Edward Jones? The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. "A lot of the people going to Nutty Putty were first-timers, or they were on a date with their girlfriend and wanted to show off or whatever," says Downey. Additionally, Nutty Putty Cave was Johns first try at spelunking after several years, potentially causing some miscalculations that ended up costing him his life. A medical student with a wife and 2-year-old daughter, Jones was exploring the cave when he suddenly found himself stuck in an almost unreachable crevice 150 feet underground, hanging upside down. John left behind his. Discovered in 1960 by Dale Green, he named it Nutty Putty because of the clay (the kind that likely caused that pulley to give out) found in most of the narrow tunnels in the underground structure. Therefore a decision was made to fill up the cave with his body inside and seal the mouth of the cave with concrete to make a memorial or burial site for him, so that the family would have the kind of closure they would have had from a grave. Richard Downey, the Grotto's treasurer and historian, led some of those same Boy Scout trips into Nutty Putty for decades. The most recognizable characteristic of the cave was the strangely viscous clay oozing from some of its walls, which the cave's first explorer, a man named Dale Green, compared to Nutty Putty, the original product name for Silly Putty. He passed away at the age of 23 leaving his wife (Emily) as well as one daughter (Lizzie) and a third baby in the process of being born by June 10, 2010. Ultimately the decision was made that it was too much risk for the rescuers to remain there in an effort to get him out and the decision was made to leave him in place.. And at six feet tall and 200 pounds, he wasnt the little kid he used to be. [7] A large team of rescue workers came to his assistance but were unable to retrieve Jones using a sophisticated rope-and-pulley system after a pulley failed mid-extrication. (Photo: Dave Cawley, KSL Newsradio). "Why Utah's Nutty Putty Cave Is Sealed Up With One Spelunker Inside. I thought: OK. After this look at Nutty Putty Cave and the tragic death of John Edward Jones, read about some of the bodies of climbers left behind on Mount Everest, including those of Green Boots and George Mallory. EUREKA, Utah West Valley City police were just one week into their search for Susan Powell when they received their first tip suggesting her body might be entombed in Nutty Putty Cave. They struggled to free him in part because of the angle and position of his body. Almost all caves form in limestone, which, over long periods of time, is slowly eaten away by slightly acidic groundwater. Knock me out and if I wake up with broken or even amputated legs it's better than what really happened to him. Well that's terrifying. Susie Motola arrived at the cave at about 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 25 and at that time John had been trapped for three and a half hours. John Jones and his wife, Emily Dawn Jones. John Jones died in Nutty Putty Cave on Nov. 25, 2009. This scanned image of a postcard was located among thousands of Josh Powells computer files seized by West Valley City police during the investigation into Susan Powells disappearance. Jon Jasper/jonjasper.com Explorer Kory Kowallis in the crawl to the aptly named Scout Trap passage in Nutty Putty Cave. I believe it was about 30 yards that poured down into the main opening to give it as permanent of closure as you could get for it.. "It had tight squeezes that opened up into a big room, then back to another tight squeeze. Because Jones' body couldn't be removed, the site is now considered a grave. His former wife Emily has since left and has re-married. She said Donovan has been understanding and encouraging. One of the pulleys failed, causing the whole operation to fail and John being trapped further. KTARs Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives. After Johns death, she resolved to never remarry. He was married, had a one-year-old daughter, and was attending medical school in Virginia. Jones had been descending head-first when he became pinned in place. Johns brother Josh found him soon after he had gotten stuck, and he tried to figure out some way to get his brother out, but to no avail, because the space was too narrow for Josh himself to do any significant pulling on his own as well, and even though Josh tried to pull at his brothers calves John just slid down into the passage even further, because the Nutty Putty cave is extremely slippery. I had some neat experiences where I had a change of heart, she said. John Jones was in a part of the Nutty Putty Cave system that he thought was the Birth Canal and he inched his way into the narrow passage head first, moving forward using his hips, stomach, and fingers but he realized hed made a grave mistake when he found the passage getting narrower and not giving way like the Birth Canal should have been. On May 24, 2006, a gate was installed, and the cave was temporarily closed. All John and Josh, both devout Mormons, could do at this point was pray. After Susie, more than 100 rescuers arrived over the next 24 hours to try to get John out. IIRC he died, and the cave became his tomb. Disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been convicted of murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and son. "As cavers, that's one of the things we're taught not to do, go head first into a tight squeeze going downward," says Paulson. While the family started together, soon after the start John Jones and his brother Josh Jones went a little ahead, and they found themselves in a slightly narrower part of the cave, where John Jones broke off a little further and headed down the crevasse that was at a tapered angle from the rest of the cave system. One was, I dont know, maybe 6 or 7 hours long. For Leavitt and the surrounding community, the cave itself was another loss. Jones died after being trapped for over 24 hours. Like Silly Putty, the clay would change from a solid to an elastic fluid when lightly squeezed. John Jones died in Nutty Putty Cave Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. John Edward Jones, 26, was a medical student and experienced spelunker who went cave diving with a group of friends while visiting family in Utah for Thanksgiving in 2009. That relief evaporated when the rigging failed and Jones dropped back into the same trap from which hed been freed. An unidentified rescue worker, works near John Jones in the Nutty Putty Cave, Wednesday Nov. 25, 2009. Nutty Putty Cave is a cave system located west of Utah Lake in Utah County, Utah, US. They were coming to announce that they were expecting their second child. Local time on the evening of November 24, 2009, a few days before Thanksgiving. The suffering and PAIN! But when John inhaled again and his chest puffed back out, he got stuck for good. During the evening of November 24, 2009, John Jones and a group of fellow cave explorers entered Nutty Putty Cave located near Salt Lake City, UT. One rescuer was badly injured when a pulley ripped free and struck him in the face.