![]() ![]() John knew he was almost trapped now and had nowhere to turn. This is the passage that John Jones thought he found when he got stuck. Researcher Cami Pulham climbs out of the birth canal at Nutty Putty Cave. But after a few minutes, he realized he had made a serious mistake. He found what he thought was the birth canal, and headed down the narrow passage, pushing himself with his hips, stomach, and fingers. At 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, he’s not the kid he used to be.Īfter about an hour of caving, John decided to look for Nutty Putty Cave, known as the “Birth Canal,” a narrow passage that cavers must carefully crawl through. He’s back home in Utah for some relaxing vacations with his family. He is married to a one-year-old daughter and is attending medical school in Virginia. John, 26 at the time, and Josh, 23, and nine other friends and family members decided to explore Nutty Putty Cave to communicate before their holiday.Īt 26, John was in the prime of his life. Local time on the evening of November 24, 2009, a few days before Thanksgiving. For more information visit John’s first expedition to Nutty Putty Cave, about 55 miles southwest of Utah Lake, about 55 miles from Salt Lake City, was his last.Įxplorer Emily Vinton Maughen at the entrance to Nutty Putty Cave.Īround 8pm, John Edward Jones entered Nutty Putty Cave. “The probability of Susan Powell or anybody else being placed in Nutty Putty Cave after John Jones died inside Nutty Putty Cave is zero,” Cannon said.īonus episodes of the KSL podcast Cold are available through the subscription service Wondery Plus, along with the entire first season of Cold ad-free. “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.”Ĭannon said given the fact Susan Powell was seen alive after the concrete plug was poured, it is not possible for her body to also be entombed with John Jones. 2, 2009, contractors poured concrete into the main opening of the cave. 1, 2009 the county’s bomb squad entered Nutty Putty to place explosive charges around the opening of the passageway in which Jones remained trapped. “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.”Ī memorial plaque located near the former entrance to Nutty Putty Cave, placed in remembrance of John Jones. “Once John had been declared dead, there were discussions about ‘How do we get him out?’ There were some rather distasteful discussions as well, things that nobody really wanted to do,” Cannon said. In the wake of Jones’ death, the Utah County Sheriff floated the idea of permanently sealing the cave. on the night before Thanksgiving, the search and rescue team determined Jones had died. Jones stopped responding to the rescue team late that night. That relief evaporated when the rigging failed and Jones dropped back into the same trap from which he’d been freed. It worked to get Jones past the “fishhook” of the rock lip, creating some relief on the afternoon of Nov. They succeeded in rigging a rope and pulley system to help lift him past the obstacle. 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. The rescuers had little room to move and very little grip with which to pull.Ī rescuer working near John Jones in Nutty Putty Cave on Nov. His head pointed downward at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees. Jones had been descending head-first when he became pinned in place. They struggled to free him in part because of the angle and position of his body. The rescuers worked through Tuesday night and into the day on Wednesday attempting to free Jones. It had only reopened under an online reservation system managed by a local caving organization in early 2009. In fact, Nutty Putty had been closed to public access for years after those earlier rescues. The other one was about 11 hours long,” Cannon said. One was, I don’t know, maybe 6 or 7 hours long. “We had two rescues within about a week of each other about four years earlier. Utah County called out its search and rescue team, which had prior experience working to extract stuck spelunkers from Nutty Putty’s depths. We got the notification sometime I believe just before 9:30,” Cannon said. “They told us that John got stuck about 8:45 p.m. Spencer Cannon stands near the former opening of Nutty Putty Cave on March 7, 2019. ![]()
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