West of Utah Lake in Utah County, Utah, the United States, is where Nutty Putty Cave is situated. Nutty Putty, a cave known for its tight spaces and once a favorite among cavers, has been off-limits to the general public since 2009 as a result of a deadly accident that year. The cave, which Dale Green and companions first investigated in 1960, is now purchased by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration and is run by the Utah Timpanogos Grotto. The title of the cave system refers to the clay that lines a number of its passageways and has a gentle, putty-like surface.
Green wanted to call it “Silly Putty,” but ultimately chose “Nutty Putty” because it sounded better. It has 1,400 feet (430 meters) of conveyors and passageways, and it was previously accessible through a tiny surface hole. Scouts and cave divers were saved from the close twists, turns, and slithers of this cave four times prior to 2009.
An attempt was made in 2006 to conduct studies and severely restrict the number of people permitted within the cave. The number of visitors to the cave was approximated to be over 5,000 annually, with many of them frequently accessing the cave late at night and without taking the necessary safety procedures.
It was expected that a fatal accident would take place within one of the cave’s more key highlights, a 45 ° angle room called “The Big Slide,” as a result of the cave’s fame causing increased adjustment of the rock inside the cave. A gate was put in place on May 24, 2006, and the cave was briefly sealed off. In order to make sure that safety protocols were followed, proper handling was set up at the beginning of 2009, and a registration form was created. The cave officially opened to the crowd on May 18, 2009. Let’s know about the famous case of John Edward Jones, which ended up in his tragic death.
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John Edward Jones
The tragic tale of John Edward Jones, who was fatally stuck in Nutty Putty Cave in 2009 for more than a day. With all of this family, John Edward Jones loved going caving. When the boys were young, his father regularly put him and his brother Josh on caving excursions in Utah. The boys came to appreciate the pitch-black beauty and depths below the earth.
Sadly, John’s first trip into Nutty Putty Cave, located 55 miles south of Salt Lake City and southwest of Utah Lake, was also his final. At around eight o’clock, John Edward Jones decided to enter Nutty Putty Cave. The evening of November 24, 2009, a few days before Thanksgiving, local time. In order to get to know one another before the holiday, John, who was 26 at the time, and Josh, who was 23, chose to explore Nutty Putty Cave with 9 other relatives and friends.
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John was at the top form of his life at the age of 26. He was a Virginia medical student who was married to a 1-year-old baby girl. He had returned to Utah to see his family and enjoy some restful vacation time. The strategy did not work out as expected. Around an hour into the caving voyage, John made the choice to locate the Birth Canal, a narrow passage that daring cavers must cautiously crawl across. He located what he believed to be the Birth Canal and wriggled his way into the constricting space head first while propelling himself forward with his fingers, lower body, and stomach. But he soon realized he had made a serious error.
The Incident And The Rescue Operation
John Edward Jones (January 21, 1983 – November 25, 2009) was trapped in the cave for 28 hours on November 24, 2009, during which time he became stuck and eventually passed away there. Jones had become stuck upside-down in an area measuring 10 by 18 inches (25 by 46 cm), roughly 400 feet (120 m) from the cave’s entry, after confusing a thin tunnel with the likewise narrow “Birth Canal” passageway while discovering new with his brother.
Because of the curves in his body, Jones was kept motionless like a hook and could not move without risking himself. Once a pulley failed in the middle of the emergency rescue, a sizable group of rescuers arrived to help, but they were still unable to bring Jones back using an intricate rope-and-pulley structure.
Jones eventually experienced cardiac arrest as a result of the stress his body experienced from being pressed and flipped over for many hours. The property owner and Jones’ family decided that the cave would be completely sealed off with his body within as a remembrance to Jones after rescuers decided it would be too risky to try to recover his body. Jones’s body was close to the ceiling, collapsed with detonators, and the opening hole was sealed off with cement to avoid further entry.
Some people who enjoy cave diving were against the cave’s shutdown. The cave was closed before Jones died, but cavers had made their way through the locked gate. Fb community groups tried to save the cave, but they were unsuccessful. According to reports, the plaque honoring Jones was ransacked on April 4, 2018.
The Last Descent, a movie about the tragic event, debuted on September 16, 2016.
