Splunking.

[froggy]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The medical student who died in a Utah cave was the third spelunker in recent years to get stuck in the same tiny crevice but the only one to die — an outcome that devastated the dozens of rescuers who worked for more than a day to save him.

John Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park, died early Thursday, nearly 28 hours after he got stuck in Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking site south of Salt Lake City. It was the first known fatality since cavers began exploring the 1,500-foot cave's narrow passageways in the 1960s, cave access manager Michael Leavitt said.

Utah County sheriff's office Sgt. Spencer Cannon said rescuers, who numbered well above 50 at times, were shocked and deeply saddened by the outcome.

"It's a tough" situation, Cannon said. "It's not very often where you come in, you have high hopes and you are going into an operation you have done before with success and then you get into a situation where it doesn't go as you planned."

Search and rescue workers successfully pulled two people from the same spot in the 1,500-foot-long cave during the same week in 2004.

"Caving isn't generally considered to be a dangerous sport," Cannon said. "But I think you can safely say this is a dangerous spot in that cave."

Nutty Putty is now closed until a decision is made about its future, Leavitt said. Cannon said the sheriff's office wouldn't give an opinion about whether it should remain open.

Family members described Jones as an outdoors lover and experienced caver who was looking forward to the birth of his second child next year.

"He had explored many caves and maneuvered is way through many tight spaces before," the family said in a statement issued late Thursday.

For the past two years, the St. George native was attending medical school at the University of Virginia, hoping to pursue a career as a pediatric cardiologist. Jones, his wife Emily and their 13-month-old daughter had come home to Utah for the Thanksgiving holiday and to share the news that another baby is expected in June.

 

[garyd]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

 

[California Girl]

froggy, you're supposed to link, and not paste the whole article

 

[Missourian]

John Jones, Cave Explorer From Utah, Dead After Being Stuck Upside Down In Cave For Over A Day

Link to a different article...apparently he was stuck suspended upside-down.

 

[California Girl]

John Jones, Cave Explorer From Utah, Dead After Being Stuck Upside Down In Cave For Over A Day

Link to a different article...apparently he was stuck suspended upside-down.

Thanks for the link.

*Ponders whether she should still be a caving enthusiast*

I love crawling around in caves.

 

[strollingbones]

he most likely died due to hypothermia....the temperature in the cave ....combined with his chest being compressed and the fact his head was below his feet for 28 hours...my son is a climbing guide...the company does caving or splunking...he simply refuses...says it is dangerous and uncomfie...

i feel for the family without the body...but this is something every adventurer accepts that if there is trouble ....you may not be rescued and that your body will not be recovered....mother's cry....and want the body but its the code....esp in alpining...

 

[California Girl]

he most likely died due to hypothermia....the temperature in the cave ....combined with his chest being compressed and the fact his head was below his feet for 28 hours...my son is a climbing guide...the company does caving or splunking...he simply refuses...says it is dangerous and uncomfie...

i feel for the family without the body...but this is something every adventurer accepts that if there is trouble ....you may not be rescued and that your body will not be recovered....mother's cry....and want the body but its the code....esp in alpining...

I've been a few times. It's definitely not for the fainthearted. Where I go, there is a part of the cave where, not only is it a tight squeeze, you also have to go underwater to get thru to the next part of the cave. Then, you have to scramble over a rather huge bolder in the way. All done in the dark, crawling thru cold, wet mud.

It's scary but great fun. Although, last time I cracked my knee quite badly...

 

[WillowTree]

he most likely died due to hypothermia....the temperature in the cave ....combined with his chest being compressed and the fact his head was below his feet for 28 hours...my son is a climbing guide...the company does caving or splunking...he simply refuses...says it is dangerous and uncomfie...

i feel for the family without the body...but this is something every adventurer accepts that if there is trouble ....you may not be rescued and that your body will not be recovered....mother's cry....and want the body but its the code....esp in alpining...

I've been a few times. It's definitely not for the fainthearted. Where I go, there is a part of the cave where, not only is it a tight squeeze, you also have to go underwater to get thru to the next part of the cave. Then, you have to scramble over a rather huge bolder in the way. All done in the dark, crawling thru cold, wet mud.

It's scary but great fun. Although, last time I cracked my knee quite badly...

don't you wear a hat with a light? I visited a cave nearby that was tour guided. They stood us in the middle of a chamber and then killed all the lights. That was the darkest dark I have ever dared dark. I can see how a person could go crazy.

 

[California Girl]

he most likely died due to hypothermia....the temperature in the cave ....combined with his chest being compressed and the fact his head was below his feet for 28 hours...my son is a climbing guide...the company does caving or splunking...he simply refuses...says it is dangerous and uncomfie...

i feel for the family without the body...but this is something every adventurer accepts that if there is trouble ....you may not be rescued and that your body will not be recovered....mother's cry....and want the body but its the code....esp in alpining...

I've been a few times. It's definitely not for the fainthearted. Where I go, there is a part of the cave where, not only is it a tight squeeze, you also have to go underwater to get thru to the next part of the cave. Then, you have to scramble over a rather huge bolder in the way. All done in the dark, crawling thru cold, wet mud.

It's scary but great fun. Although, last time I cracked my knee quite badly...

don't you wear a hat with a light? I visited a cave nearby that was tour guided. They stood us in the middle of a chamber and then killed all the lights. That was the darkest dark I have ever dared dark. I can see how a person could go crazy.

Yep, we do but we do like to turn them off and see who cracks first.

It is total darkness - absolutely no light can filter through so your eyes can't adjust. It's fun!!

I'm a bit of an adrenalin junkie though. I jump outta planes and shit too. Anything that scares me - I'm doing it.

 

[alan1]

Yep, we do but we do like to turn them off and see who cracks first.

It is total darkness - absolutely no light can filter through so your eyes can't adjust. It's fun!!

I'm a bit of an adrenalin junkie though. I jump outta planes and shit too. Anything that scares me - I'm doing it.

I always managed to not shit while jumping out of a plane.

 

[garyd]

I've come close to jumping out of a plane exactly once in my life. It was Viet Nam. I was taking an old C-123 to my permanent duty station - a little place called Camp Eagle. We are flying along about 17k feet when all of a sudden the passenger compartment fills up with white smoke and the plane does a wing over and heads for the deck. As I was ripping a parachute off the wall mount the pilot pokes his head back through the cabin door and says we've lost cabin pressure and we're going down to where there is enough oxygen to breathe without it.

So I appologize to the dude whose thighs a I am standing on inorder to get the chute and go back and sat down. An old sargeant looks at me and says son I've been through three wars now and some damn hairy situations but that's the fastest I've ever seen anything hman move before in my life.

I used to like caving however.

By the way hanging upside down would get you long before hyothermia given that most caves are around 55 dgrees and some are warmer at that latitude assuming of course you aren't soaked to the bone.

 

[JenyEliza]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

There will be NO autopsy. It is too dangerous to retrieve his body.

They are leaving his body in the cave and sealing it. He will be entombed there for all time, with his family placing a marker at the site.

It is thought that continuous pressure on this body caused him to have trouble breathing and that he died of respiratory failure. That and being upside down at a 70 degree angle for 28 hours, the brain can't take that much blood for so long.

How sad for the family. I don't know how they could come to the painful decision to leave him in the cave. Not sure I could do that if it were my child.

Prayers and condolences to the Jones family. Especially Mr. Jones' pregnant wife Emily.

 

[AllieBaba]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

They aren't doing an autopsy because they can't recover the body. It's too dangerous. They couldn't get him out when he was alive, they aren't going to risk more lives to get him out dead.

The article I read said it was probably a combination of being upside down for 28 hours, combined with exposure.

Spelunker's body wedged in Utah cave won't be recovered | New Orleans Metro Real Time News - - NOLA.com

 

[xsited1]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

There will be NO autopsy. It is too dangerous to retrieve his body.

They are leaving his body in the cave and sealing it. He will be entombed there for all time, with his family placing a marker at the site.

It is thought that continuous pressure on this body caused him to have trouble breathing and that he died of respiratory failure. That and being upside down at a 70 degree angle for 28 hours, the brain can't take that much blood for so long.

How sad for the family. I don't know how they could come to the painful decision to leave him in the cave. Not sure I could do that if it were my child.

Prayers and condolences to the Jones family. Especially Mr. Jones' pregnant wife Emily.

This is going to sound cold, but I wish they wouldn't seal the cave. Maybe they'll reopen it in, say, 6 months and just seal-off the part where he died.

 

[froggy]

I use to go cave exploring when i was a kid, there were many times wild boars would chase us and we'd have to wait them out in a tree.

 

[froggy]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

There will be NO autopsy. It is too dangerous to retrieve his body.

They are leaving his body in the cave and sealing it. He will be entombed there for all time, with his family placing a marker at the site.

It is thought that continuous pressure on this body caused him to have trouble breathing and that he died of respiratory failure. That and being upside down at a 70 degree angle for 28 hours, the brain can't take that much blood for so long.

How sad for the family. I don't know how they could come to the painful decision to leave him in the cave. Not sure I could do that if it were my child.

Prayers and condolences to the Jones family. Especially Mr. Jones' pregnant wife Emily.

This is going to sound cold, but I wish they wouldn't seal the cave. Maybe they'll reopen it in, say, 6 months and just seal-off the part where he died.

How many other bodies might be in there no one knows about

 

[strollingbones]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

There will be NO autopsy. It is too dangerous to retrieve his body.

They are leaving his body in the cave and sealing it. He will be entombed there for all time, with his family placing a marker at the site.

It is thought that continuous pressure on this body caused him to have trouble breathing and that he died of respiratory failure. That and being upside down at a 70 degree angle for 28 hours, the brain can't take that much blood for so long.

How sad for the family. I don't know how they could come to the painful decision to leave him in the cave. Not sure I could do that if it were my child.



could you ask another to risk their life to bring back a dead body? as much as it would pain me....i could not ask that of another person. i could not ask another mother to risk her child for my child's dead body..the owners of the cave have decided to close it to the public...her child's body is there..she knows...more than a lot of mothers can claim....alpine climbers are left...left to die...and their bodies are left...its a horrible decision that is made.....but there are solid reasons for it.

Prayers and condolences to the Jones family. Especially Mr. Jones' pregnant wife Emily.

i feel so for the young family left alone.

 

[AllieBaba]

The autopsy should be interesting. Exactly how did he die in only 28 hours and from what?

There will be NO autopsy. It is too dangerous to retrieve his body.

They are leaving his body in the cave and sealing it. He will be entombed there for all time, with his family placing a marker at the site.

It is thought that continuous pressure on this body caused him to have trouble breathing and that he died of respiratory failure. That and being upside down at a 70 degree angle for 28 hours, the brain can't take that much blood for so long.

How sad for the family. I don't know how they could come to the painful decision to leave him in the cave. Not sure I could do that if it were my child.

Prayers and condolences to the Jones family. Especially Mr. Jones' pregnant wife Emily.

This is going to sound cold, but I wish they wouldn't seal the cave. Maybe they'll reopen it in, say, 6 months and just seal-off the part where he died.

They're sealing it because it's a dangerous cave. This is the only guy who died, recently, but they've had to risk the lives of rescue teams to save 5 other cavers, I do believe.

 

[xsited1]

There will be NO autopsy. It is too dangerous to retrieve his body.

They are leaving his body in the cave and sealing it. He will be entombed there for all time, with his family placing a marker at the site.

It is thought that continuous pressure on this body caused him to have trouble breathing and that he died of respiratory failure. That and being upside down at a 70 degree angle for 28 hours, the brain can't take that much blood for so long.

How sad for the family. I don't know how they could come to the painful decision to leave him in the cave. Not sure I could do that if it were my child.

Prayers and condolences to the Jones family. Especially Mr. Jones' pregnant wife Emily.

This is going to sound cold, but I wish they wouldn't seal the cave. Maybe they'll reopen it in, say, 6 months and just seal-off the part where he died.

They're sealing it because it's a dangerous cave. This is the only guy who died, I do believe, but they've had to risk the lives of rescue teams to save 5 other cavers, I do believe.

I've been in some very dangerous caves. Most wild caves are dangerous. I've been studying this cave on-line and it's definitely dangerous, but I still don't believe that's reason enough to close it. They just need to make sure only experienced cavers can enter the cave. Most of the time it's the young ambitious types that you have to rescue.

 

[JenyEliza]

This is going to sound cold, but I wish they wouldn't seal the cave. Maybe they'll reopen it in, say, 6 months and just seal-off the part where he died.

They're sealing it because it's a dangerous cave. This is the only guy who died, I do believe, but they've had to risk the lives of rescue teams to save 5 other cavers, I do believe.

I've been in some very dangerous caves. Most wild caves are dangerous. I've been studying this cave on-line and it's definitely dangerous, but I still don't believe that's reason enough to close it. They just need to make sure only experienced cavers can enter the cave. Most of the time it's the young ambitious types that you have to rescue.

If you've been studying this cave online, then you would know it was only re-opened 6 months ago after several near-fatal incidents where cavers were rescued.

Before re-opening this cave, they instituted a permitting process where spelunkers or cavers were only allowed to enter if they met several conditions: 1) they were well experienced cavers, 2) were registered with the people who run the cave and obtained a permit and 3) had an experienced guide with them.

Mr. Jones met all of the qualifications, and yet he still died.

Additionally, out of deference to the family and out of respect for Mr Jones' final resting place, the owners determined it would be inappropriate to seal off only the portion where Mr Jones is entombed, and have recreational activities taking place within his final resting place. I happen to agree.

Would you want cavers crawling around your child's final resting place? You *know* if they allow anyone near where Mr. Jones is entombed, some wise-ass is going to try to get to his body, just to say they did it! It's human nature.

I personally find that reprehensible and offensive, but Mr Jones' body being disturbed is guaranteed to happen as long as there are dumbasses in this world with access to that cave.

Seal it up with cement and let the man rest in peace.