Investigation report into 'worst death imaginable' reveals 3 lesser known details from Nutty Putty cave incident
Thomas Bamford
Featured Image Credit: Family Handout
The chilling story of John Edward Jones's untimely death in Utah's Nutty Putty Cave system has been told many times.
What hasn't been told as often is what was happening underground in the final hours, and the chaos and misinformation surrounding the rescue effort.
Jones, a 26-year-old medical student, had been stuck upside-down in a passage measuring roughly 10 inches by 18 inches for nearly 20 hours by the time rescuers were making their most serious attempt to pull him free.
A dual haul system had been rigged across a twisting crawlway, with pulleys anchored at multiple points, the final one attached to what the rescue team described, in the official incident report compiled by the National Speleological Society, as a 'seemingly bomber natural anchor in the ceiling'.
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Unfortunately for Jones, this couldn't have been further from the truth.
According to the report, the natural bridge that the final deviation was rigged to had a sharp back edge that had been slowly cutting through the 11mm rope anchoring the pulleys.
Rescuer Ryan Shurtz was in the forward position, directly beneath it, manipulating Jones's legs and encouraging him to push upward, when the anchor rope snapped. The steel carabiners and rescue pulleys were blasted into his face 'with incredible force'. The impact knocked Shurtz unconscious, partially severed his tongue, cut his face badly, and caused a concussion.
When Shurtz came round, he was helped back along the crawlway to the haul team, cleaned up by medics, and eventually exited the cave under his own power. He made a full recovery.
The rigging failure also dropped Jones roughly a foot deeper into the passage. He was already severely weakened after nearly a day inverted, and the drop, while not injuring him, ended any realistic hope of getting him out.
He became unresponsive shortly afterwards. The report made clear this was the final nail in the coffin for Jones. It said: "The rigging failure also dropped John down about a foot. The drop did not injure him, but effectively ended any hope of rescue as his condition had been severely declining."
What makes this sequence of events even more extraordinary is what was being reported on the surface at the same moment. According to the NSS incident report, a rescuer had exited the cave and told waiting press that Jones was nearly free and would be out within a couple of hours.
It was broadcast across television news that Jones had already been freed and was on his way out.
The report states plainly: "Only about an hour later, the rigging failed." Jones was, at that moment, still many hours from being free at best. It went on to say that the false news 'caused a lot of confusion and hurt for family members, rescuers, and other cavers'.
Another lesser-reported fact from the rescue is how the landowner wanted to deal with the tragedy.
The cave was permanently sealed shut with concrete on December 3, 2009, but the landowner wanted to go to an even more extreme method.
After John’s death, the landowner wanted to set charges throughout the mile-long cave and dynamite the entire thing. Cavers were able to negotiate a compromise where just the cave entrance would be sealed.
Jones died sometime between 10pm and midnight on 25 November 2009; his cause of death is believed to be the consequence of being inverted for over 24 hours, the position compressing the diaphragm and lungs, making each breath increasingly difficult, and allowing fluid to accumulate. Many have described Jones' death as the 'worst death imaginable'.
The internet has a morbid curiosity surrounding Jones' ultimate demise, and one YouTuber has even created a VR simulation so you can 'experience it yourself'.
His body was never recovered. The cave entrance was sealed with a concrete plug and has remained closed ever since, with only a plaque to commemorate his life.
The incident report ends with a single lesson for future rescues: all interactions with the press should be handled through a designated Press Information Officer. "Inaccurate comments," it notes, "can cause a lot of confusion and hurt."
You can read the full report here.