John Edward Jones

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John Edward Jones
Born	(1983-01-21)January 21, 1983
💀Died	November 25, 2009(2009-11-25) (aged 26) Nutty Putty Cave, Utah County, Utah, U.S.November 25, 2009(2009-11-25) (aged 26)
Cause of death	Suffocation and brain hemorrhage
🏳️ Nationality	American
💼 Occupation
Known for	Passing away in Nutty Putty Cave
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
💪 Weight	200 lb (91 kg) 200 lb (91 kg)
👪 Relatives	Josh Jones (brother) Emily Jones (wife) Lizzie Jones (daughter)

John Edward Jones passed away while spelunking in the Nutty Putty Cave of Utah on November 24th, 2009. He was a medical student at the University of Virginia who was married to a woman named Emily and had a daughter named Lizzie, with a second child on the way to be born in June of 2010. John was 26 at the time of his death and was exploring the cave with his brother, Josh, who was 23 at the time. John was a devout Mormon who was strongly connected with his religion.

Caving Incident and Death

While going to Utah to visit family, he decided to go spelunking with his brother, a hobby that the two of them frequented when they were children. On Tuesday, November 24th, 2009, John and Josh, as well as two friends entered the Nutty Putty Cave and explored an area called "The Big Slide" before eventually separating to find challenging areas within the cave. In search of an area called "The Birth Canal", a curvaceous subsidiary of the cave, John found a waist-high alcove to explore, however, his situation took a turn for the worse when he decided to turn back. The cave he had crawled into was too narrow for him to rotate, so he proceeded forward to find an area where he could turn around, but fell down into a 5 and a half-foot crevice head first. The area of the cave John was exploring was an unmapped area within the cave which branched off of The Birth Canal. His brother crawled into the alcove after his brother and spoke with him for a while before searching for help, and eventually, a volunteer rescue team came to his aid.

One of these volunteers, Susie Motola, was the first to greet John and kindly told him that he would be out "lickety split". Upon further assessment of the situation, however, there were several complications. John hung upside-down in that crevice for hours, causing excessive blood to flow to his brain which eventually caused a brain hemorrhage that impaired John's ability to communicate. The crevice was also shaped in a way that would not allow John to contort backward enough for escape in a harness without breaking his legs, which would cause fatal shock. Tools present for expanding the tunnel were also ineffective, as powerful excavation tools could harm him, and smaller ones would not operate fast enough.

During his time stuck in the crevice, John had prayed and talked about his life and what he had hoped to do once he was out of the hole to a man overseeing his rescue, Ryan Shurtz. He apologized to Ryan about being overweight and made lighthearted commentary with his rescuers while they attempted to pull him out. After 28 hours of being stuck in the crevice, John Edward Jones became unresponsive and was declared dead.

The Nutty Putty Cave was sealed after the incident, and John's body still remains there.

Controversy Over the Cave's Closure

The closure of the cave has sparked some controversy among the spelunking community, especially from those who explored it earlier in their lives and saw nostalgic value in it. Petitions were created to save the cave from being sealed off, however, the cave was sealed on December 2, 2009, with a plaque in John's name on the site. Opposers to the sealing of the cave express feelings of grief over not being able to revisit it, and many blame John for his death causing the site's closure.

The Utah School and Institutional Trust and Lands Administration (SITLA), which owns the Nutty Putty, with the consensus of several government bodies believed that the closure was justified for public safety, however their statement has been contested by several in the caving community with many stating that a tragedy does not justify the closure of an entire site among other griefs with the situation.

An editorial was published on the official Nutty Putty Cave website from the cave access manager, Michael Leavitt. He states that the closure of the cave will harm the wildlife within the cave due to the blasting and cement sealing closing them off from the outside world. He does, however, believe that the Jones family's wish to close the cave and preserve it as John's grave was reasonable.

When asked about when another death would occur in the cave in the future, Leavitt said "We all know the answer to that question. Absolutely not. Caving is risky and caver’s assume risk whenever they enter a cave.", and that "Caving is all about allowing risk and personal choice and has nothing to do with making money. If John Jones’ body had been recovered, then I am certain that SITLA would have entertained offers from any rich philanthropist who offered to buy the property and open up “Nutty Putty Caving Land” with a steep entrance fee in order to pay for the hefty monthly insurance policy that would be necessary to maintain such an experience." The Nutty Putty Cave is owned by SITLA and was open to the public as an avenue to generate revenue for their local schools, and is regarded as their private property even after its closure with John's body still inside.

Notes

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