Search crew working to free man stuck in cave

[Dark Knight]

SALT LAKE CITY – Rescue crews scrambled Thursday to free a man stuck upside-down in a popular Utah cave for well over 24 hours.


John Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park, became stuck about 700 feet into the narrow cave, known as Nutty Putty, at about 9 p.m. Tuesday while spelunking with a group of about 11 people, according to the Utah County sheriff's department.


He was still wedged in at 1 a.m. Thursday and rescuers were working through the night to free him, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon.


"As long as he's still in there, we'll have people trying to get him out," Cannon told The Associated Press.


He said as many as 50 rescuers were on the scene about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City and several of them were down in the cave near Jones.


The crevice where Jones is trapped, with his head below his feet, is about 150 feet below ground in an L-shaped area of the cave known as "Bob's Push," which is only about 18 inches wide and 10 inches high, Cannon said.


The process was slow Wednesday with rescuers chipping away with air-powered tools in the arrow tunnel.


At one point late in the afternoon, Jones was freed from the crevice, only to fall back several feet into the tight space when a cord that was supporting him failed, Cannon said


Rescuers were able to get him food and water during that temporary freedom. But by early Thursday morning, he had been stuck in the cave for well over 24 hours, and rescue crews remained uncertain how long it would take to get him out.


"He's not in great shape," Cannon told The Salt Lake Tribune.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091126/ap_on_re_us/us_cave_rescue

 

[Gozgals]

Prayers for this man and that he is recovered. I am wishing him a special Thanksgiving and a speedy recovery. We want everyone to have a great holiday season and being stuck is not a good way to start.

keep me updated.


Happy Thanksgiving
Gozgals

 

[momtective]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/26/utah.cave.man/

A man who was trapped for a day in a crevice in a Utah cave was killed as rescuers struggled to save him, authorities said Thursday.

John Edward Jones, 26, was stuck in the Nutty Putty cave, a tourist attraction in Stansbury Park, a spokesman for the Utah County sheriff's office said.


How very, very sad. My prayers for his loved ones, may the Lord give them strength. What a horrible tragedy on this Thanksgiving day. :sad:

 

[Mira]

terribly sad.
i remember reading a book long ago about a man stuck in a cave and there was no happy ending there either.

 

[tapu]

Gah, what a long, icky way to die. The poor rescue workers, too. So sad.

 

[Dark Knight]

May he rest in peace and may God be with his family on this Thanksgiving, which now will always make them remember this tragedy, and also be with the rescuers, in Jesus' Name, amen.

 

[southcitymom]

So sad.

 

[Sheromom]

May he rest in peace and may God be with his family on this Thanksgiving, which now will always make them remember this tragedy, and also be with the rescuers, in Jesus' Name, amen.

So sad and true but, with the passing of time, perhaps they will be thankful for the time he spent here with them.

 

[lizzybeth]

Some stories just tear at your heart. Last week we had a fifteen year old pulled into a wood chipper and killed instantly. I thought it was horrible and cried on and off for a couple of days. Now this. I guess in the instance of the fifteen year old his family knew that he probably didn't suffer and most likely didn't even know what happened. Not so in this case. That poor, dear boy (yeah, 26 is still a boy to me). My prayers are with his family and his friends that were with him. Prayers for the rescuers who tried so hard to save him.

I hope they close this cave.

 

[Penelope]

What a horrible tragedy -- I feel for this young man and his family. It sounds like he took a calculated risk (and spelunking can be quite dangerous) and turned out losing his life.

Please don't all take this the wrong way, but at least he was of legal age to decide to take the risk that ultimately ended his life, unlike Shaniya Davis who had no say in the tragic events that ended hers.

May the Creator bless both of them.

 

[sniperacer]

Some stories just tear at your heart. Last week we had a fifteen year old pulled into a wood chipper and killed instantly. I thought it was horrible and cried on and off for a couple of days. Now this. I guess in the instance of the fifteen year old his family knew that he probably didn't suffer and most likely didn't even know what happened. Not so in this case. That poor, dear boy (yeah, 26 is still a boy to me). My prayers are with his family and his friends that were with him. Prayers for the rescuers who tried so hard to save him.

I hope they close this cave.

Outlaw wood chippers? Planes? Trains? Automobiles? Oh, and close those darn hospitals - lots of folks die there.

This cave, like many, is used by a lot of people. I have been in many caves (I have two boys) and, IMO, what makes them dangerous is people's choices.

This guy simply got trapped because he choose to "push" into a space that requires most full size males to suck in their breath to get through. This is an extremly dangerous choice.

The poor rescuers had him, but the rescue line attached to the victim broke and he fell back in further.

He died because it became too hard breathe.

Accidents all around. I hope they keep this cave open.

 

[southcitymom]

Outlaw wood chippers? Planes? Trains? Automobiles? Oh, and close those darn hospitals - lots of folks die there.

This cave, like many, is used by a lot of people. I have been in many caves (I have two boys) and, IMO, what makes them dangerous is people's choices.

This guy simply got trapped because he choose to "push" into a space that requires most full size males to suck in their breath to get through. This is an extremly dangerous choice.

The poor rescuers had him, but the rescue line attached to the victim broke and he fell back in further.

He died because it became too hard breathe.

Accidents all around. I hope they keep this cave open.

I hope they keep it open too.

 

[Gozgals]

OH, I was so sad to read that outcome of this story. I was hoping they were able to rescue to this poor man. Now his family will have these memories every Thanksgiving...

May he RIP.

Gozgals

 

[songline]

Outlaw wood chippers? Planes? Trains? Automobiles? Oh, and close those darn hospitals - lots of folks die there.

This cave, like many, is used by a lot of people. I have been in many caves (I have two boys) and, IMO, what makes them dangerous is people's choices.

This guy simply got trapped because he choose to "push" into a space that requires most full size males to suck in their breath to get through. This is an extremly dangerous choice.

The poor rescuers had him, but the rescue line attached to the victim broke and he fell back in further.

He died because it became too hard breathe.

Accidents all around. I hope they keep this cave open.

But dangerous areas like that should be off limits.
boys will be boys and at that age they are all immortal.
Some spaces should have a red line with DANGER pained on them. JMHO
Just like in a hospital the operating room is off limits.
(since you selected a hospital as one of your examples)

 

[songline]

OH, I was so sad to read that outcome of this story. I was hoping they were able to rescue to this poor man. Now his family will have these memories every Thanksgiving...

May he RIP.

Gozgals

Me Too so sad

 

[LogicalMinds]

Such a sad story...some of his brothers were with him

Just read that he and his wife and their 13 mo old daughter were home for the Holidays,
with the good news that they were expecting another baby....what a tragedy

 

[sniperacer]

OH, I was so sad to read that outcome of this story. I was hoping they were able to rescue to this poor man. Now his family will have these memories every Thanksgiving...

May he RIP.

Gozgals

I was thinking they could rescue the man as well. I do not know the search and rescue details, but I'm sure there will be info about it in my outdoors club blogs. It looks like and anchor holding a line attached to him came came loose? He may have hit his head when he fell back in?

IMO (again I was not there), a smaller person could reach him. I am not sure why, they could not just pull him out? When it comes down to death vs. injury, use a pulley system and pull like heck!

 

[Linda7NJ]

The Utah cave where a 26-year-old medical student died earlier in the week will be closed permanently and his body will not be removed.
State and county officials made the announcement Friday afternoon, saying it was simply too dangerous to try to recover John Jones' body.
Jones died late Wednesday about 28 hours after getting wedged into a tight, unmapped passage of Nutty Putty Cave.
State officials plan to meet Monday to discuss the best way to permanently close the cave.

 

[momtective]

O dear Lord, I don't think I could live with this if it were my son. The thought of him being stuck upside down, entombed in that cave...
The grave I could and have lived with, I visit regularly, plant flowers and tidy up...but the cave...I couldn't do it.
I pray his family can one day find some peace, my thoughts and prayers are with them.

 

[SuziQ]

So sad.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8820090

The Nutty Putty Cave has become the permanent resting place for a young medical student who died after getting stuck in a small passage earlier this week.

Family of John Jones agreed with experts and government officials Friday -- there will be no further attempt to recover his body and the popular cave will be permanently sealed.
Jones died late Wednesday night after being trapped in the caves for more than 27 hours. Rescuers worked furiously to get him out -- but in the end ran out of time.
"It will be the final resting place for our son and our brother and husband. It's a place to honor and respect our brother," said Josh Jones, John's brother. The announcement was made this afternoon at the Sheriff's Office in Utah County.

More at link.