Why Utah's Nutty Putty Cave is Sealed With A Man Inside

Nutty Putty Cave is located in Utah County, Utah, USA, west of Utah Lake. Nutty Putty, once renowned among cavers and notorious for its small passageways, has been restricted to the public since 2009, following a deadly accident that year.

The soft, brown, putty-like clay that was found in the cave's system of tunnels inspired its name. In 1960, the cave was initially investigated.

The number of visitors to the cave was reported to be over 5,000 each year, with many of them frequently entering the cave late at night and without taking the necessary safety procedures. It was anticipated that a death would occur because of the excessive polishing of the rock inside the cave brought on by the cave's visitors.

John in the Cave

On November 24, 2009, a man named John Edward Jones became trapped inside the cave and died after being stuck for 28 hours.

John Edward Jones entered Nutty Putty Cave around 8 p.m. local time. John, 26, and Josh, 23, his brother, decided to explore Nutty Putty Cave with nine other friends and family members as a way to bond before the Thanksgiving holiday.

John was in his peak at the age of 26. He was married with a one-year-old daughter and studying medicine in Virginia. He had returned home to Utah to celebrate the holidays with his family.

John hadn't been in a cave for years. And he wasn't the young boy he used to be, standing six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds.

After about an hour of tunneling, John chose to enter the Nutty Putty Cave opening known as the Birth Canal, a narrow hole that adventurers must cautiously crawl through if they dare.

He reached what he believed was the Birth Canal and crept into the tight passage head first, using his hips, stomach, and fingers to propel himself forward. But he quickly realized he'd made a huge mistake.

The first person to locate John Edward Jones was his brother. Josh tried unsuccessfully to pull on his brother's calves. But then John slipped much deeper into the passage, becoming even more confined than before. His arms were then trapped behind his chest, and he was unable to move.

Susie Motola, a female rescuer, was the first to get to John on November 25 at around 12:30 AM. John had been stuck for three and a half hours at that point. Motola greeted John even though she could only make out a pair of blue and black running shoes on him.

Over the next 24 hours, more than a hundred rescue workers labored tirelessly to rescue John from the depths of Nutty Putty Cave. The best strategy they had was to try to remove John from his critically confined situation using a system of pulleys and ropes.

One of the rescuers on the site, Shaun Roundy, explained the difficulties that anyone, even expert spelunkers, would face if they ventured inside Nutty Putty Cave. Even at the entryway, where warning signs had been placed, most of the passageways were dangerously narrow.

Time was running out, the downward angle at which John was trapped was exerting a lot of pressure on his body since it demands the heart to work extremely hard to continuously pump blood out of the brain against gravity.

With no possibility of rescue and his heart having been overworked for hours due to his downward posture, John died of cardiac arrest shortly before midnight on November 25, 2009. Rescuers had tried for 27 hours to save John.

Nutty Putty Cave was sealed up and is now a natural memorial and cemetery for John Edward Jones.