The day before Thanksgiving in 2009 I was invited to assist with the Nutty Putty Cave rescue of John Edward Jones. I ended up being the last person to see him alive, though at the time I arrived he was mostly unconscious. Since that time I have received numerous questions from reporters and curious individuals. Recently there has been an uptick in those requests as a result of some viral videos that have been posted. This is my attempt to provide information and help answer the questions that I am qualified to answer.
The day after the rescue efforts failed I wrote up a detailed account from my perspective of the rescue while it was fresh in my mind. Keep in mind that this is only one perspective from someone who arrived at the scene toward the end of the rescue efforts.
For a more well-rounded perspective I would encourage you to read Lindsay Whitehurst’s two-part Salt Lake Tribune article.
I will provide some commentary below my report with the footnote number indicated in report in parenthesis.
WARNING: This report contains descriptions of John Jone’s condition, passing, and post-mortem condition that could be disturbing to some readers. Out of respect for John and his family, I have tried to keep descriptions as general possible while addressing the challenges we were up against.
Nutty Putty Rescue Report
Written for SAR on November 25, 2009
I received the first call at 9:00 or 10:00 AM from Spencer Christian and Rodney Mulder that there was a rescue underway at Nutty Putty. They asked me if I could assist, but after asking a few questions about what was going on it seemed there were already enough people on site to carry out the rescue. I told Spencer and Rodney that if the rescue went on for a while and people started getting exhausted, and they absolutely needed me, that I would come.
About 5 hours later Spencer called me up and asked me to respond, saying that people were getting tired and they really needed small cavers. So I left work at about 4:00 PM, ran home to grab my caving gear and then headed out to Nutty Putty. I arrived at the site at about 6:00 PM and was put on the next group to go in the cave at about 6:30 PM.
When I arrived to the main passage at the opening of the Birth Canal people were working on the 4 to 1 haul system they had installed. I assisted for about 5 minutes, until it was decided that the system didn’t seem to be working (1) and the people by John Jones (the victim) needed a break. So the cavers that were working with John headed out.
On the way out I spoke with Andy Armstrong. I asked him how John was doing and he said that he was quickly going downhill, that he was in and out of consciousness and had started talking about seeing angels and demons around him.
As soon as they were out, we decided that I would head in first to assess the situation and see if I had any ideas for removing him, and then Debbie would work with John, since she had already spent some time with him getting to know him and she thought he would feel more comfortable with her.
So I went in first. In the back of the passage, right before you arrive at where John now is, there is an extremely tight crawl perhaps 18 inches wide and about 8 to 10 inches tall that takes a sharp 90 to 120 degree turn that you have to enter feet first. You have to maneuver yourself very carefully and you cannot see where your feet are standing until you pass the restriction. As I wormed my way in I felt my feet touch something soft which ended up being John’s feet. I felt them move and immediately lifted my feet and worked my way horizontally into the crack.
John’s feet were about 6 feet past the constriction and I was able to shift myself to the side of him and down the 4 foot wide fissure. After stabilizing myself by jamming my body into a narrower section of the crack I began speaking to John asking him how he was and introducing myself. There was no response. I shifted my position a little and tapped him on the leg. I could hear him breathing a deep gurgling breath, as though his lungs were filling with fluid. Then his feet shifted as though he were trying to maneuver his legs out of the crack he was jammed in. The kicking looked fairly frantic and after a second he stopped and it looked as though he had drifted into unconsciousness. (2) I continued tapping him on the legs and hip to see if I could get a response, but there was no response.
From there I spent a few minutes studying the passage, the positioning of John, and the rig that was set up, to see how we could get him out from here. It looked very bleak. I wondered if it was even possible to get him beyond this point. We could continue trying the rig, but it looked like he could only be lifted another foot or two in his current position because of where the webbing was anchored around his knees. After a foot or two his feet would hit the ceiling. And then once he reached the ceiling, there was no way to tilt him to a horizontal position. He would have to do it himself, but he was now unconscious. And even if we could get him into a horizontal position, he would then have to maneuver the most difficult sections of the passage he was trapped in. If he were conscious and had his full strength there was a minute chance he could possibly do it. But even if that was the case it looked grim. It was even difficult for me, weighing 125 pounds, to get myself out. At the bend where the restriction was I had to creatively contort my body to slip through. So to get a 210 pound, unconscious person out seemed pretty much impossible. The other option I saw was to use a jack hammer to widen the crack he was and remove a couple of knobs and then widen the tight spot, and then pull him straight out. He would be cut up very badly and probably end up with several broken bones, but if nothing else would work, that seemed like the best option.
Between me climbing out and Debbie taking my place there was a request to take the radio down to John so that his family could say some words to him. I think it was his father, mother, and wife who spoke to him, telling him that they loved him and were praying for him and that his father had given him a blessing. His wife mentioned a feeling of peace, that everything would be OK. She talked to him about 5 to 10 minutes before I told her that we needed to get back to working at getting him out.
At that point I crawled out to let Debbie squeeze past and take a look and assess the situation, but when she got to the tight hole, both legs cramped up and she was unable to make it down. At that point I decided to try using the jack hammer. So we waited for it to arrive and then I carried it down to where John was located. The tool was much heavier than I anticipated and to hold it up while wedging my body in the crack took everything I had. Even then, I couldn’t get a good angle on the rock because of the confined space and limitations in my own mobility and positioning. I only got three tries at a small lip just below Johns foot, but because of my angle the hammer just kept sinking into the sand at the side of the rock lip. I tried shifting my position, but it seemed like everywhere else I moved I couldn’t get a handle on the jack hammer because of it’s length. I only had about 2.5 feet of space between me and the rock that needed drilled and the jack hammer was probably 3 to 4 feet long. And then trying to hold it in such an awkward position wore me out pretty quick.
At that point I requested something smaller, but there didn’t seem to be anything available, and even if there had been I don’t know if a small hammer drill would have done much against the solid limestone walls. So we returned to the Birth Canal to have a quick meeting to decide what to do.
At that point it sounded like the drills were having issues or something like that, and the only option we had for drilling was to use the compressed air hammer. It took probably an hour or so to get hose down so we could use it. While we waited, we decided that perhaps the best bet was to try widening the hole from the top down, working our way towards John instead of away from him. Once the drill arrived Debbie, Max, and I spent about an hour and a half chipping at the passage a couple of feet above the tight spot – about 7 to 9 feet away from John. Areas where the rock was softer came apart fairly easy, but the harder formations took an incredible amount of effort. The main problem was that because space was so limited it was difficult to hit the rock at the right angle, so instead of chipping off the knob you would end up cutting a hole straight into the floor.
After an hour and a half we had only knocked off about a 18” x 4” section of rock on the ceiling and on the ground. And that was at the wider section of the passage. From that point on the cave was even tighter so that if you were laying in the passage and weighed 125 pounds you only had about 3 to 6 inches of space above you. Not very ideal for holding a jack hammer or even being able to choose the most effective angle. To continue the process, or even if we switched to micro-blasters, my estimate was anywhere from 3 to 7 days to get back to where John was. So once again we regrouped to decide what the next plan of action was.
By now it was close to midnight and we were asked to check vitals on John. They sent in a smaller paramedic to see if he could get back to John. In the event he couldn’t he showed me how to use the stethoscope and thermometer and where to check for a pulse. It was 11:30 PM when we left the group by the birth canal and ventured down the passage. It took about 15 minutes to get to John. I went first to check, just in case the paramedic couldn’t fit. I first tried the stethoscope and was only able to get it about 3 inches up and to the right of his naval. I didn’t hear a distinct heart beat, only some ruffling, fluttering sounds that were probably a result of me shaking as I tried to steady myself in an awkward location. I then jammed my hand between the rock and pressed as far up his torso I could go to feel for breathing. I didn’t think I felt anything, but again it was difficult to tell as I was shaking from trying to steady myself. His chest, where it was pressed up against the rock, felt warmer than the rest of his body and was sweaty, but every where else his body temperature was close to the temperature of the rock on the cave walls. From there I removed his shoe and attempted to check his temperature. The thermometer read nothing, which the paramedic said was because the temperature was below the range. As I took his shoes off and moved his feet I noticed that his feet and legs were significantly stiffer than they had been earlier and it was difficult to his leg more than a few inches.
I reported my findings to the paramedic above and then crawled out so that he could see if he could squeeze in. He was able to get dow to the point where he could feel his feet and confirm he had passed away. John Edward Jones was pronounced dead at 11:52, I believe it was.
At that point we decided to return topside for a debrief to discuss what our next plan of action would be. As everyone headed out, the paramedic and I went back in to take pictures of the passage and John’s position.
With John now deceased the effort required to remove his body would be exponentially more challenging. His stiffening body wouldn’t be able to make the bend through the tight spot above his feet, without significant alterations to the passage, which could take days or weeks with a hammer drill, perhaps slightly faster with micro-blasters. Any swelling would make it next to impossible to get him out of the crack he was wedged in until the swelling had reduced. There was no way to connect him to a rope other than by his feet. After a few days, we would need a hazmat suit and masks to work with the body, which would severely overheat any rescuers trying to get him out. With pants and a short sleeve shirt a person is usually dripping with sweat in about 10 to 15 minutes and can work for about 30 to an hour before needing a break. With a hazmat suit and mask you could probably work for 5-10 minutes before needing a break, not to mention the limit to your mobility. The body recovery idea looks very grim. (3)
Photos from the Rescue
NOTES
- The 4 to 1 haul didn’t work because there were so many twists and turns in the cave between where there was room for a group to stand and haul and John’s position that the friction, even with pulleys in place was enough to render the haul system ineffective.
- This was the moment he passed away.
- Ultimately it was decided it would be too risky to rescuers to attempt to remove the body, and to this day Nutty Putty Cave is the final resting place of John Jones.
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I really appreciate everyone’s kind and encouraging words in the comments below, as well as your questions. Unfortunately, I no longer have time to respond to questions and comments. I will continue to approve the comments you post as long as they are family friendly, but just know that I only log in to approve comments every few weeks.
Thanks again for your kind words!
Hi Brandon,
Thank you for answering these questions.
You say that the crack was wide enough for John who was upside down and a rescuer next to him upright. If there was enough room for two people, what exactly was the reason John was stuck? I’m struggling to picture a hole that is wide enough for two people to be side by side, but in which one person can be stuck.
Imagine being in a narrow slot where two people can fit, but neither can help the other. One person is in a hopeless position in the more treacherous part of the slot and the other is in a slightly better section of the slot but better positioned to be able to get himself out, but is in such an awkward position it is impossible to help the other person. That’s sort of what it was like.
The competition between John and his brother were clearly shown in the movie, “The Last Decent.” Do you think that John was so intent of finding the birth canal before his brother, that he wasnt thinking when going down that passage? John should have realized that when he was going in head first and it was getting tight, that he would still have to be able to get back out. Im sure he was smart enough to know that he would have to push himself backwards through the tightness and knew his own capabilities. John just seemed to be in a hurry in the movie. And why didnt they start the pulley system down closer to where John was stuck so that the pulley didn’t have to go around so many walls and ledges. Two people could have pulled him up being closer to John and not have so much tension on those pulleys. What do you think?
We will likely never know the details of what happened in the moments leading up to him getting stuck. There is also no way two people could have fit back where John was. There was only room for John and one small rescuer.
Everything that happened with John is a tragedy, and it was an incident that really shocked me. I understand that something like this was expected, but not necessarily at Ed’s Push, right?
What was the rest of the cave like? Areas like The Maze, Big Room, and The Crack. Are there dangerous places like Ed’s?
Hi Brandon, I know its been years since this happened but i have a question. I just watched the movie “the last descent” and I wanted to ask if you ever spoke with john during the rescue and if yes what was the conversation like? What things did john say? and have you watched “the last descent”?
sorry if im very late about this, i just found out about this weeks ago.
rest in peace John Jones.
Why didn’t you guys just simply attach a hand cranking mountable winch to the cave wall ceiling above and to the side of him? You could have had him out in 20 minutes after just drilling 4 holes in the limestone and attaching the cable to him. 35 bucks on Amazon sold at every hardware store. Use oil as well to lube him up could have had him out in less time. Should have taken one minute to learn he was upside-down and to realize he had just hours to live then one hour to realize drilling/jackhammering was gonna take too long then 1 minute to realize a rope based pulley system was never gonna work then you get creative and say “hey what about using a hand cranking winch we can attach it directly to the stone above him.” This was failed rescue, you should have shown up when they first called obviously.
Hi Brandon, it is very interesting to read about your experience. I am from Russia and John’s story has just now become popular in our segment of YouTube. Unfortunately, most authors distort information, so I read your article with great interest. You are amazing. I would like to ask you a few questions, if you do not mind. Do you know anything about caves on the Caucasus, such as Krubera Cave and Verevkina Cave? Have you ever been to caves abroad? What is the most dangerous cave you have ever been to? Sorry for my English and thank you!
Just an answer to Sheila’s comment, hope its okay.. John wasn’t actually alone with his brother. There were 11 family and friends visiting with them. After they explored the big slide, John, his brother and a couple of friends set off to find the birth canal. I’m not sure it was really a competition between them all since several tunnels could lead to the birth canal (none of them visited the cave before which was strongly recommended by the cave management), they just separated so they could find it and that’s when John got stuck. He knew the birth canal would be a very tight squeeze, hence why he kept going thinking it would open up eventually. He went head first because the entrance to the tunnel was going up. By the time he wanted to back out of the crevice, it was too tight for him to move and gravity was already forcing him down the slope..
Danger is relative to the circumstances and the skillset of the individual. I would say the rest of the cave had varying levels and types of risk. Lots of crawly, slopey, stoopy, squeezy passage.
I did not. He was unconscious when I arrived.
You would have had to have been there to understand why.
Hi Alexsandr. Yes I have heard of those caves. I have a friend that pushed several 1000+ meter deep caves in that area, but I haven’t had the opportunity to join any of those expeditions. Probably the most dangerous cave I’ve been in is Main Drain in Utah, which is a 400+ meter deep cold alpine cave with complex European style rigging. I owe a special thanks to Peter Hartley for getting Utah cavers up to speed on European alpine-style cave technique.
Hi Brandon, when you first saw the position John was in did you think there’s no way he’s going to be saved? Or did u think it was possible?
Hi Brandon, when you first saw the position John was in did you think there’s no way he’s going to be saved? Or did u think it was possible?
I hoped we would be able to get him out until I took a long hard look at his position and the environment and realized there was nothing we could do beyond what was already done.
awesome
Hey Brandon, I’ve been so curious and dying to know this. During your time surveying Nutty Putty did you ever stumble across any artifacts or cave art of some sorts?
Very sad….got to tip my hat to the rescuers….must of been a nightmare raceing against time and arriving at the outcome….from what I’ve seen you tried as hard as you possibly could and put your own life’s at risk but you can’t win them all….some situations just can’t be fixed…I really feel for john and his family…and I’ve got nothing but admiration and respect for the rescue efforts…to put your self in harms way to help another human being makes you all a very speacial breed of persons and don’t ever forget that…..Best wishes to all from Wales UK…
Hey. Brandon,
You are awfully brave. You mentioned John was bigger and not in great shape, why would he traverse such a dangerous cave with so little experience? When did someone know he was stuck? Do you climb in pairs? What would make someone crawl in upside down? Could he have been disoriented?
I did not. With the high visitation that occurred prior to John Jones most of the cave has been pretty well abused and stripped of anything that might have been there at one time.
The thrill of exploration. I would assume his brother knew as son as he was stuck since they were caving together. We generally try to have at least three in a group when we go caving so if someone gets injured, one person can stay with the injured person and the other can go for help. There is probably a good chance John wasn’t sure where he was in the cave.
Thank you so much for this! I discovered this a few years ago before it went viral and spent a couple weeks trying to research it (i even ended up joining the spelunking message boards where they discussed this on real time as it was going on, lol!) because I’ve always been confused that some stories say his brother could see his feet, and at least one claimed he pulled on them and tried to get him loose, yet the area where John was was only accessible by 6 or 7 caving experts so I don’t see how his brother could have gotten to him and back out again, or could he have? You obviously don’t know what happened because you weren’t there, but was it possible he could have or is this just misinformation? There was also a lot of stuff (some on the boards) saying he’d inhaled then got his ribs caught on a ridge when he exhaled that also seems to be wrong.
My other question is that I’ve seen in a few places that he slipped and “fell” into that crevice and that was how he ended up upside down, but as narrow as it looks in your photos, I don’t see how that could happen, or am I mistaken? Like many others on here I get confused with the 3d space.
Thank you so much again!!
Dear Brandon,
I’m unsure what to say; no words could do justice; I can only imagine what you must have felt, thought, concluded through the entire ordeal; based on your experience, knowledge, I suspect you knew, but held onto an everlasting hope, faith, prayer for a miracle. So, I wanted to say this — I greatly admire your strength and courage to stay and “fight” and be (what must have been) tremendous support for John, his wife, brother, parents, friends, family, rescuers, the community; not nearly everyone, or most, could or would have done the same. I strongly disagree with any “Monday Morning Quarterbacks,” so to speak, and frankly think they’re kinda just downright mean. Hindsight is 20/20; but life is not; it’s in the moment, and in that one you and the others did the best you could with the cards dealt; you were heroes. I am so sorry.
Thank you for the information, now I know more complete details about the rescue efforts.