On November 24, 2009, John Edward Jones, a 26-year-old medical student, husband, and father, entered Nutty Putty Cave in Utah with his brother Josh and a group of friends. John loved exploring caves and had visited Nutty Putty before.
The cave was famous among amateur explorers for its narrow tunnels and twisting passages. It was also known to be dangerous because many sections were extremely tight and difficult to navigate.
The fatal mistake
That evening, John and his brother were searching for a famous passage called the Birth Canal, a narrow tunnel that experienced cavers sometimes explored.
In the darkness, John accidentally entered the wrong passage.
At first, the tunnel seemed possible to move through. But as he continued forward, it became smaller and smaller.
The passage was only about 10 inches (25 cm) wide and 18 inches (45 cm) high in some places.
John eventually realized he was in the wrong tunnel and tried to back out.
But he was stuck.
His chest was wedged tightly inside the rock.
His arms were trapped and almost useless.
His legs were behind him, unable to push him backward.
The worst part was his position:
He was trapped headfirst, upside down, at about a 70-degree angle inside a narrow, twisting “S-shaped” passage.
Every attempt to move only pushed him deeper.
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