Tragic end for young father stuck in Utah’s Nutty Putty Cave: last words revealed

In a dev­as­tat­ing inci­dent that unfold­ed in Novem­ber 2009, a young father of 26, John Edward Jones, expe­ri­enced an unimag­in­able fate while explor­ing the Nut­ty Put­ty Cave in Utah. The tragedy, described as the ‘worst pos­si­ble death,’ occurred when Jones became trapped in an unmapped sec­tion of the cave, head first, unable to turn or free himself.

Jones, an adven­tur­ous spir­it, had embarked on the expe­di­tion with his fam­i­ly, just days before Thanks­giv­ing. It was dur­ing this excur­sion that he and his broth­er Josh ven­tured into an area known as the ‘Birth Canal.’ How­ev­er, due to his 6‑foot-tall, 200-pound frame, Jones became stuck in a gap mea­sur­ing a mere 10 inch­es by 18 inch­es, approx­i­mate­ly 400 feet from the cave’s entrance.

Upon dis­cov­er­ing his broth­er’s predica­ment, Josh attempt­ed to pull him free, but Jones only slipped fur­ther into the con­fined space. With his broth­er now unable to move, Josh said a prayer, to which Jones respond­ed with the poignant plea, “Save me for my wife and kids.”

Josh then left the cave to seek help, return­ing with equip­ment, sup­plies, and addi­tion­al peo­ple to attempt a res­cue. Despite the col­lec­tive efforts of over 100 indi­vid­u­als, includ­ing a failed pul­ley sys­tem, Jones’ con­di­tion dete­ri­o­rat­ed rapid­ly as the down­ward angle took an extreme toll on his body.

In a somber exchange with res­cuers, Jones uttered his final words, “I’m going to die right here. I’m not going to come out of here, am I?” He then expressed con­cern for an injured res­cuer, Ryan Shurtz, before falling unconscious.

After 28 gru­el­ing hours of res­cue efforts, John Edward Jones trag­i­cal­ly suc­cumbed to car­diac arrest on the evening of Novem­ber 25, 2009. His heart­break­ing sto­ry serves as a grim reminder of the dan­gers asso­ci­at­ed with explor­ing unchart­ed caves and the impor­tance of safe­ty precautions.