Caver trapped forever | The Nutty Putty Tragedy

During Thanksgiving in 2009, The Jones family suffered one of the most devastating losses imaginable. In the Nutty Putty cave, John Jones became trapped in a tight squeeze that turned out to be a dead end. 27 hours of intense rescue effort ended in tragedy.

The information presented in this video is from original documents and first-hand accounts. Where there are slight conflicts in information, I presented the most substantiated version with emphasis on those who were directly in the cave as most accurate.

Sources include:
The ACA incident report from National Speleological Society, Andy Armstrong report (rescuer) with Dave Shurtz’ (rescuer) account, family letter from John’s in-laws, Lindsay Whitehurst article in the Salt Lake Tribune, Michael Leavitt (cave access manager), and Josh Jones statements.

[pvt.prinny]

Crawling into a hole you can barely fit in is pure insanity

[Deltamedicw]

For those of you feeling horror, anxiety, discomfort, or anything else along those lines just from watching this… those are your instincts. Trust them.

[MrCopernicum]

Change my mind: Claustrophobia is not so much a "phobia", as it is a necessary survival instinct!

[hskatkat]

the fact that he warned his brother not to go down there hits me hard. his caving instincts failed him, but his brotherly ones didn’t.

[ALLZEE]

I'n so glad my hobby is staying at home watching random videos on youtube.

[leumamk]

One of the positive sides of phobias is that they can save you from death literally: my claustrophobia would have never let me be inside that tiny cave for a second.

[opo]

Honestly...when you start a family, it's *really* high time to drop the dangerous thrill-seeking.

[Michelle-dlgo]

This is just hearbreaking. Can we talk about how John survived 3 times longer than a normal person would. His will to live was so strong. May he rest in peace.

[TheSlimmshadyy]

The fact that they couldn't get him out even after he died and just had to leave him to rest there eternally gives me chills thinking how badly he was indeed stuck.

[lukasgus]

I don’t think a video has ever come so close to giving me a panic attack. This is actually crazy. I am generally very calm and I feel my chest tightening as I watch this

[gusdagoosesmom]

All of those people who tried to rescue him are heroes -- no matter the outcome. They risked their lives to help someone else

[superuchic]

This has got to be the scariest, saddest, most devastating and traumatic documentary ive ever seen . Never have ii ever experienced so much anxiety just by watching it.RIP.

[harryparsons]

People who do this willingly are insane. My worst nightmare is being trapped like that

[prakaashmeenaa]

To those of you who seek adventure, just remember one thing: *there's nothing in a cave worth dying for.*

[danielsdimension]

This story still scares me. He ended up crawling in his own grave. I don't get why people think crawling into caves is fun.

[thecircleandthesquare]

being a cave rescuer has to be the bravest calling ever

[swttuth]

Why anyone would willing crawl into a tiny space like that in the first place baffles my mind. It’s suicidal

[Dmoney--]

the best thing about caving is you don't have to do it

[delshadsaid]

The fact that people actually enjoy this type of activity is insane

[kristinacornwellburr]

I went cave exploring in Wyoming with a church group when I was 11. I’ll never forget the entrance opening. It was massive. We were able to walk for about 10 minutes before I realized the danger ahead with extremely small spaces we pulled ourselves through. I’ll never understand why the church thought it was a good day trip for our youth group. To this day, I cannot stand small spaces and I cannot imagine the feeling of being stuck and relying on limited help to be retrieved. Anxiety is an understatement.