sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. archived form does not constitute a republication of the story. But when his chest expanded again, he was stuck. In the cave, John encounters another spirit in the form of an infant. or superseded by additional information. He was tearing up, Emily remembered, which confused her. John, a devout Mormon, had connected with several of the volunteers who had tried to free him through a shared faith. Using chisels and axes was also possibilities, but it took hours to chipaway small amounts of rock. How are you doing?. 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The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax Thet rip, after all, had been his idea. Motola introduced herself to John, even though all she could see of him was a pair of navy and black running shoes. Yet spelunkers of all ages are always keen to navigate the crevice, and Jones was no exception. One of those images showed the opening of Nutty Putty Cave. But he wasnt bleeding, and his eyes were a bright, vibrant brown. Though hed escaped with cuts and bruises and stitches on his tongue, his upper lip swelled so much that it drooped over his chin. He never woke up. Jones stopped responding to the rescue team late that night. The family had just prayed together, and Emily had new hope. Among the smallest of the dedicated band of search-and-rescue volunteers in rugged Utah County, Susie couldnt carry the biggest packs and she got cold faster. We weighed the pros and cons and we finally decided that if this movie could help people, if it could be a good thing, if people can learn to treasure their relationships and be reminded about how fragile life is, then maybe its worth it.. Why dont you rest for a minute and take a break, and then you can push again, she said. One user wrote: "I hope she does not read these comments and i hope none of u have to go through what she has in her life. By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's, Cold: US Marshal shares insider account of Susan Powell investigation, Top stories of 2009, No. John decided to propose anyway. Josh stayed with his brother until rescuers arrived. But when John inhaled again and his chest puffed back out, he got stuck for good. It was their first time in Nutty Putty and a throwback to childhood family caving outings. RIP JOHN IF I WAS YOUR WIFE I WOULD HAVE NEVER MOVED ON SOO SOON AND WOULD BE SHARING YOUR STORY AND LIFE. [2] The film was produced by Deep Blue Films, Cocollala Pictures, and Dark Rider Productions and distributed by Excel Entertainment Group. A woman whose husband died the worst possible death has spoken out about the trolling she and her family are subjected to 13 years on from his passing. He couldnt push himself up. The cave rescue was supposed to be something she could do. After entering Nutty Putty Cave on November 24, 2009, Jones soon got stuck in a narrow passageway. Nutty Putty Cave lived up to its reputation on the night of Johns death. In the long hours theyd spent underground, John talked about the baby growing inside her, how he planned to be there for the childs birth. The rescuers worked through Tuesday night and into the day on Wednesday attempting to free Jones. Utah County Sheriff's Office 9 of 15 They strung the line 400 feet from the entrance to Johns tunnel, then gave a speaker to Ryan. Rescuers believe that John initially tried to wiggle himself free, but only wedged himself further into the space. To make that phone call on Thanksgiving morning to a family that is hopeful you will be bringing their son out and theyll get some closure, it wasnt an easy phone call to make, he said. Still, the family knew that giving the films director, Isaac Halasima, their blessing also meant they were subjecting themselves to a potentially difficult experience. John went into the cave on Nov. 24, 2009 with 10 other friends and family members on an excursion organized by his brother, Josh. John Edward Jones was the last man to explore the Nutty Putty Cave. Explorer Emily Vinton Maughen at the entrance of Nutty Putty Cave. John oscillated between calm, coherent conversation to helplessly thrashing his legs in sheer panic. ", Horror Fans Rank Rotten Tomatoes's Best Horror Movies Of Each Year Since 1998. John picked a waist-high hole to explore. A second tip suggesting the same arrived one day later. Father, just get me out of here. It worked to get Jones past the fishhook of the rock lip, causing some relief on the afternoon of Nov. 25. Youre going to be out of here lickety split.. With his heart struggling to pump blood into his legs, the contact made him scream in pain. In the years following Jones's death, researchers haveinitiatedefforts to better understand caving injuries and deaths to make spelunking safer. As he finds his way back to the entrance, he finds it deserted and realizes he has died and is now a spirit in the afterlife. Thanksgiving dinner was an Ensure shake through a straw. 3: Tragedy at Nutty Putty Cave, The challenge of consent: Utah's rape law and low prosecution rate, How much did donors give the University of Utah during its just-completed giving campaign? Jones died after being trapped for over 24 hours. Over the next 24 hours, more than 100 rescue personnel worked feverishly to free John Edward Jones from the depths of Nutty Putty Cave. Theyd been through rescues where, despite all efforts, the victim died. Actress: Nude Nuns with Big Guns. By Lindsay Whitehurst | The Salt Lake Tribune, Why Utahs independent bookstore network is thriving, Utah hydrologic outlook warns of rising waterways due to snowmelt as temperatures heat up, Higher densities may be coming soon to your SLC neighborhood. Now sealed up, Nutty Putty Cave serves as a natural memorial and gravesite to John Edward Jones. Juliane Cunha Jon Jasper/jonjasper.com Explorer Emily Vinton Maughen at the entrance of Nutty Putty Cave. He was 100 percent right on there with his religion. 6 comes in Mexico; BYU clinches final WCC title, Twitter to allow publishers to charge users on a per article basis starting May, Wrongfully convicted Kansas man to get $7.5M payment. This one is very tender still. Johns body inched up, but he had nothing to hold onto and slipped back into the crevice as soon as Josh released him. Jones-Sanchez currently lives in Peoria, Illinois, where she and her current husband, Donovan Sanchez, moved to be closer to her parents. But as he talked, his voice grew more nasal, his breathing labored. He was born January 21, 1983 in Sandy, Utah. John's body was already showing signs of respiratoryfailure, however. But when he reached the narrow crevice trapping 26-year-old John Jones in Utah Countys Nutty Putty Cave, he had to fight back tears. Read Part 2 here. Most of the passages were dangerously narrow, even at the entrance, where warning signs had been placed. As scary and depressing as he felt Johns predicament was, he had a job to do. She took Lizzie and drove to the cave with Johns parents. Emily thought. Just wondering, when you die and go to heaven, who will you be with? Inside The Gruesome Death Of Bonnie And Clyde At The Hands Of A Trigger-Happy Posse. Donate to the newsroom now. He still continued to date her, amid rising tensions between her and his family. The man is later revealed to be the spirit of his unborn son. But despite the tragic ordeal unfolding over a decade ago, the mother of four has been subjected to horrific online trolling on her Facebook page. But the cave would become a special place for her family. No Fault: Directed by Maggie Kiley. They are picked up by John's brother Josh, who tells him that the Nutty Putty Cave has been opened after having been closed before. Back in 2004, two Boy Scouts had nearly lost their lives in separate incidents in the same area of Nutty Putty Cave where John became trapped. Ill get out, and Ill come see you!. The Utah County Sheriffs Office set up a command center and rescue leaders ran through idea after idea. Id gone in it, in the front, and kind of said, Thats it, thats enough.'. Soon another rescuer, Aaron is brought to the scene. But Johns feet hit the tunnels low ceiling. Bonus episodes of the KSL podcast Cold are available through the subscription service Wondery Plus, along with the entire first season of Cold ad-free. Lists of true accounts of real people who survived unfathomable situations and depictions of fights for survival in film, TV, video games, and other media. But within minutes, he realized hed made a grave mistake. Getting people, equipment, and supplies down that far took an hour. Moving on wasnt easy. The time-consuming nature of using hand tools wasn't ideal given John's head-down position, so they opted to use a rope and pulley system to raise him up. Nutty Putty Cave is a naturally-formed thermal cave located on the west side of Utah Lake, 55 miles from Salt Lake City in Utah. Explorer Cami Pulham crawling out of the passage known as the Birth Canal in Nutty Putty Cave. It was really serious.. Just six volunteers had been able to crawl throught he tunnel to reach John, out of a total of 137 rescuers who responded. Fighting a black depression, he crawled back out of the hole, stopping every few minutes so he wouldnt vomit. Other cavers exploring this hole had found that only the nimblest of contortionists could navigate its tight corkscrew of rock. He spent the remainder of his life surrounded by rock, 150 feet below the surfaceof the Earth, unable to free himself from its clutches. "Ever since the very beginning, ever since I first met Donovan, hes been really comfortable with John continuing to be a part of our family and our lives, especially because of our kids. Ryan tried to ready John for what was about to happen. But rescuers finally had the power to pull him out. Utah County called out its search and rescue team, which had prior experience working to extract stuck spelunkers from Nutty Puttys depths. The Nubian Pyramids Of Sudan Are Just As Impressive As Those In Egypt So Why Aren't They As Well-Known? He knew they needed search and rescue teams. So he kept going , likely thinking he was in the Canal. Being upside down, your body has to pump the blood out of the brain all the time, he said. As he takes the baby from his cradle and exits the cave, the boy is born at a hospital and is placed into Emily's arms, who happily announces that she has named him after John. I just know that hes still watching out for us, that our family is still a family.. She could hear that his lungs were filling with fluid. On 24 November, 2009, John Edward Jones tragically passed away while exploring a hydrothermal cave in Utah known as 'Nutty Putty cave'. Rescuers tied John with a rope connected to a series of pulleys. He asked John to suck his stomach in, but he didnt respond. Over the next 28 hours, rescuers worked frantically to free Jones, finding a way to give him an IV and let him talk to his wife over a police radio, but ultimately they could not rescue Jones before he suffocated. His calves were free but useless. Emily mourns at the entrance, and is able to speak with John one last time. Jones, 26, had grown up in Utah but was attending medical school at the University of Virginia in 2009 when he returned home with his pregnant wife and 14-month-old daughter for Thanksgiving. I know because Ive been able to talk to him since he died, and Ive had several experiences where the veil has been thin, and Ive had these sacred moments where I dont understand everything and my faith is not perfect, but I know hes out there, and I know theres life after death, and I know our family will be together again so that perspective pretty much changes everything. Computer files recovered from Powells digital devices by police and obtained by Cold through an open records request included a scanned copy of a postcard showing the interior of Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utahs Wasatch Mountains. Ryan would then try to shift John from the 8 1/2 inch wide side of the crevice where he was stuck, moving him to the slightly wider side of the fissure. John's position in the cave was problematic from the outset. As the hours went by, more people arrived to help John. She joked that she would have a story to tell his wife and asked if hed like to get some pancakes when they got him out. The search-and-rescue team volunteer sweated in 70-degree heat and stifling humidity, her clothes covered in soft brown clay. Hed crawled through the tunnel and seen John swallowed by the rock. I love you! The best plan they had was to use a system of pulleys and ropes to try to free John from his perilously tight spot. The film had a limited release in Arizona, Utah and Idaho on September 16, 2016. Emily took the ring, then gave it back. Aaron manages to calm him down, but not before John injures himself. He couldnt twist through a rocky corkscrew that led out of the tunnel. John Edward Jones always loved spelunking with this family. Although Jones' death is the first known fatality since cavers began exploring Nutty Putty's narrow passageways in the 1960s, rescuers have been called to the cave five times in the last 10 years. He looked fine. Susie helped him shift positions, but she couldnt lift him. The bereaved wife since went on to remarry, and has had two more children with her new husband. Just wondering, when you die and go to heaven, who will you be with? And Susie poured her heart out. One of the bolts anchoring the pulleys broke, and John was back into his initial position. And the team had grown close to both the trapped man and his family. John left behind his wife, Emily Jones Sanchez, and their two children. Still, she was absolutely sure he was going to be all right. Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Cannon said given the fact Susan Powell was seen alive after the concrete plug was poured, it is not possible for her body to also be entombed with John Jones. The rescuers had little room to move and very little grip with which to pull. John Edward Jones was born on January 21, 1983, and was a Utah native. Jon Jasper/jonjasper.comExplorer Cami Pulham crawling out of the passage known as the Birth Canal in Nutty Putty Cave. This archived news story is available Once John had been declared dead, there were discussions about how do we get him out? There were some rather distasteful discussions as well, things that nobody really wanted to do, Cannon said. Ryan would stay with John during the reconstruction effort. Each persons grief is as unique and personal as their life, but weve compiled a few suggestions that we hope can help you as you comfort the ones you love. I know youve been pushing so hard for so long. Ryan said he knew John would still be with her. ade armando nina m armando,
