On November 24, 2009, 26-year-old John Edward Jones became stuck upside down in the cave. After around 27 hours of being stuck, John died at 11:56pm on November 25.
Jones and three others had left their party in search of "The Birth Canal", a tight but navigable passageway with a turnaround at the end. Jones entered an unmapped passageway near an area referred to as "Ed’s Push", which he wrongly believed to be the Canal, and found himself at a dead end, with nowhere to go besides a narrow vertical downward fissure. Believing this to be the turnaround, he entered head-first, then became stuck wedged upside-down. The fissure measured 10 by 18 inches (25 by 46 cm) and was located 400 feet (120 m) from the entrance of the cave. A large team of rescue workers came to his assistance. The workers set up a sophisticated rope-and-pulley system in an attempt to extricate him, but the system failed when put under strain, plunging Jones back into the hole. Jones ultimately suffered cardiac arrest and died due to the strain placed upon his body over many hours by his inverted, compressed position.
After rescuers concluded that it would be too dangerous to attempt to retrieve his body, the landowner and Jones's family came to an agreement that the cave would be sealed, with the cave as his final resting place, and as a memorial to Jones. Explosives were used to collapse the ceiling in the Ed's Push passageway of the cave close to where Jones's body was. All entry points to the cave were permanently sealed by filling them with concrete, making the cave system inaccessible.
this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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I'm friends with a number of fairly dedicated cavers, including a few who have participated in multi-day first descents and who have been part of scientifically funded research expeditions.
This guy died because he was dumb.
Not to say it isn't a tragedy. But in caving, you should never really push yourself until you get stuck, and you should never ever descend a tunnel head first. If you are going down, go feet first, because it is far easier to get out crawling up than down.
The cavers I know will be the first to tell you that caving can be dangerous. But they do everything in their power to mitigate that danger. It pisses me off that this is the image that so many people have of caving, when the cavers I know are extremely meticulous about the risks they take. People die in caves every couple of years, but they typically arent knowledgeable and experienced cavers. Typically they are dumbass yahoos who didn't learn jack about the dangerous terrain they are navigating before waltzing in, and then proceed to demonstrate an ample lack of common sense. Note that the wikipedia article itself notes - this cave was popular with boy scout troops and college kids. Every one of those people, inexperienced and untrained, managed to not crawl headfirst into a tight hole until they were impossibly stuck, because they exercised some straightforward common sense.
A cave like Nutty Putty, when entered with a bit of research, preparation, and common sense, is not very dangerous to the average person. It is a fun and interesting adventure. A chance to explore the natural world. An opportunity to get some fun and novel exercise. And a time when great memories and friendships can be formed. There is always the chance something could go wrong - but then, there is also a chance that you will die in a car wreck while driving to and from the cave. We take calculated risks all the time in the name of living more enjoyable and meaningful lives - the point of life is not to survive, which impossible, but to live. And the takeaway from Nutty Putty should be "don't be a dumbass" not "never leave your couch, it's scary outside."