Overview
- John Edward Jones, a 26-year-old medical student and expectant father, became wedged head-first in a 10-by-18-inch passage more than 400 feet from the entrance after mistakenly entering an unmapped route near Ed’s Push while searching for the Birth Canal.
- Dozens of rescuers spent hours rigging a rope-and-pulley system to lift him, but progress was lost when the rigging detached and he slid back into the tight shaft.
- Cave explorer Brandon Kowallis said he heard gurgling breaths he believed signaled fluid in Jones’s lungs and saw uncontrollable leg twitching as Jones drifted in and out of consciousness, reportedly speaking about seeing angels and demons.
- Jones asked about an injured volunteer’s condition, later questioned his chances of survival, spoke with family via a lowered radio, and was pronounced dead by a paramedic at 11:52 p.m.
- Officials deemed body recovery too dangerous, sealed Nutty Putty Cave with concrete, and the site remains permanently closed.