Rescuers committed to free man from cave

ELBERTA, Utah County — For a few hours there were sighs of tentative relief. They finally cracked open the boxes of pizza and cases of water, and broke smiles suggesting the worst was over. Rescuers had been trying to extract John Jones, 26, from a narrow niche in Nutty Putty cave for more than 18 hours, and they thought they had succeeded. The 6-foot-tall, 190-pound man was no longer hanging headfirst.

That only lasted for a few hours.

Once Jones was free of the 18-by-10-inch crevice, rescuers said an "equipment failure" caused the rope system that was hoisting the man out of the cave to drop him back into the same, narrow gap.

By late Wednesday night, after 24 hours of rescue attempts, those trying to save Jones were essentially back to square one.

They first responded to the call around 9 p.m. Tuesday. Jones had entered the caves with a group of 11 others, but decided to explore a different route, his brother Josh Jones said. Josh Jones said his brother continued through the tight passageway known as the Birth Canal to Bob's Push, described by police as an "L-shaped pinpoint."

Josh Jones said that once he realized his brother was stuck, his first instinct was to pray. Those in the cave offered what he called a "series of prayers" before making the decision to call 911 around 9:30 p.m.

Responders were on the scene within an hour, swiftly escalating the early-evening outing into the cave into a dramatic rescue mission that would eventually require the aid of more than 100 rescue workers from agencies around the state.

Rescue crews from the Utah County sheriff's search and rescue team, in addition to fire officials from Goshen and Santaquin and caving experts, answered the call to offer assistance at the cave, located on the west side of Utah Lake. Rescue workers from Midvale, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, South Jordan and other agencies were also on the scene.

Shawn Roundy, a rescuer with Utah County Sheriff's Office, said they had difficulty reaching John Jones, as he was stuck in "absolutely the worst spot in the cave."

"It's very narrow, very awkward, and it's difficult to get rescuers down there," Roundy said. "It's a really tight spot, but we've been able to get around him. We were able to hold his hand at some point."

He said they were able to free Jones initially using a rope-pulley system. At that point, Jones had been hanging, headfirst, at a 70- or 80-degree angle for more than eight hours, said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Hodgson.

It was around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when rescuers got him loose. They were able to give him an IV, food and water. He also received a needed morale boost after he was able to talk to his wife over a police radio.