Husband of Salem resident dies in Utah caving accident
John Edward and Emily Petersen Jones
SALEM – The husband of Salem resident Emily Petersen Jones died in a caving accident in Utah. John Edward Jones, 26, died the end of November after getting stuck for nearly 28 hours in Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking site south of Salt Lake City.
Family members said authorities decided it was too dangerous to attempt to retrieve his body, and sealed Jones’ remains inside the cave. Jones had explored many caves before, according to his family’s statement, but this time unexpectedly found himself stuck head-first, upside down, against a dead-end in the 1,500-foot-long cave. Rescuers were in contact with Jones during his last hours, the family said, and reported he was in good spirits and sang songs to help himself get through the night. After 28 hours they got no further response from him.
Jones was in his second year of medical school at the University of Virginia, and planned to pursue a career as a pediatric cardiologist. The couple lived in Charlottesville, where a memorial service was held Dec. 5 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife have a 13-month-old daughter, and she is expecting another baby in June. They were in Utah visiting members of her husband’s family.
According to news reports, Jones was the first known fatality since cavers began exploring the 1,500-foot cave’s narrow passageways in the 1960s. Search and rescue workers pulled two people from the same spot in the cave during the same week in 2004, news reports said.
