Rescuers had tried to save Jones for more than 24 hours and he eventually died within the extremely narrow area within the Nutty Putty Cave known as "Bob's Push."
State and county officials said Friday that any effort to recover the body of 26-year-old John Jones from the cramped passage would be too dangerous.
Friday morning, state officials from the agency that owns the land, the cave's operators, Jones' family and law enforcement officials decided to close the cave as quickly as possible to avoid future tragedies.
The family will be allowed to place a memorial marker at the cave.
For the past two years, Jones was attending medical school at the University of Virginia, hoping to pursue a career as a pediatric cardiologist. Jones, his wife Emily and their 13-month-old daughter had come home to Utah for the Thanksgiving holiday and to share the news that another baby is expected in June.
Jones' family is considering a fund to help educate young people on cave safety.
Written by Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com
sources: SLCity Tribune, NYT, CNN
image: SLTrib.com
Posted November 28th, 2009 by Cheryl Phillips
