In 2009, John Jones, a 26-year-old medical student and experienced caver, arrives in Utah for the Thanksgiving weekend with his wife Emily and young daughter Lizzie. It stars Chadwick Hopson, Alexis Johnson, Landon Henneman, Jyllian Petrie, and Jacob Omer. The film was produced by Deep Blue Films, Cocollala Pictures, and Dark Rider Productions and distributed by Excel Entertainment Group. It is based on the 2009 rescue attempt of John Edward Jones in Nutty Putty Cave, west of Utah Lake. Since the cave's discovery in the 1960s, Barker said Nutty Putty Cave has seen more than 50,000 visitors, with only 10 incidents of people getting injured and about four of those being serious.īarker said he believes it's unlikely the cave will reopen, though he hopes one day it will.The Last Descent is a 2016 American biographical survival drama film co-written and directed by Isaac Halasima, and is his first feature-length film. While Barker is sad to see the cave close, he said he knew it could happen if someone got seriously hurt. "He couldn't have gotten into a worse place," he said. You can get yourself in trouble about anywhere."īarker was one of those called in the early hours of the morning to help with the rescue efforts after Jones became stuck. "It's not a lot different than going up Rock Canyon. "It is a unique resource for how close it is and overall (how) safe it is as a cave," Barker said. A new plan was made, and the cave reopened in May. It was then closed in 2007 due to abuse of some users and a need for a new management plan, said Max Barker, Timpanogos Grotto chairman. It was gated in 2006 and all spelunkers had to get permission and a key from the cave management group to enter. Talks of closing the cave have been ongoing for several years. "I thoroughly enjoy being outdoors and nature, but sometimes we have to look beyond that, and this may be one of those times." "I know a lot of people said this decision has been made in haste, but it has been thought over for many, many years," said Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson, who participated in the Nov. The decision to close the cave was unanimous, Andrews said. John Andrews, SITLA's legal council, said meetings last Friday and Monday about closing the cave included officials from SITLA, the Utah County Sheriff's Office, Timpanogos Grotto as cave manager, a Utah County commissioner and a state legislator. The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, which owns the cave, had the final say about its closing, though several agencies were consulted in the decision. In the past few days, nearly 600 people have joined Facebook groups petitioning to keep the cave open. "The reason the cave closed is not that we have a death it's that we have an unrecoverable victim," Forshee said. The difference, he said, is that the cave is Jones' final resting place. The cost of the rescue efforts already exceeded $40,000, he said.įorshee said the sheriff's office has received hundreds of complaints about closing the cave, many of them likening the experience to someone drowning in Utah Lake or getting killed in a park - neither of which would result in a closure. Forshee said drilling to reach the body would have cost between $400,000 and $900,000. The opening near the victim's place of rest, however, will be permanently sealed.Īfter much effort to remove Jones' remains, it was deemed too difficult and dangerous. Utah County Undersheriff Mike Forshee said the cave is being sealed off with concrete in two places - the main entrance and the opening near the victim's remains.įorshee said the seal on the cave's main entrance will not be permanent, meaning it could be reopened in the future if officials choose to do so. 25 and his body was not able to be exhumed. Despite 27 hours of rescue efforts, Jones died Nov. The decision was made after 26-year-old John Jones became trapped in a small crevice of the cave on Nov. PROVO - Despite objections from hundreds of local residents and visitors of Nutty Putty Cave, the Utah County grotto will be sealed off completely by Friday.
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