ELBERTA, Utah, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A man trapped upside-down in a Utah cave died early Thursday after a daylong rescue effort, authorities said.
John Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park, Utah, died about 12:30 a.m., nearly 28 hours after he became stuck 700 feet into the cave known as Nutty Putty.
He had left his party to explore on his own and wound up wedged in what one rescuer called "absolutely the worst spot in the cave," The Deseret News said.
Jones had moved head-first into a tight passageway known as the "birth canal," described by police as an "L-shaped pinpoint," where he became wedged.
Rescuers using a rope-pulley system temporarily freed Jones but said an "equipment failure" caused the rope system to drop the 200-pound man back into the same 18-by-10-inch crevice.
Jones, who reportedly had breathing problems during the ordeal, died before another rescue attempt could be made.
