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Four Die While Exploring Utah Cave
Group Tried To Swim Through Underground Passageway
UPDATED: 3:58 pm MDT August 18, 2005
PROVO, Utah -- Four people -- two men and two women -- died Thursday while exploring a spring-fed cave on public land in Provo.
Police were working to identify the people, ages 19 to 28, and notify relatives, said Karen Mayne, a spokeswoman for the Provo Police Department.
All found bodies were found underwater in a narrow passage of Gollum's Cave.
The four bodies were found facing toward the entrance to the cave as if they were swimming out, said Lt. Dave Bennett of the Utah County sheriffs office search and rescue team.
Rescuers were unsure whether the four died from drowning or lack of oxygen and autopsies were planned.
The woman who was found dead first had apparently been to the cave once before, and dubbed it the "cave of death," because water in the cave was so cold that one of them almost passed out on the previous trip.
A fifth member of the group, identified as Steve Hundley, 20, called authorities about two hours after his friends entered the water to attempt to swim to the other chamber, authorities said. They entered the cave at about 2:30 a.m.
During the rescue attempt, emergency crews pumped oxygen into the cave and pumped water out. A rescue team from the city of Orem that specializes in working in confined spaces such as caves was called the scene, Mayne said. However, crews were unfamiliar with the cave and its layout, she said.
A local scuba diving shop delivered smaller air tanks to the dive team so that they could negotiate the narrow passage.
The four people who died were not believed to be experienced cavers. Police said the men were wearing shorts and sandals, and the women were dressed in shorts, shirts and tennis shoes.
The cave is located on a hillside near the Brigham Young University "Y" on the east side of town. The cave's location had been passed around among young people in the Provo area, said Provo resident Brian Lamprey, 29, an area resident who said he went into the cavern about three weeks ago.
"You hear about it, and it's sort of fascinating -- almost like a movie type thing, an underwater expedition kind of fascinating," he said outside the cave.
He said the entrance to the underwater passageway is a hole visible at the bottom of a pool of clear water, about five feet deep, that sits some 30 yards inside the cave.
Lamprey said he dropped into the hole and worked his way through the narrow underwater passage for about 15 feet before popping up in the next chamber. He said someone had placed a guide rope in the underwater passage.
There is two or three feet of breathable air above the water in that next chamber, which could hold about eight people, he said.
A former BYU student said the cave was known to college students as early as 1997. City officials were meeting Thursday to discuss what to do about the cave.
Group Tried To Swim Through Underground Passageway
UPDATED: 3:58 pm MDT August 18, 2005
PROVO, Utah -- Four people -- two men and two women -- died Thursday while exploring a spring-fed cave on public land in Provo.
Police were working to identify the people, ages 19 to 28, and notify relatives, said Karen Mayne, a spokeswoman for the Provo Police Department.
All found bodies were found underwater in a narrow passage of Gollum's Cave.
The four bodies were found facing toward the entrance to the cave as if they were swimming out, said Lt. Dave Bennett of the Utah County sheriffs office search and rescue team.
Rescuers were unsure whether the four died from drowning or lack of oxygen and autopsies were planned.
The woman who was found dead first had apparently been to the cave once before, and dubbed it the "cave of death," because water in the cave was so cold that one of them almost passed out on the previous trip.
A fifth member of the group, identified as Steve Hundley, 20, called authorities about two hours after his friends entered the water to attempt to swim to the other chamber, authorities said. They entered the cave at about 2:30 a.m.
During the rescue attempt, emergency crews pumped oxygen into the cave and pumped water out. A rescue team from the city of Orem that specializes in working in confined spaces such as caves was called the scene, Mayne said. However, crews were unfamiliar with the cave and its layout, she said.
A local scuba diving shop delivered smaller air tanks to the dive team so that they could negotiate the narrow passage.
The four people who died were not believed to be experienced cavers. Police said the men were wearing shorts and sandals, and the women were dressed in shorts, shirts and tennis shoes.
The cave is located on a hillside near the Brigham Young University "Y" on the east side of town. The cave's location had been passed around among young people in the Provo area, said Provo resident Brian Lamprey, 29, an area resident who said he went into the cavern about three weeks ago.
"You hear about it, and it's sort of fascinating -- almost like a movie type thing, an underwater expedition kind of fascinating," he said outside the cave.
He said the entrance to the underwater passageway is a hole visible at the bottom of a pool of clear water, about five feet deep, that sits some 30 yards inside the cave.
Lamprey said he dropped into the hole and worked his way through the narrow underwater passage for about 15 feet before popping up in the next chamber. He said someone had placed a guide rope in the underwater passage.
There is two or three feet of breathable air above the water in that next chamber, which could hold about eight people, he said.
A former BYU student said the cave was known to college students as early as 1997. City officials were meeting Thursday to discuss what to do about the cave.
