SALT LAKE CITY — The Nutty Putty caves are open for exploration, but only in a virtual setting.

The caves are well known in Utah for a tragic accident 16 years ago, where 26-year-old John Edward Jones was trapped upside down and, after a 27-hour rescue attempt, died. The Deseret News reported that the cave was sealed in 2009 to avoid anyone trying to recreate the accident.

Game Developer 3R’s CEO Pioter Surmacz said the idea for a VR game began with his interest in the 2011 movie “Sanctum.” After watching that he started watching caving videos on YouTube which led him to Nutty Putty.

“I’ve tracked everything I could about the story because I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be honest,” Surmacz said. “It was really imagining, emotionally … what John Edward Jones had been through,

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