List of United States caving fatalities

This is a list of caving fatalities in the United States.

Between 1980 and 2008, there were a total of 877 incident reports involving 1,356 individual cavers documented by the National Speleological Society (NSS) in their annual publication American Caving Accidents (ACA). These incidents often involve multiple factors and injuries for the same caver that are each recorded individually. The most common incident was being unable to exit a cave, such as being stranded or lost, (54%) and the second most common incident was caver fall (24%), resulting in 74% of traumatic injuries. Of the 1,356 cavers rescued over the 28-year period, fatality occurred in 81 (6%), averaging 3 deaths per year.[1]

List of fatalities

Date Name Cause Cave Location Description Reference
Feb 13, 1925 Floyd Collins Starvation Mammoth Cave Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky Floyd became trapped for 14 days after a large rock fell on his leg, eventually dying of starvation and exposure. [2]
May 28, 1967 Joe Chiara Fall Breathing Cave Bath County, Virginia Joe fell 50 feet and eventually died from concussion, a broken neck, and internal injuries. [3]
Jul 9 1967 Charles Richter Fire Carnegie Cave Pennsylvania The tar-lined drainpipe entrance caught fire from 2 candles and Charles crawled through the pipe, into the flames. He died 3 days later from burns covering 59% of his body. [3]
Jul 26, 1967 Charles Vaught & John Miller CO poisoning Staunton Quarry Cave Virginia A dynamite blast 3 days earlier left dangerous gases inside the cave. [3]
Sep 4, 1967 Douglas Evans Fall Vanishing River Cave New Mexico Douglas fell 100 feet, eventually dying from his injuries. [3]
Mar 10, 1999 Harold Allen (Hal) Bufford Hypothermia Ellisons Cave Walker County, Georgia Harold became stranded under a waterfall on a rope while ascending a 440-foot-deep pit. [4]
Apr 6, 1999 Robert Canady Suffocation Hermit Cave Oklahoma Robert became wedged at a constriction and was unable to free himself. Inadequate equipment and bad air contributed to this incident. [4]
Mar 16, 2000 Paul David Snowburg Fall Birds Drop Virginia Paul fell down the 150-foot entrance shaft and did not have a harness. [4]
Sep 30, 2000 Joe Ivy Fall O-9 Well Texas Joe fell 40 feet from a rope while ascending and became wedged in a slot he was unable to free himself from. [4]
Feb 25, 2001 Aaron Standage Drowning Redman Cave Arizona Aaron became wedged in a crevice while travelling a flooded passage. [4]
June 2001 Jeffrey Wayne Young Fall/jump Earthquake 90 Cave Tennessee Jeffrey either fell or jumped down a 70-foot pit while not wearing any caving equipment. [4]
July 4, 2001 Sharn Cleland Rockfall Unnamed Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Sharn became pinned under a rockfall and during rescue another collapse killed him. [4]
Dec 15, 2001 Dr. John Miller Heart Attack Tumbling Rock Cave Alabama While exiting the cave, Miller had a heart attack and struck his head after sliding down a slope. [4]
May 30, 2009 Robert Jones Drowning Blue Springs Cave Orange City, Florida Robert drowned while freediving. [5]
Nov 26, 2009 John Jones Cardiac arrest Nutty Putty Cave Utah County, Utah John became stuck upside down in a narrow crevice and died 27 hours later from cardiac arrest. [6]
Dec 16, 2009 Steven Troxell Fall Sloans Valley Cave System Pulaski County, Kentucky Steven slipped while climbing a 30-foot-deep pit, landing on his head. [7]
Jan 8, 2017 Charles Odom Drowning Eagles Nest Cave Weeki Wachee, Florida [8]
Jan 29, 2017 Gregory Wilhelm Drowning Waianapanapa Freshwater Cave Maui, Hawaii Gregory swam with a friend in a cave using his cell phone as a flashlight but the reason for his downing was not determined. [9]
Jul 18, 2018 Said Marjane Drowning Eagles Nest Cave Weeki Wachee, Florida Said drowned while freediving. [10]
Nov 24, 2019 Zhou Min Drowning Manatee Springs Cave System Manatee Springs State Park, Florida Zhou was pushed into a chimney by a strong current, becoming trapped. [11]
Jun 9, 2020 Clyde Douglas (Doug) Rorex Drowning Hole in the Wall Cave Marianna, Florida Clyde ran out of air while diving solo. His computer profile showed he was stopped for about 12 minutes, indicating an event may have kept him in one place.
Jan 21, 2021 Thomas Brian Ellis Drowning Devil’s Eye Cave System Ginnie Springs, Florida Thomas was solo cave diving until losing consciousness due to the slider shut-off valve on the oxygen feed being accidentally closed. [12]
Oct 14, 2022 Eric Hahn Drowning Roaring River Cave Missouri Eric exceeded his maximum operating depth while cave diving, resulting in oxygen toxicity. [13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Stella-Watts, Alejandro C.; Holstege, Christopher P.; Lee, Jae K.; Charlton, Nathan P. (September 2012). "The Epidemiology of Caving Injuries in the United States". Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. 23 (3): 215–222. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2012.03.004. ISSN 1080-6032.
  2. ↑ Dobbs, Jack (2025-03-28). "PROGRESS: Floyd Collins remembered a century on". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "American Caving Accidents 1967-1970" (PDF). caves.org. 1974. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Putnam, William (June 2003). "American Caving Accidents 1999–2001" (PDF). caves.org. Retrieved 2026-05-14.
  5. ↑ "Sheriff's Office: Diver drowns at Blue Springs State Park | Headline Surfer / Award-Winning 24/7 Internet News Site Serving Daytona Beach/Sanford/Orlando, FL". www.headlinesurfer.com. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  6. ↑ James, Frank (2009-11-25). "Man Stuck In Utah Cave Dies". NPR. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  7. ↑ staff, Seattle Times (2009-12-17). "Authorities: Man falls into pit in Ky. cave, dies". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  8. ↑ "Man dies at treacherous Eagle's Nest cave diving site in Weeki Wachee". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  9. ↑ Moffitt, Mike (2017-02-07). "N. Bay diver gets trapped in Maui sea cave, dies". SFGATE. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
  10. ↑ "Body of missing 'free diver' found in Florida". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 2026-05-11.
  11. ↑ Nelson, Sarah. "Cave diver dies, became trapped in 'chimney'". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  12. ↑ "National Speleological Society Cave Diving Section Accident Analysis Committee Report, "Cave Diving Fatality Ginnie Springs"" (PDF). Retrieved 2026-05-12.
  13. ↑ Karnes, Sara. "At least 3 factors may have contributed to diver's death at Missouri spring, report finds". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
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