1965 cave accident victim's remains to be retrieved

[Cheryl Jones]

1965 cave accident victim's remains to be retrieved
Monday, Jun 19, 2006

By Bryon Ackerman
Observer-Dispatch
backerman@utica.gannett.com

DOLGEVILLE NY— A team of spelunkers from around the country will attempt Saturday to retrieve from Shroeder's Cave in Dolgeville the remains of James Mitchell, a 23-year-old who died while exploring the cave in 1965.

Christian Lyon, a Dolgeville native who lives in Los Angeles, began organizing the effort three years ago. He said he is trying to bring closure for the family.

The 1965 incident received national media attention, and a rescue team from Washington, D.C., attempted to aid in the rescue, which failed to save Mitchell or remove his body from the cave.

The accident inspired the creation of cave-rescue teams across the nation, Lyon said.

Lyon is making a documentary, "Tragic Exposure," which will cover the cave's discovery, Mitchell's death and Saturday's recovery efforts. Lyon's grandfather discovered the cave in the fall of 1947 and made the discovery public in 1948.

Lyon said he hopes his documentary will let the legacy of the national impact of Mitchell's death live on.

"It's a story that needs to be told," Lyon said.

Spelunkers from around Upstate New York and from Kentucky, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio will be donating their time Saturday in the retrieval efforts.

"I called them and they all jumped at the chance," Lyon said. "Everyone is lending a hand to help in this tragic case that happened right in our backyard."

Once the remains are brought out of the cave, Herkimer County Coroner Chris Moser will bring the remains to the Little Falls Hospital morgue and evaluate them.

He will then bring them to Earlville to be cremated and given to Mitchell's family.
http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 90319/1001

[Ralph E. Powers]

Hmm, interesting... are there anymore details? Cause of death, how/why he wasn't able to be retrieved in the first place, etc.??

[erebus]

The NSS Mitchell Award is in memory of Jim Mitchell. It's Schroeder's Pants cave. Mitchell was an active member of the Boston Grotto, and was in the cave with other Grotto members when he became exhausted while climbing up a rope to exit the cave. The others had gone up before him, and were unable to help him up, because of the constricted drop and their lack of rescue training. Mitchell died. This was a major blow to the grotto, and it took some active and dedicated work to prevent the dissolution of the organization.

There appears to be a lot of politics involved in the Lyon effort. Odd that the Boston Grotto was not one of the groups solicited. I know that BG has made efforts to get Mitchell's remains returned to his family, and to reopen the cave.

[wendy]

The NSS Mitchell Award is in memory of Jim Mitchell. It's Schroeder's Pants cave. Mitchell was an active member of the Boston Grotto, and was in the cave with other Grotto members when he became exhausted while climbing up a rope to exit the cave. The others had gone up before him, and were unable to help him up, because of the constricted drop and their lack of rescue training. Mitchell died. This was a major blow to the grotto, and it took some active and dedicated work to prevent the dissolution of the organization.

There appears to be a lot of politics involved in the Lyon effort. Odd that the Boston Grotto was not one of the groups solicited. I know that BG has made efforts to get Mitchell's remains returned to his family, and to reopen the cave.

So he died while on rope? They just left him hanging there?

[erebus]

It's a very tight drop, as I understand it. So tight that even body recovery was beyond the abilities of the rescue crew. The death was a huge emotional trauma for the other cavers, as you can imagine. They did try to reach Mitchell, but could not help him. This was not Everest climbers passing a dying fellow on their way to the summit; it was a horrible tragedy for everyone involved.

Here's a Boston Globe story on the current events.

I hope that actor Lyon's documentary is kind to the surviving cavers. They are both good people, who have suffered long.

[wendy]

wow that is some sad stuff. my thoughts are with his surviving caving buddies as now they are having to relive this whole incident.

[lyonz]

Just thought I would respond to here. First off I'm glad to see the article here so everyone in the cave community can read about the events in Dolgeville this weekend. As for the actual accident - Jim Mitchell was the only one to have gone down into the pit area. Both of the other cavers stayed at the top. It was there that he became trapped due to his rope getting caught around himself. All the while 10 gallons of 35 degree water a min. were pouring onto him. He tried in vain to use his prussik knots to raise himself but they were jamming up and freezing also. As for the other two cavers that were with him - I have no intentions of tarnishing there image. On the contrary I think they acted heroically and only wish to honor the legacy of James Mitchell. As for POLITCS with the Boston Grotto or them trying to return the remains to the Mitchell family - they've had the last 41 years to do so - the same obstacles, time, money... that I have had. I just happened to be the one to do something about it. My grandfather discovered the cave in 1947 and practically everyone of my relatives has explored it through the generations. So this is personal to me and I don't take it lightly. I have a highly qualified team in place with my lead coming in from Kentucky. He was chosen based on experience and his knowledge of Schroeder's Pants Cave. I have no political beef with the Boston Grotto and have invited the Chairman to attend!

Christian Lyon

[Ralph E. Powers]

Okay, I'm going to try and be respectful as much as possible here but his death bears scruitny, likewise the body recovery after 41 years? Trying to make sense here...
Apparently he got stuck and died of hypothermia, but after say a few months then the body would have fallen off rope through the harness or at least been err, plyable enough to be worked through the constriction... was the rope cut at that point? Was that area of the cave sealed/closed off?

Like I said I don't mean dis-respect to the grotto or to the man's memory with this morbid line of questioning but ... well ... you know...



If I'm out of line I apologize before-hand sincerely.

[erebus]

Efforts were made to seal the cave. I do not remember who made that decision, but it was not the Boston Grotto. Rescue and recovery techniques forty years ago were fairly primitive, compared to today.

[JohnL]

http://www.herkimertelegram.com/article ... news01.txt

This cleared up a lot of questions for me

[lyonz]

To Mr. Powers and anyone else ~
As mentioned just below your questions you will see the link to the Herkimer Telegram article that Jessica Arsenault reported on after interviewing with me. That should clear up everything as it was a very informative article.
Jim did die from hypothermia and when the National Capital Grotto Rescue Team arrived, he was lowered to the bottom of the 75' pit to better have access, as the entrance to the pit is quite narrow. That is in fact where his remains lie today. Due to the tightness of the cave near the pit entrance, he was not able to be removed and drilling from the top was attempted. Shy of the pit by approx. one foot, the drilling caused rock to fall in and it was thought that the cave was collapsing. All were ordered out and it was decided by the leader of the rescue group as well as state police and sheriff personnel, to dynamite the cave to keep from having anyone else hurt or killed.
Anybody else that has questions should either read the articles or write to me as I have the most knowledge of this event due to the many years of research and family history. I don't mean this in an arrogant way, I only want the story to be told in the most truthful way.

Christian Lyon

[Phil Winkler]

Fascinating article and thanks for posting the link.

So, what's the story on the National rescue team and using Air Force 2 for transportation?

In the back of my mind is a very old story of a Scout drowning in Carrizal in Mexico on a trip led by a (then, now deceased) famous Texas caver. I think that same National Rescue Group may have been mobilized for that event.

Any of you old timers from the DC area remember what this was all about and how it got formed?

[lyonz]

Hi Phil ~
The National Capital Grotto Rescue Team, out of D.C., was the first of its kind and as I understand it, a member of that group had a father who was a General in the Air Force at the time and it was arranged that if needed, the AF would shuttle the group to where they were needed. Just so happened that AF2 was the plane that shuttled them to Upstate NY where they then met up with an AF helicopter to shuttle them to the farmers field just shy of Schroeder's Pants Cave. As for the rest of your question, I'm not sure as my research with the group is pretty much focused on the Dolgeville incident.

[Phil Winkler]

Christian,

That's interesting. I checked and there is no record in the NSS database of a National Capital Grotto, but it might be a precursor to the DC Grotto.

The first grotto I note is the New England Grotto wiht IO# of 0001. The next number in use is 0014 so there was likely 13 others in there at some point. Maybe. IO numbering was an imprecise science back in those days.

I believe even today that the NCRC has an agreemnt with the Air Force at Scott Air Force Base for use of a plane in case of a major rescue needed some where.

I hope someone jumps in on this with some more knowledge.

[Bob Thren]

Phil and others,

I'm not sure they actually ever formed a grotto, just a rescue team. A number of them used to show up at the old PSC fieldhouse in Germany Valley during the mid-sixties.

Bob Thren