No injured cavers recorded.
At about 10 a.m. on Monday, August 8, Scott Mitchell (15) and Ken Grund (15) went exploring in a cave near Lake Purdy in Alabama. They were in the main passage when they "saw some bats and began throwing mud balls at them and chasing them." In the course of this sport they paid no attention to landmarks. When they went to exit they found themselves lost. The cave is complex but they had no choice but to try to explore their way out. They tried following the many strings and wadded them up one by one as they failed to lead out. Each of the many alternative routes they tried led to a dead end. Still, they tried to be systematic and marked each unsuccessful try. One flashlight went out and the other grew very dim.
At about 6 p.m. they had grown tired and had picked a spot to sleep, out of the mud and water. Suddenly they heard a voice. Grund shouted and, with difficulty because of the many echoes, they made contact with a Sunday School outing group who led them out of the cave.
Analysis: Spur-of-the-moment caving with poor equipment led to this situation. The chance encounter was lucky since the boys would not have found their way out without light.