A man who plunged 30 feet while touring a cave was found dead Monday while two others trapped along with him during a 17-hour ordeal were rescued, authorities said. William John Coughlin, 27, of Oak Forest, Ill., hit his head when he fell from a rope ladder in Buzzard Roost Historic Cave on Sunday. Six others in his group helped Coughlin, who weighed more than 200 pounds, up a 100-foot climb after the fall, but he became lodged in the narrow, V-shaped passage that is the only exit out of the cave. Four of the group traveling ahead of Coughlin continued on and alerted officials.
