Published: December 16, 2009 11:42 pm      

Man dies after fall in Sloans Valley cave

Steven Troxell, 21, was exploring cave with friends, slipped down 60-foot pit

A long, difficult search for a local man who fell while exploring a southern Pulaski County cave ended with a sad discovery yesterday evening.

Steven Troxell, 21, was located by rescue workers around 7 p.m. at the bottom of a 60-foot pit about a mile into a cave entrance in the Sloans Valley area.

His body was retrieved from the cave at approximately 10:30 p.m. — around seven hours after rescuers first entered the cave.

Troxell had been in the cave with his friends, Brandon Butt, 26, and Brooke Butt, 21, both of Nancy, since about 7:30 a.m. yesterday. Apparently, Troxell slipped and fell around 2 p.m. By the time his friends reached him, he was unconscious, authorities said.

Pulaski County Coroner Richard New said Brandon Butt was able to make his way down the cone-shaped pit and pull his friend out of the shallow water he’d landed face-down in.

“The boy (Brandon) got him out of the water and then they came to get help,” New said.

The Butts then found their way out of the cave — which took about an hour — and called for help.

The cave entrance they used, known locally as the “greenhouse entrance,” is located on private property near Old U.S. 27 Loop 3. That entrance is located just over the hill from another entrance to the cave system called the “screaming Willies” entrance. Officials confirmed that was the site where a 40-year-old Ohio man died in 2006 after he fell approximately 20 to 30 feet while trying to exit the cave system.

A team of rescue workers spent about two hours searching for Troxell, to no avail. At approximately 5 p.m. Wednesday rescuers emerged from the cave to regroup. A short time later, Brandon Butt agreed to go back into the cave to help direct the workers to the location where he last saw Troxell.

As the workers searched underground, Pulaski County Rescue Squad Chief Paul Coomer said he hoped they would find the man alive.

About two hours later, at approximately 7 p.m., one of the rescue workers informed those waiting above ground that Troxell’s body had been located. Don Franklin, with Kentucky Emergency Management, exited the cave, along with some of the 18 rescue workers sent to retrieve Troxell, and confirmed that Troxell had been found deceased.

New, who said Troxell most likely died from blunt force trauma injuries, said retrieving Troxell’s body from the cave would take an additional three to four hours.

“It’s a pretty tough cave,” New said.

Troxell’s family arrived at the site soon before rescuers found the 21-year-old to await any news about his fate.

His mother, Rita Troxell of Somerset, said she was stunned when she got the news her son had been inside the cave.

"He was always a scaredy-cat," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "I used to tell him he was scared of his own shadow. That's why I was surprised he went into the cave."

She said her son was a construction worker, but was unemployed. She also said he loved racing.

Officials at the scene said neither Troxell nor the Butts were experienced cavers. Coomer said the individuals were using “small flashlights” to navigate their way through the cave, an indication that they likely weren’t using proper equipment.

“It’s easy to get hurt,” New said, noting that the cave is considered one of the more “treacherous” ones in the Sloans Valley cave system, one unsuitable for inexperienced explorers, with frequent twists and turns, drop-offs and pits.

New said Brandon Butt and Troxell had only been in the caves once before Wednesday’s incident. Brooke Butt had never been inside the caves, according to New.

Working at the scene were members of the Tateville Volunteer Fire Department, Pulaski County Rescue Squad, Somerset EMS, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management and the Pulaski County Public Safety Office.



The Associated Press contributed.