Rescuers found three University of Texas students Sunday who left Saturday morning to explore Airman's Cave and had not yet emerged.
The students, two female and one male entered the cave at about 9 a.m. Saturday and had told friends to call for help if they weren't back by midnight, Austin fire department Lt. Matt Cox said.
The male student was identified as Jeff Brown, a mechanical engineering major, who called his parents the morning he left to go spelunking, his father, Jarvis Brown said.
Rescue crews and expert spelunkers said it takes approximately 12 hours to make the entire trip through the cave. It's about one mile in and back, Brown said.
The "keyhole" entrance is less than 18 inches in diameter. "It's really, really long, very small and very tight," Cox said.
One of the female students had previously been in the cave and had pre-positioned water supplies throughout the cave, Brown said.
Rescuers had found the water bottles and cell phones apparently left behind by the students. The rescue team left medical supplies and food throughout the cave as they searched for the students.
Brown said the rescuers went through the cave, touched the farthest wall and then proceeded back and looked more carefully in smaller crevices off the main trail, where the students were found.
Brown said the medical team described the students as "ambulatory" and they were capable of getting out of the cave on their own.
"They knew they were in trouble so they just sat and waited," Brown said.
Brown's parents said they were thankful to God that their son is safe and knew that he was in God's hands the whole time.
- Jessica Henning contributed to this report
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