A half-century after the Day the Music Died, Dr. Bill Bass exhumed The Big Bopper and seperated the truth from rumor and myth. Music by Basic Astronomy
my father was murdered when I was 4, so I really do not remember him at all. we had to exhume him last year as part of reopening his case, he was WELL preserved considering the fact he had been dead for 36 years, when I saw him for the first time it was just like looking in to a mirror, he was 27 at the time of his death, and I tell you it was extremely strange to be staring down at my dad who never really had a chance to be a part of my life just laying there in the coffin..... mind blowing...
My Dad was an embalmer and told me the same basically. He had seen people that had been buried for years, and had said if you dusted them off a little it would look they just had died that day. It all depends on how good a job the embalmer did.
My Dad saw them perform that night. He also went to see the crash site the next morning when he heard of the tragedy. He said it was the eeriest, macabre sight he had ever witnessed. It really affected him for the rest of his life.
They should make a movie about the Big Bopper. He was just like Weird Al Yankovic but twenty years before. His songs were funny. "Purple People Eater" is hilarious and has his voice sped up, too.
I couldn't even imagine the thoughts that went through his mind when he saw for the first time his father lying in repose, frozen at 28 years old forever...that had to be both strange and calming at the same time. Even though he never saw or knew his father, I'm sure he felt connected with him, even if it was in death, and a sense of closure. Now he and his father are forever reunited...R.I.P. to both of them! 🙏
Medgar Evers was exhumed. I believe it was 40 years after his death.... His son was 5, I think , when his Dad was killed. He didn't remember anything much of the funeral. His Dad was in such good shape , that the dr, Dr. Michael Badden rearranged the autopsy room as a funeral home, just so His son could see his Dad.
@@jessiefrye3045 no he was not 5 years old Bopper Jr was not even born yet when his dad died bopper sr died in Feb of 1959 his son was born April of 1959 he never even met him
Most people here have no idea that the man doing the autopsy was Dr. Bill Bass. The greatest and most renowned American forensic anthropologist that has ever lived. William Marvin Bass III (born August 30, 1928) is an American forensic anthropologist, best known for his research on human osteology and human decomposition. He has also assisted federal, local, and non-U.S. authorities in the identification of human remains. He taught at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and founded the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, the first such facility in the world. The Facility is more popularly known as "The Body Farm", a name used by crime author Patricia Cornwell in a novel of the same name,[2] which drew inspiration from Bass and his work. Bass has also described the body farm as "Death's Acre" - the title of the book on his life and career, co-written with journalist Jon Jefferson.
After reading on Why he failed to fly the plane - The F3 altimeter was actually upside down which was opposite of what he was used to. When he thought he was going up he was actually going down. Because of no visual horizon he also suffered from a spacial anomaly. When the plane's wing hit, the plane was at a 90 degree angle. Mr Dwyer I think would also be part at fault for over trusting Rogers capabilities.
It's the same thing as the death of Kobe Bryant. I mean no disrespect to him at all, but at first, no one even talked about his daughter. Then the talk was only about them. It took a couple of days before anyone acknowledged the seven other people who died. They, too, were very important to their families.
That picture of the Big Bopper's son looking at his father in the casket is heartbreaking and touching at the same time. Maybe that's why some higher power allowed the Big Bopper to be so well-preserved after all that time had passed, because the time would come when the Bopper's son wanted to see what his father looked like. ❤
I was reading their autopsies. All three had one side of their face smashed in. Holly didn't have his brain and the other two had their brains partially ejected. I suspect when the plane hit the ground, all three where smashed against the wall of the plane and then thrown out. No way they would have seen it coming. It was instant. Richie's mother grieved the rest of her life.
The speed of the plane, too. The owner of the airport said he watched the plane rise in the sky and then dip down and he said because of how cold it was just looked that way. Then, the next morning, he flew their route and said "I saw the wreckage from the air." Then they drove to it. Terrible that their lives ended. They were all so young.
How strange it must have been to never have met your father and then when you see his body he is a young 28 year old male. It would almost be like looking at your younger self laying there. So strange but it must of brought his son immense peace!
Right, it's like it wasn't long before that his son was being conceived!? very strange. and looking down at a legend BEFORE he became a legend. Death made them all the legends they are today. it would feel like you were there with them that night in 1959.. but just for that moment.
Bob Riedel, I met Joe Perry on a flight from Nashville one night a long time ago, after he had been there to accept an award on behalf of his father. He was in the flooring business in Katy, Tx. at the time. I always wondered what ever happened to him.
It can be devastating to wonder. I’m glad this son had a chance to know for sure and to spend time with the body of a man he’s never really known. It can be incredibly healing.
I'm very happy and touched that his son got to see and in his mind talk to his father. That must've been a tremendous relief mentally for him to finally do. Others may think of it as macabre but I see it as a son who not only wanted to know the truth, but see his father . R.I.P. to them both, now that they are together .
Two things. 1, Holly & Valens were also thrown from the airplane. It wasn't just Richardson. 2, the thought that anyone could have been shot, which has been a rumor for years, is one of the most absurd and asinine things ever imagined.
Somewhere along the line it came out that the missing bullets had been fired by the police after the farmer turned it in, to 'see if the gun worked'. CSI was a long time in the future.
He said that when he did the X Ray of the entire body and found: 200 fractures, both legs broken, fractures of the skull, face etc. and no evidence of a gunshot wound. Survival was impossible. End of story. These other theories are insanely ridiculous.
@ The pistol was not fired in the airplane but was fired after the crash by the farmer who found it in the field. He shot into the ground to see if the pistol worked. The only autopsy done shortly after the crash was done on the pilot Roger Peterson (FAA regulations required it). He also had hundreds of fractures but no gunshot wound.
When they announced their deaths on the radio Buddy Holly's wife had a miscarriage and his mother passed out.. This event ultimately led to the authorities notifying the families before any names are released publicly when death is involved.
I’m so glad that this wonderful man agreed to do this and finally give his son some closure. As hard as it would be to do something like this, at the end of they day it helped bring some peace of mind to his son. And for that I tip my hat to this great man. Respect.
markyncole That wasn't the point of the exhumation. They wanted to know if he survived the crash at all &, if so, for how long. His posthumous son was very disturbed by the thought that his father might have suffered. Finding out that his catastrophic injuries confirmed undoubted death upon impact set his mind at rest for the first time in his life. A real kindness, especially considering that they were moving the body anyway & that this man never had the chance to see or interact with his father before, having been born some months after his death.
I agree. It's time for JP's life to be told, just like Buddy Holley(and this is the correct spelling of Buddy's surname) and Richard Valenzuela(Ritchie Valens have been given. R.I.P. to all 3 rock musicians.
I worked in the music business out of my hometown of Nashville and retired after forty years and I never knew that the big Bopper wrote a hit song for GEORGE JONES called white lighting until a few years ago.
There is one “rare” photo from the crash where you can clearly see the Boppers body is destroyed. His knee is up, and the tibia/fibula are compound fractured. Buddy’s skull was completely fractured, and brain matter was scattered around his head. They hit VERY hard.
If you zoom in on the boppers face in one photos out there, you can see that half of his face was peeled off. The x ray pictures mentioned here were released online at one point but the website that had them shut down years ago. Not sure if it’s that photo you’re mentioning
@@TwiggyArmstrong They literally had their heads busted open and their brains pretty well bashed out. I read what the coroner, Ralph Smiley, wrote, and thought...wow. SMH
@@user-up8pj9vt8tYeah, I watched something about the autopsy reports in this crash several years ago. The 3 common denominators in all the autopsies were #1. Multiple fractures to both arms and to both legs. (Someone had a fully obliterated foot and ankle.) #2. Multiple skull fractures. #3. Crushed ribcage. #4. Disarticulation of vertebral column. (*#1 to #4 on this list are paraphrased from a 6,7, maybe 8 years ago recollection. I'm sure of the content but the words are mine, not direct quotes. But item #5... yeah... well, I know for certain that this a verbatim recall because those 3 words, for some reason, were just haunting. I'll never forget the last thing the coroner said. It's #5 on this list. #5. Brain matter absent.
Dr Bill Bass (the gentleman talking) is one of THE most renowned forensic pathologists on the planet. Some of the cases he's worked and the stories he's told, are simply incredible.
At least the son got to talk to his dad, even if it was in death and years later. I'm sure it helped him to cope. As for the crash, it should never have happened. A lot of greatness and genius has been ruined by stupidity.
Well, it was actually Buddy Holly's fault in a way. He was the one who insisted they fly out of there that early morning after their last concert. And the airport should have been shut down do to bad weather!!
Joe Murray well buddy wasn’t a pilot and the pilot that day flew so assuming buddy thought that it was okay to fly and the temperatures were terrible and they were catching the flu and frostbite. In that moment that was one way to easily get them over to their next spot on tour and have them in a warm room. Obviously we see now it wasn’t
But how many have we lost to Stupidity? Why did so many NOT learn from the tragic deaths of those before them? ( I'm not referring to any one specific reason but as examples...Patsy Cline. Her plane was flying in weather that was risky. Take all those lost young to drugs...If anyone's deaths should have had an impact on the future people to die of the same...Jimmie Hendrix and Janis Joplin to mention just two legends to die way too soon. But yet the cycle continues....
I was eight years old when these young stars were lost. My mother cried when they died. I almost cried when I saw the photo of the Bopper's son standing over his father's casket. Tough to watch.
Yeah, I was the same age. I remember it being all over the news at the time. "Donna" by RV spoke to my young heart like few songs have since. And Buddy? Well.....there's nobody better.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. were ALL thrown from the plane. You can see their bodies in those pictures. The pilot Roger Peterson remained inside the wreckage.
***** Once again, it was not a blinding snowstorm. How do these rumors get started? Light snow falling, but very little to see to help with navigation as it was a very rural location. And the pilot was unfamiliar with that particular plane's instruments, as you stated. It was certainly overcast so there were no stars to guide him and he mistakenly thought he was ascending when he was descending. Here is the CAB's report. Visibility was noted as six miles: www.fiftiesweb.com/cab.htm
***** They were ejected, not thrown. You misunderstood the poster's description. Have you not seen images of car crashes with people's bodies strewn on the road? Or for that matter, bodies and body parts from crashes of passenger jets? The forces at work in a crash are tremendous. This was just so sad :(
Of all the conspiracy theories that has to be the most absurd. Buddy Holley was mangled and dead on impact. The very idea that, with his final, dying (and impossible) action he arbitrarily decided to shoot a guy is just idiotic. Richardson was outside the aircraft because the impact threw him out. He at or may not have been belted in place, but that didn't matter. No, he wasn't "walking for help." It was a fairly high-angle impact in a plane going nearly 200 miles per hour. Survival, even for a SECOND after impact, was impossible.
Mickey Bitsko - All three were thrown from the plane and were killed upon impact. The Big Boppers son, died of heart complications soon after exhuming his father... Sad tragedy all together!
Exactly. That's what I always thought was crazy. To even suggest he was walking for help was completely stupid! His death certificate and the brief report clearly note "crushed skull and face" not to mention the massive external fractures that were evident, let alone the hundreds of internal fracture that were not assessed as no formal autopsy was done.
T DEMO the initial reports way back then also mentioned that a Marquises was on board. during an interview with Dante Reade WCBS radio Deon stated that he lost a coin toss to the Marquis for a seat on the plane.
Yes absolutely and may the pilot RIP, but reading into it there was a series of unfortunate events that led up to it, from broken heaters on the bus to a earned seat to the flight on a coin toss. Call it "fate" but it's hard to point your finger at one factor.
Well in my opnion, the owner of this airfield never should have ok'd the charter of this plane and they blame the crash on the pilot, but why would you send a pilot up in a plane, if he doesn't know how to read the instruments. I can understand why they wanted to go up in that plane, but beings that i'm from Iowa (born and raised), i know how the snow can be and i probably wouldn't have gone up. Just my opinion lol
So my Dad told me that the snow wasn't really thick but it was blowing. The speculation is that when the pilot took off he was enveloped in a cloud bank of snow, lost his instruments and that was the cause of the crash. He had been offered a large sum of money to fly the singers to their next stop. Dad didn't remember hearing much about the pilot except that. But he often said that the pilot should have refused. I would like to know why the airport gave him clearance to fly a small Beechcraft, in the dark with limited visibility? Yeah, blame the pilot but the control tower should have grounded them.
I knew a co-worker who was a fairly mature and accomplished private pilot. He had flown a high-powered business man and his son from Kentucky to NYC. While they were there a massive storm front moved between NYC an KY. My acquaintance knew it weather was too bad to fly in a smaller plane. He wanted to wait until the front passed. The $ guy insisted he needed to get back to KY and badgered, cajoled and finally offered a large sum to start back. The pilot relented, called his wife and told her they were starting back against his better judgment. The plane disappeared during the storm and the wreckage with all three bodies were found the next day. Pilots don't have to be young to make bad decisions.
I'm waiting for "The Big Bopper Story" movie to make its debut. J.P. Richardson is truly deserving for his story to be told & immortalized on film. R.I.P., The Big Bopper.
+wavygr I wouldn't give much hope to him being inducted, from what I understand the selection process for the RNRHOF is about as unbiased as a high school popularity contest.
+Tony Saber La Bamba isnt even Ritchies Best song. Donna is a thousands times better, We Belong Together is bad ass, C'mon Lets go, and other non radio songs if hes carreer seemed short, well fucking ssooorrryyyy the kid was 17 about to make things for himself, but disaster struct. Buddy Hollly was already a experienced rock star he had more time to produce hits.
no La Bamba sucks, i cant stand that song, Donna is a beaty, and his song We Belong Together is totally fucking titts, and OooH My head was his 2 cents on punk rock,
My heart goes out to the son of The Big Bopper. This had to be so difficult for him all those years later seeing his father's body exhumed and on top of it all seeing the body. I can't begin to imagine what he felt like. It had to be devastating. I really like this doctor. He is a very respectful and caring man. God bless him and all those who were involved.
Yes very true..but there all little kids..I seen it all on here..I seen someone accuse richie and big bopper where cia and wanted to kill buddy..smh..ppl need to get off the drugs..ppl cant handle them at all..dont understand why thay dont get it was a plain crash..nothing less nothing more..not every death is a conspiracy. ..sorry about the rant..just sick of seen this bs on dam near every documentary
Big Boppers son died just a few years after the exhumation of his dad's body. He was also a musician, and the coroner is right...He looked EXACTLY like his father.
@CeeCee Glee Your right, you cannot in any way blame God for thier deaths, This would NOT be the last plane crash to take the life of famous musicians Patsy Cline, members of Lynryd Skynrd, John Denver etc, not to mention athletes
What a surreal experience that must have been. To see your father for the first time, not as he would have been had he lived, but how he was then. Almost perfectly preserved. I can only guess at what his son must have felt. I bet he had a lot to say to his legendary dad.
Who are the real heroes as well. Its the common man in my book but, i guess thats why im so lonely. I no longer voice this opinion as im always looked upon as a hater. Im 31 and its getting profoundly more difficult to understand this world. Most peoples mouths agape at the facade they're presented. Not understanding the whole production isnt possible without the worker. The person who has worked at McDonald's for 9 years is someone i respect far more than a coked up musician.
What's sad about it? I'm sure the pilot was remembered by his friends & family, just as most of us will be when we pass away. In the case of someone like Buddy Holly, whose music was enjoyed by millions and who was one of the top four or five seminal figures in the early history of rock and roll, it's only natural that his death will be mourned by large numbers of fans the world over, and that his memory will live on in the public consciousness for generations to come.
Matthew Earwood: Do you think that nobody who works at McDonald's ever does coke? And do you have some sort of evidence that Buddy Holly tended to be "coked up"? If your answer to these questions is "no", then shut the fuck up.
Why do people look so much into this? It was a night of bad weather with a bad choice to fly in a plane. The plane crashed and some great musicians, singers and people died.
Kevin Baker They were all at the peak of success and still so young. Around 1961 I listened to my older brothers records and asked about Holly. He was so creative and innovative. It took a while to sink in that he was gone forever. I was only 6 but had older siblings into music. I would gladly receive their old worn 45s for my own stack.
Kevin Baker, Very true Sir.....and not to mention the inexperienced pilot....was it Roger Peterson? ...People always have to start conspiracy theories, there must be money to be made at it...lol
People always have to come up with elaborate explanations for tragedies. It comforts them to think that there is always a plan behind a huge loss of life. A world that is unpredictable is frightening to them. Hence, the proliferation of so many conspiracy theories.
Don't forget that this was at the expression of this man's family. If you've never undergone the lost of a loved one unexpectedly you may not understand the pressing need for the loved ones to want to know every single detail and have every single question have an answer. In this case the body needed to be exhumed to be moved in order to receive the statue and the son figured to have someone answer a lingering question. He received his answer and his closure. Seems like a good thing to me.
The plane crashed 5 miles from the runway. Instead of going up, the pilot was flying the plane downward and it rolled over in the field after it hit the ground. He had no certification to fly on instruments and hardly any experience in nighttime flying. That's what you get when you put rock and roll stars in the hands of a 21-yr pilot who should have still been taking flying lessons.
I don't understand why the doctor said 'the only one who exits the plane' after it crashed was the Big Bopper. His body was thrown 40 feet clear of the wreckage, but the bodies of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens were also thrown clear of the plane, each approximately 17 feet from the wreckage. I do wonder though why the a Bopper's body was thrown so much farther out, literally across the fence, into the next door neighbor's field.
The weirdest part is when the Bopper's son had his body exhumed and the coffin opened he said his father looked almost as he did in life. Kinda creepy but his son was comforted since he never got to see his father, having been born after his death.
Eric Klemm I hope so. Whatever it was, I don't see how see his father'smangled/decomposed body would have done any good. The Bopper was a celebrity, and so I could see why they would do that. But when my cousin was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer when he stepped too far out in the road, there was a closed coffin because I guess there was not enough money and/or the ability to reconstruct his face. My uncle told me when he went to identify the body the whole top of Joey's head was sheared off, but he didn't (or couldn't) mention anything else.
+Eric Klemm - he had facial fractures...head fractures...that doesn't mean necessarily he was mangled. Since the fractures happened in death, no swelling would have occurred...perhaps just some misshapen look that a mortician would easily have been able to re-shape. I suspect the mortician was quite skilled - the guy doing the autopsy said the remains were the best preserved he had ever seen in an exhumation. I am just glad the son was able to view his father's remains and get some measure of comfort/closure.
Years later, the Sheriff of Clearlake, Iowa died, having kept that job from before the crash until his death. When his desk was cleaned out, an envelope was found containing Buddy's glasses. The Sheriff had kept them all those years. They were sent to the Buddy Holly museum in Lubbock, TX. They are there. I have seen them. Have an excellent week, friend.
I believe that's also true of Waylon Jennings wallet, which he let Holly take in order to get a hotel room at the next stop. It was found on Holly, which led to reports that Waylon was on the plane. How it never got returned to Jennings until decades after the crash is amazing. Jennings was playing bass for Holly on the tour.
I admire, and respect the creativity, thoughtfulness and professionalism of the ME who conducted the X-ray Visual Autopsy. This avoided the grusome violation of their loved ones body. Experts have admitted, that a real autopsy is a grusome violation of the dead. Not to forget to mention that a real full autopsy makes it difficult for even the best of professional morticians to prepare the loved ones remains for a viewing. If a real full autopsy can be avoided it should be. That was said by an experienced forensic pathologist to a friend who works in a hospital. The use of an X-ray machine as a visual autopsy is a Brilliant practical and effective idea put into action. It got the results the family wanted without violating the body. Such should be done, whenever possible in similar cases. Way to go. Respect the dead.
How on Earth was Richardson's body so well-preserved after nearly fifty years? It reminds me of the exhumation of Medgar Evers - he'd been dead for 27 years, yet reportedly looked like he was only sleeping. Crazy.
Wow! Big Bopper's son, although not lucky that lost his father, lucky that he could actually see, in person, father that died before he was born! What an experience! Wow!
🎼 Chantilly lace had a pretty face And a pony tail hanging down A giggle in a talk And a wiggle in her walk Makes the world go round 🎼 Big Bopper R.I.P 🎼 well you go your way and I'll go Mine now and forever till the end of Time I'll find somebody new And baby we'll say were through And you won't mater anymore 🎼 Buddy Holly R.I.P 🎼 I had a girl Donna was her name Since she left me I've never been the Same , oh how I love my girl Donna were can you be 🎼 Richie Valens R.I.P The day the music died..... which they had this on the Radio instead of Taylor Swift and Shitty DJs xxx
mzspargo I am not apologizing because I did not say anything rude all that I have said is to be honest I don't care and to be quiet frank I don't I have enough today as it is thank you
I listened to the Big Bopper when he was alive and well. I remember Chantilly Lace playing at Pacific Ocean Park. Ritchie Valens lived nearby in Pacoima. Of course, who could forget Buddy Holly. I grew up on their music.
Buddy Holy and Ritchie Valens were also ejected from the aircraft. The actual report from the crash is available and photos also show the three musicians that exited the aircraft upon impact. The pilots body was still in the aircraft.
That’s also because rock n’ roll artists were paid in cash bk then. Iv’e often wondered if Buddy was counting the money and his gun went off & accidently shot the pilot. An investigator said he FOUND A CASEING INSIDE CABIN BUT LATER DENIED HE SAID THAT! Peterson’s autopsy was “sketchy”.
@@robertdoyle7186 The simple explanation is usually where the truth lies. It is believed the pilot flew into IFR weather. He wasn’t qualified to fly in IFR weather. He trusted his body telling him they were in a climbing right hand turn, when in actuality they were in a banking turn losing altitude rapidly. Then SMACK! Contact with the ground instant lights out! Nobody was shot dude. Jesus. Pilots die this very way every year. Yes even in 2021
@@nordicpride9708 people in farm houses warned him by turning on they’re yard lights. He reacted by PULLING UP! This happened TWICE! Do some research so you know what your’e talking about.Jesus dude, use you’re head
@@robertdoyle7186 Read the NTSB report fuck stick. He wasn’t IFR certified. Says it right in the report. Also says he made a banking right turn which was too steep and hit right wing first, cartwheeling more than 500ft. Not my fault you don’t read official reports. Pulling up twice has nothing to do with why he crashed. It’s called spacial disorientation, but I’m sure you don’t even know what IFR and VFR is. He was flying in IFR weather for which he had no official certification, and the charter PROHIBITED any and all IFR flights. This farm theory you raise has absolutely nothing to do with the causation of this crash, PERIOD!
My buddy and I were on our way to Des Moines when we stopped in Clear Lake to eat. It occurred to us that this was where Buddy Holly died, but we weren't sure, so we asked the manager at the McDonald's. "Is this where Buddy Holly died?" "Not at this McDonald's". we were told.
Yeah I remember it, and it was only 3 musicians died in a plane crash, not all the many other great performers that gave us tuneful songs we enjoyed. Its just a trendy way to memorialize Holly, Valens and Bopper, (who, truth be told, were not exceptionally great in the opinion of many people at the time- including me).
I'm so old, I used to listen to him every day after school, on radio station KTRM in Beaumont, Texas when I lived there with my parents in the early fifties. I would practice the Bop to the records he played, so I could be proficient at school dances. He seemed larger than life. I was sad when he was killed. Conspiracy theorists will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous or outlandish!
I was taught by Dr. Bass and studied at the Body Farm in Knoxville Tn. What an amazing experience Taft I will never forget. He brought his slideshow out and spoke of this very autopsy.
Bopper wasn't the only one out of the plane. All three musicians were out. You can even see it in the photos in this video. Richie is in the dark coat closest to the plane face down. Buddy is in the white coat left of the plane face up. Bopper was the farthest from the plane ejected like a catapult. The only one actually still left in the plane was the pilot who was trapped between the fuselage and seat.
I read in some of Bill Griggs' compendious work on Buddy that the farmer found the .22 pistol during spring plowing in 1959. He fired the gun at least once before turning it in to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff shortly thereafter. It's amazing to me how honest the people living at the crash site were. Good "Ioway" folks! God Bless Them All!
A combination of a small plane, bad weather, and an imprudent itch to get somewhere has killed many, both famous and unknown. In fact, this was pretty much the exact scenario that ended the life of Patsy Cline. The movie with Jessica Lange fictionalized the crash circumstances for some odd reason. There was no running out of gas and switching tanks. The plane was running fine, but her manager pilot had no instrument rating, and like this crash, got confused in the twilight and drifted down until the plane ran into the woods.
they weren't on their way to Mankato,Minnesota,they were on the way to Fargo,North Dakota..that guy was wrong.Both Waylon Jennings,and Tommy Alsop said this in the documentary.
The town they were going to be performing at was Moorhead, MN which is across the river from Fargo. He most likely just got Mankato and Moorhead mixed up. Nobody would fly to Mankato to get to Moorhead. It is almost 275 mi away.
Several factors: Deplorable weather conditions. A young pilot not IFR certified. Being ordered to fly without visibility. No illumination on the runway. Poor weather advisory practices and a severe design flaw in the Beechcraft Bonanza: The Sperry F3 was NOT designed for commercial pilot use. It was a tragic accident, and all and all, Jerry Dywer was negligent for equipping the youthful pilot with Aircraft he was completely unfamiliar with.
Tornado1994 And there was no excuse for providing them with a bus with no heat. I am certain this would never have happened if there had been heat on that bus. I know it was the '50s, but there must have been some way to obtain another bus with a working heater. In lieu of that, provide several cars to get them to the next destination. Poor planning resulting in the death of music legends.
Cissy2cute ALL they would had to done was reuse to go on the Cold Bus, The Promoters would have came up with a warm one Pronto I know I'm a musician the show must go on and no performer should have to freeze to death, Busses without heat is in excusable
packingten I don't know that back in the day they would have been able to get a bus that quickly. And they had a schedule to keep, putting added pressure on the situation. Buddy grew up learning to fly a small plane (as did many in rural Texas) and it probably was the first thing that came to mind. "Hug My Radiator" is a very telling song. Every time I hear it I think of these guys :(
Tornado1994 You're 100% correct on this. Not to mention the plane probably had to much weight on board as well. I don't know who in their right mind would send anyone out flying in that plane in those conditions. This was certainly avoidable. They should of been held accountable for being so incompetent.
gojobuddy It was mainly Dywer's fault. He knew the young pilot was not IFR certified. All they had to do was radio him the weather conditions(in which Roger would have known when it was safe to take off) as well as equip him with an Aircraft that had an instrument Peterson was familiar with(Although Peterson was not yet IFR certified, using a regular Gyroscope wouldn't have caused such confusion They thought they were ascending when they were actually decending). Everything that came together that night by Dwyer was a recipe for disaster. I still cannot understand how on earth did he think that young pilot could fly under those conditions, I mean no visibility OR illumination? Also back in the 50s, Negligence was somewhat of a legal roadblock. These were cases company Defense Attorneys could win instantly due to nepotism.
You can tell by the damage to the plane that the impact was devastating. Likely experienced impact Gs of several hundred. Everyone was killed instantly.
And to see his son standing over the coffin of his father is one thing, but to go out to the field where it happened, on the night it happened, especially in the dead silence of Winter is eerie as hell! Great video.
That was incredibly interesting!!! I had no idea that the Big Bopper was exhumed or that there had been questions about how he died. I live in Iowa and one of my best friends' mother was at that last show in Clear Lake...and grew up with my father listening to these guys on 8 track in the truck, so we have talked about the deaths of Buddy, Richie, and the Bopper many times.
That would be weird to view your fathers body after being buried for so many years,but I can understand why his son did it.It also seems strange that the Big Bopper was thrown so far from the plane when Holly & Valens was near the plane.Since the pilot was still inside I wonder if the other three were not wearing seat belts or if it would have mattered considering the impact speed.
TheFarmerfitz . Very true,I wonder how far the plane skidded & rolled ? I don't think I've ever read anything about the distance it traveled after it hit.Since it was winter and the ground was probably frozen might have been some distance.I read the autopsy reports on Holley,Valens & Richardson it done some damage.to them and actually more damage to Holley & Valens than to Richardson.
I've heard a few stories(If you can believe stories)from other youtube videos... that the plane upside down as it crashed because the pilot was disoriented...and also the debris field was fairly large..Of course, I wasn't there so i don't know.lol. I'm sure there is a file, or post about that somewhere... Another story is that the pilot misread the instrument that tells if plane is level or not, flying blind in a snow storm, he didn't know which way was up, and another story of a witness seeing it flying upside down before it crashed...it was no doubt a very violent crash at any rate..
TheFarmerfitz . I've also heard those stories and I'm like you,I wasn't there either.I have some good pictures of the aftermath of the crash and it is impossible to tell what the orientation of the plane was on impact.I do know the pilot was still inside the plane after the crash and that made me think maybe he was the only one wearing a seat belt.I do know that the plane obviously rolled & tumbled on impact which is one thing that would explain why the three were thrown out and just looking at the wreckage you can see that.I don't know off hand what type of instruments the plane had and what effect if any they played,it also baffles me why the pilot did not know he was descending,I'm thinking it could have been wind shear,very sudden and a loss of control.
wow i did not know that. i've seen the son in concert, he looks just like his daddy, and to think he got to see him all those years later, that's very touching. thanks for the post.
Dr. Bill Bass is the world-renowned forensic anthropologist who founded the University of Tennessee's Body Farm. For those of you who may not be familiar with that facility, it is the world's first major scientific facility devoted to studying human decomposition. I suspect that this video is just a snippet of a longer program. I don't think there's many people who are as qualified to do an autopsy in this situation as Dr. Bass.
I live in Sevierville, TN just 45 minutes away from UT in Knoxville and I have always wanted to take a tour of this division of the school since I moved to TN. Dr. Bass is at the top of his game. There's a book by Patricia Cornwell entitled "The Bodyfarm" and its all about UT's Bodyfarn in Knoxville. The book is semi fiction except for Knoxville and the University.
I've read about the facility and find it fascinating because nobody has ever done any really comprehensive study of the subject before. He's definitely one of the world's leading authorities if not THE authority!
My heart goes out to the Big Bopper's son, having to go through that. I hope at last he was able to find peace knowing what happened and having his questions answered. I can't imagine what he must feel like. God bless him and the rest of his family.
Thanks to the one who uploaded this. For such a short video.....for 5:56 this video held me spellbound. Extremely fascinating information. I'm going to do a bit of reading on this. Thanks again.👍👏👏👏👏
Correction. JP Richardson, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly were all thrown from the wreckage. Roger Peterson, pilot, was the only person who remained inside the wreckage. His body was removed using a cutting torch.
I once seen a picture in a magazine inside a public library (forgot which one). It showed a picture of a young man with dark hair lying on his stomach. In the distance you could see the wrecked plane. In the article it mentioned that that is probably Ritchie Valens. I remember being shocked by seeing this photo but didn't take a picture of it. Do you happen to know where this picture can be found?
I remember that picture! I think I saw it in an entertainment magazine like "Photoplay" about a year after the plane crash. If I remember correctly, it was of Valens and it looked exactly like you described. I can still picture the dark wavy hair. I was only about 12 at the time so I was really affected by it. It wasn't all that graphic, so I'm surprised that it's not on the internet.
i read it and at first, i had to go back and reread it but it really was horrifying. it's insane how much damage he took and at such a young age, too. :(
God bless his son, we carn t imagine what it's like looking at your father's remains immortalised at 28. Even though he wasn't born then, it must be like going back in time and witness history.... Closure is the key it matters squat how he died.(it's all about a sons connection with his daddy.) ....... I think he did.
From what I saw somewhere else, (can't remember where) the casket was an unusual or uncommon design. I think it is called a "bier style". It looks like a bed. The lid is actually what amounts to an upside-down open box, and it is fastened or lagged down along the bottom of the bier or bed part. This would create an 'air chamber" inside (like a water cooler bottle in reverse that keeps the water from falling out) so if the coffin didn't rust out or the bottom seal didn't fail, the air pressure inside would keep tthe water from intruding up to the height of the body. Even if the seal failed, as long as no holes formed in the upside-down box part, which would allow water up to the top. I would think this would be a superior style of coffin, and the body would stand a good chance of lasting longer than average. Simply, picture a covered butter dish, rather than a Tupperware container. They said also, that there was a small pipe cap over a pipe near the bottom of one end, so maybe this allowed them to either pressurize the coffin, or inject a neutral gas like Nitrogen to help preservation. I think they unscrewed this cap off of the pipe while they were in a garage or enclosed building, and initially, the smell "blew their heads off"! They took it outside to dissipate the smell. Then they saw how good he still looked!!
According to a documentary, the pistol was a .38. The farmer that found it fired one shot. It was from the 4 part documentary that can be found on CZcams. All the bodies were in bad shape. Valenz lost half his head.
spectrumlocalb191 I read somewhere they did a filmed documentary of this, and actually took either some photos or a quick clip of his actual body, but that those pics/scenes would not ever be released to the public for privacy reasons or something. Naturally, we probably wonder what it would look like...but after 48 years dead and buried, well preserved or not, I don't think too many people are truly ready to see that :/
I absolutely love Dr. William Bass and have several of his books. For him to say the body was in remarkable condition means it was near perfect. I did notice when they were exhuming the casket and vault that the vault was made of cast iron. That tells me that the weight literally made the casket within water and air tight thus such great preservation.
my father was murdered when I was 4, so I really do not remember him at all. we had to exhume him last year as part of reopening his case, he was WELL preserved considering the fact he had been dead for 36 years, when I saw him for the first time it was just like looking in to a mirror, he was 27 at the time of his death, and I tell you it was extremely strange to be staring down at my dad who never really had a chance to be a part of my life just laying there in the coffin..... mind blowing...
My Dad was an embalmer and told me the same basically. He had seen people that had been buried for years, and had said if you dusted them off a little it would look they just had died that day. It all depends on how good a job the embalmer did.
I thought it was an accident who was murdered
That picture of a grown son looking into a casket at the father he never got to meet hit me right in the feels.
It would have been worse if they would have been extremely close don't you think?
@@roberthuot7887this means what? that they werent close in relationship? that man never met his father what kind of a comment is that
Use your brain Biden biatch. He is saying if he knew him and met him it would be harder. Get your head out of your butt.
Put the bottle away, you're not making sense.
To be able to physically lay eyes on your Father for the first time and it's in a coffin. Absolutely unfathomable.😢
correction, his son died in 2013 at age 54.
wow i just searched his son, looked just like him!!!
heres his son before he died czcams.com/video/604ylIBFQCI/video.html
@@RaptorWRLD Holy cow...He sounds and looks just lime his Dad. May they both be at peace.
Surprised the casket was still in one piece, or damaged in any way.
My Dad saw them perform that night. He also went to see the crash site the next morning when he heard of the tragedy. He said it was the eeriest, macabre sight he had ever witnessed. It really affected him for the rest of his life.
Does he still have the ticket and if he talks about it listen and record it
Mas mentiroso. Pruébalo
So your from Clearlake Iowa? You been to the surfball room numerous times?
The day the music died
Affected him? Was he their father or something smh. He didn’t even know them. Sounds like a bitch to me
This happened where I grew up. Every year on the anniversary of the crash people still go out to the field and pay tribute.
Hello Leanne, How are you doing?
I think the Big Bopper deserves a movie story of his life.
Yeah I dunno why they didn't, they did the Buddy Holly story and Labamba
They should make a movie about the Big Bopper. He was just like Weird Al Yankovic but twenty years before. His songs were funny. "Purple People Eater" is hilarious and has his voice sped up, too.
Wheelie Blind you think his son will play him
@@hewgrebe4771 Uhhhh...Purple People Eater was by Sheb Wooley, not the Big Bopper. You're welcome ;)
Why? Just because he had one stupid novelty song?
I couldn't even imagine the thoughts that went through his mind when he saw for the first time his father lying in repose, frozen at 28 years old forever...that had to be both strange and calming at the same time. Even though he never saw or knew his father, I'm sure he felt connected with him, even if it was in death, and a sense of closure. Now he and his father are forever reunited...R.I.P. to both of them! 🙏
Medgar Evers was exhumed. I believe it was 40 years after his death....
His son was 5, I think , when his Dad was killed. He didn't remember anything much of the funeral.
His Dad was in such good shape , that the dr, Dr. Michael Badden rearranged the autopsy room as a funeral home, just so His son could see his Dad.
The windshield went through his mind
@@jessiefrye3045 no he was not 5 years old Bopper Jr was not even born yet when his dad died bopper sr died in Feb of 1959 his son was born April of 1959 he never even met him
@@jfontanez1838 He is speaking of the late Medgar Evers.
@@stevescontriano860 i hope you get hurt by a loved one going thru the same thing see how you feel
Most people here have no idea that the man doing the autopsy was Dr. Bill Bass. The greatest and most renowned American forensic anthropologist that has ever lived. William Marvin Bass III (born August 30, 1928) is an American forensic anthropologist, best known for his research on human osteology and human decomposition. He has also assisted federal, local, and non-U.S. authorities in the identification of human remains. He taught at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and founded the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, the first such facility in the world. The Facility is more popularly known as "The Body Farm", a name used by crime author Patricia Cornwell in a novel of the same name,[2] which drew inspiration from Bass and his work. Bass has also described the body farm as "Death's Acre" - the title of the book on his life and career, co-written with journalist Jon Jefferson.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. 👍
I know who you are
Three legends died that night, but let's not forget about the pilot. He was a legend to his family !!
Totally Agree R.I.P. Roger Peterson
You mean the pilot that was not instrument trained to fly in a blinding snow storm...that flew the plane into the ground?
After reading on Why he failed to fly the plane - The F3 altimeter was actually upside down which was opposite of what he was used to. When he thought he was going up he was actually going down. Because of no visual horizon he also suffered from a spacial anomaly. When the plane's wing hit, the plane was at a 90 degree angle. Mr Dwyer I think would also be part at fault for over trusting Rogers capabilities.
@@AquaCarb Yeah, that legend.
It's the same thing as the death of Kobe Bryant. I mean no disrespect to him at all, but at first, no one even talked about his daughter. Then the talk was only about them. It took a couple of days before anyone acknowledged the seven other people who died. They, too, were very important to their families.
That picture of the Big Bopper's son looking at his father in the casket is heartbreaking and touching at the same time. Maybe that's why some higher power allowed the Big Bopper to be so well-preserved after all that time had passed, because the time would come when the Bopper's son wanted to see what his father looked like. ❤
I was reading their autopsies. All three had one side of their face smashed in. Holly didn't have his brain and the other two had their brains partially ejected. I suspect when the plane hit the ground, all three where smashed against the wall of the plane and then thrown out. No way they would have seen it coming. It was instant. Richie's mother grieved the rest of her life.
what a stupid comment. All mother's grieve the rest of their lives. In fact all parents and families do.
Fendi P Buddy Holly had half of his brain missing, not all of his brain. Multiple fractures, lacerations to his face.....and scrotum.
With a plane hitting the ground, that fast, plus no moon to tell where the ground was. Yes you are going to be hurt, badly.
What is most important about Dion's version is his revealingly that a Markee was also on the aircraft..
The speed of the plane, too. The owner of the airport said he watched the plane rise in the sky and then dip down and he said because of how cold it was just looked that way. Then, the next morning, he flew their route and said "I saw the wreckage from the air." Then they drove to it. Terrible that their lives ended. They were all so young.
How strange it must have been to never have met your father and then when you see his body he is a young 28 year old male. It would almost be like looking at your younger self laying there. So strange but it must of brought his son immense peace!
Beautifully said.
Right, it's like it wasn't long before that his son was being conceived!? very strange. and looking down at a legend BEFORE he became a legend. Death made them all the legends they are today. it would feel like you were there with them that night in 1959.. but just for that moment.
Very touching how he got to spend some time alone with his dad. Thanks for sharing, this was very interesting.
He didn't. He got to spend time with the shell that USED to house his dad.
Either way it was a comfort to the son and that is what matters here.
When my father died, I had to see the body. I’m glad he got to see his.
here is son before he died czcams.com/video/604ylIBFQCI/video.html
The Little Bopper is now gone, too. RIP to both.
Bob Riedel, I met Joe Perry on a flight from Nashville one night a long time ago, after he had been there to accept an award on behalf of his father. He was in the flooring business in Katy, Tx. at the time. I always wondered what ever happened to him.
What are you,some kind of wise ass?...Why'd you refer to the Bopper as Little Bopper?
@@spiderreed350 I think maybe his son?
@@lapdog1479 the guy from Aerosmith
‘Hello babbbyyyy” holding a telephone ... like a boss !
It can be devastating to wonder. I’m glad this son had a chance to know for sure and to spend time with the body of a man he’s never really known. It can be incredibly healing.
Bopper Jr. is also deceased .He passed away last year.
@@wesleycook7687
He passed away in 2013. Not last year (2022)
I'm very happy and touched that his son got to see and in his mind talk to his father. That must've been a tremendous relief mentally for him to finally do. Others may think of it as macabre but I see it as a son who not only wanted to know the truth, but see his father . R.I.P. to them both, now that they are together .
What happened to his son?
+Binky Lozz He passed away after a long illness.
It wasn't his dad. He spent time with a shell
rhoads' girl what the sons dead now too ?? When did this happen
@@ernestinemaloy6752 2013.
Two things. 1, Holly & Valens were also thrown from the airplane. It wasn't just Richardson. 2, the thought that anyone could have been shot, which has been a rumor for years, is one of the most absurd and asinine things ever imagined.
So true. Holly said "I carry money and I don't want to be robbed, so I bought a gun." That was why they found a pistol. Nothing wityh the plane crash.
Somewhere along the line it came out that the missing bullets had been fired by the police after the farmer turned it in, to 'see if the gun worked'. CSI was a long time in the future.
Plus who would shoot him? Even though it was buddy’s gun he was dead instantly and so was Richie, it’s just silly.
They still would have been thrown from the plane even if they were shot.
@@silrana37 the farmer said he was the one who fired the gun after he found it.
He said that when he did the X Ray of the entire body and found: 200 fractures, both legs broken, fractures of the skull, face etc. and no evidence of a gunshot wound. Survival was impossible. End of story. These other theories are insanely ridiculous.
Alexa terrazas girl of yoga is 100 fractures in over body is live result 3 years recuperation
@ The pistol was not fired in the airplane but was fired after the crash by the farmer who found it in the field. He shot into the ground to see if the pistol worked. The only autopsy done shortly after the crash was done on the pilot Roger Peterson (FAA regulations required it). He also had hundreds of fractures but no gunshot wound.
I mean how would he survive if all of those injuries happened no possible way
@ they had a gun on the plane wow
@ I don't know how someone could sabotage a plane but it still may be possibly true it was sabotaged
When they announced their deaths on the radio Buddy Holly's wife had a miscarriage and his mother passed out.. This event ultimately led to the authorities notifying the families before any names are released publicly when death is involved.
I’m so glad that this wonderful man agreed to do this and finally give his son some closure. As hard as it would be to do something like this, at the end of they day it helped bring some peace of mind to his son. And for that I tip my hat to this great man. Respect.
I'm no doctor but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the Autopsy showed that his death was caused by a plane crash
markyncole
That wasn't the point of the exhumation. They wanted to know if he survived the crash at all &, if so, for how long. His posthumous son was very disturbed by the thought that his father might have suffered. Finding out that his catastrophic injuries confirmed undoubted death upon impact set his mind at rest for the first time in his life. A real kindness, especially considering that they were moving the body anyway & that this man never had the chance to see or interact with his father before, having been born some months after his death.
H. CALVERT ...i have to say, i would be curious, too.
Pretty much. My Dad was at that concert and actually saw the wreckage that night. He said no one could have survived the crash.
Well, I am a doctor and I would change cause of death from "plane crash" to "blunt force trauma."
markyncole Sorry Marky, but nobody seems to have realised your joke. Bwa ha ha.
60 Year's anniversary.R.I.P. Here my Theory. They done a movie on both Buddy Holly & Richie Valens. Let's do a Movie on the Life of The Big Bopper
I agree. It's time for JP's life to be told, just like Buddy Holley(and this is the correct spelling of Buddy's surname) and Richard Valenzuela(Ritchie Valens have been given. R.I.P. to all 3 rock musicians.
I worked in the music business out of my hometown of Nashville and retired after forty years and I never knew that the big Bopper wrote a hit song for GEORGE JONES called white lighting until a few years ago.
How about we do a movie of all them together about what happened that night
@@luvvinlovelock7254 Sounds good to me. I would definitely go and see that movie.
Revertino Tse he wasn’t popular enough he was older out of shape a one hit wonder still sad though
I think it’s so beautiful that his son sat with him for a while ❤️
That really hits the heart..The son seeing the father like that...An emotion Im sure he could never put into words. Bless him.
Approximately 200 fractures. He was slammed into the ground, survival impossible.
Elf Owl i
wait- he walked away and climbed the fence into the cornfield
little hard to walk with two broken legs
Elf Owl safe to say he felt no pain....probably didn't even realize what was happening
All 4 of these guys no doubt vote a straight Democrat ticket in Broward County every 2 years.
There is one “rare” photo from the crash where you can clearly see the Boppers body is destroyed. His knee is up, and the tibia/fibula are compound fractured. Buddy’s skull was completely fractured, and brain matter was scattered around his head. They hit VERY hard.
If you zoom in on the boppers face in one photos out there, you can see that half of his face was peeled off. The x ray pictures mentioned here were released online at one point but the website that had them shut down years ago. Not sure if it’s that photo you’re mentioning
Any idea where to find these pictures?
@@TwiggyArmstrong They literally had their heads busted open and their brains pretty well bashed out. I read what the coroner, Ralph Smiley, wrote, and thought...wow. SMH
@@user-up8pj9vt8tYeah, I watched something about the autopsy reports in this crash several years ago.
The 3 common denominators in all the autopsies were
#1. Multiple fractures to
both arms and to both
legs. (Someone had a
fully obliterated foot
and ankle.)
#2. Multiple skull fractures.
#3. Crushed ribcage.
#4. Disarticulation of
vertebral column.
(*#1 to #4 on this list are paraphrased from a 6,7, maybe 8 years ago recollection. I'm sure of the content but the words are mine, not direct quotes. But item #5... yeah... well, I know for certain that this a verbatim recall because those 3 words, for some reason, were just haunting. I'll never forget the last thing the coroner said. It's #5 on this list.
#5. Brain matter absent.
It is kind of disconcerting to see the dead bodies lying in the snow..
Dr Bill Bass (the gentleman talking) is one of THE most renowned forensic pathologists on the planet. Some of the cases he's worked and the stories he's told, are simply incredible.
Dr. Bass has the body farm at UT Knoxville.
medicineman360 I met him in person he is soooo nice
Un peu de modestie mon jeune ami !.
I read one of his books. He had a chapter about this airplane crash, the mystery of the gun that had been fired, and his autopsy of the Big Bopper.
William Anthony what was the book called please. If you can remember.
At least the son got to talk to his dad, even if it was in death and years later.
I'm sure it helped him to cope.
As for the crash, it should never have happened.
A lot of greatness and genius has been ruined by stupidity.
Well, it was actually Buddy Holly's fault in a way. He was the one who insisted they fly out of there that early morning after their last concert. And the airport should have been shut down do to bad weather!!
Joe Murray well buddy wasn’t a pilot and the pilot that day flew so assuming buddy thought that it was okay to fly and the temperatures were terrible and they were catching the flu and frostbite. In that moment that was one way to easily get them over to their next spot on tour and have them in a warm room. Obviously we see now it wasn’t
Joe Murray yeah , why didn’t they just spend the night in the surf ballroom and leave in the morning.
@Alex Elliott no
But how many have we lost to Stupidity? Why did so many NOT learn from the tragic deaths of those before them? ( I'm not referring to any one specific reason but as examples...Patsy Cline. Her plane was flying in weather that was risky. Take all those lost young to drugs...If anyone's deaths should have had an impact on the future people to die of the same...Jimmie Hendrix and Janis Joplin to mention just two legends to die way too soon. But yet the cycle continues....
Could you imagine seeing your own father for the first time in a casket?
they almost never look the same, they are completely re done
U gave his son so much more than any one else could in regards to his father. Good job accepting request
I was eight years old when these young stars were lost. My mother cried when they died. I almost cried when I saw the photo of the Bopper's son standing over his father's casket. Tough to watch.
Bob Ale That could've been a re-enactment photo.. Not necessarily the big-bopper & his son.
Yeah, I was the same age. I remember it being all over the news at the time. "Donna" by RV spoke to my young heart like few songs have since. And Buddy? Well.....there's nobody better.
Bob Ale I CRIED TO AT THAT, BUT GOD KEPT THE FATHER PRESERVED AND KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN.
Bob Ale x
@@spectrumlocalb191 formaldehyde, and cold ground kept him preserved. God has real issues to deal with.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. were ALL thrown from the plane. You can see their bodies in those pictures. The pilot Roger Peterson remained inside the wreckage.
***** Once again, it was not a blinding snowstorm. How do these rumors get started? Light snow falling, but very little to see to help with navigation as it was a very rural location. And the pilot was unfamiliar with that particular plane's instruments, as you stated. It was certainly overcast so there were no stars to guide him and he mistakenly thought he was ascending when he was descending. Here is the CAB's report. Visibility was noted as six miles: www.fiftiesweb.com/cab.htm
***** They were ejected, not thrown. You misunderstood the poster's description. Have you not seen images of car crashes with people's bodies strewn on the road? Or for that matter, bodies and body parts from crashes of passenger jets? The forces at work in a crash are tremendous. This was just so sad :(
They weren't wearing their seat belts if they had been wearing belts they wouldn't have been ejected
@William Brown , oh please....
If they were wearing their seat belts, they would have been crushed in the plane not thrown clear of it. Too bad.
Of all the conspiracy theories that has to be the most absurd. Buddy Holley was mangled and dead on impact. The very idea that, with his final, dying (and impossible) action he arbitrarily decided to shoot a guy is just idiotic.
Richardson was outside the aircraft because the impact threw him out. He at or may not have been belted in place, but that didn't matter.
No, he wasn't "walking for help." It was a fairly high-angle impact in a plane going nearly 200 miles per hour. Survival, even for a SECOND after impact, was impossible.
Mickey Bitsko - All three were thrown from the plane and were killed upon impact. The Big Boppers son, died of heart complications soon after exhuming his father... Sad tragedy all together!
Exactly. That's what I always thought was crazy. To even suggest he was walking for help was completely stupid! His death certificate and the brief report clearly note "crushed skull and face" not to mention the massive external fractures that were evident, let alone the hundreds of internal fracture that were not assessed as no formal autopsy was done.
T DEMO the initial reports way back then also mentioned that a Marquises was on board. during an interview with Dante Reade WCBS radio Deon stated that he lost a coin toss to the Marquis for a seat on the plane.
The pilot's body was wrapped up in the cab / engine compartment of the plane.
Peter Jensen Waylon Jennings lost the coin toss too. Or Tommy Allsup?
The pilot had no business flying that day. Its a shame.
Yes absolutely and may the pilot RIP, but reading into it there was a series of unfortunate events that led up to it, from broken heaters on the bus to a earned seat to the flight on a coin toss. Call it "fate" but it's hard to point your finger at one factor.
NIGHT
Well in my opnion, the owner of this airfield never should have ok'd the charter of this plane and they blame the crash on the pilot, but why would you send a pilot up in a plane, if he doesn't know how to read the instruments. I can understand why they wanted to go up in that plane, but beings that i'm from Iowa (born and raised), i know how the snow can be and i probably wouldn't have gone up. Just my opinion lol
So my Dad told me that the snow wasn't really thick but it was blowing. The speculation is that when the pilot took off he was enveloped in a cloud bank of snow, lost his instruments and that was the cause of the crash. He had been offered a large sum of money to fly the singers to their next stop. Dad didn't remember hearing much about the pilot except that. But he often said that the pilot should have refused. I would like to know why the airport gave him clearance to fly a small Beechcraft, in the dark with limited visibility? Yeah, blame the pilot but the control tower should have grounded them.
@@Hummingbird-yu3ktHi. I was just wondering who your dad is/was,, and how did he know so much of the conditions?
I knew a co-worker who was a fairly mature and accomplished private pilot. He had flown a high-powered business man and his son from Kentucky to NYC. While they were there a massive storm front moved between NYC an KY. My acquaintance knew it weather was too bad to fly in a smaller plane. He wanted to wait until the front passed. The $ guy insisted he needed to get back to KY and badgered, cajoled and finally offered a large sum to start back. The pilot relented, called his wife and told her they were starting back against his better judgment. The plane disappeared during the storm and the wreckage with all three bodies were found the next day. Pilots don't have to be young to make bad decisions.
i was supposed to be on that flight but at the last minute i got diareha and could not go. thank god
allen D sure you were!
Sounds like the ol' pilot was just a ho a hagglin8 over the price and finally got an offer he couldn't turn down. Served him right.
No they don't. They just have to be willing to sell better judgment for money.
Hazardous conditions are not made better by more MONEY!!! @@Nick-wn1xw
I'm waiting for "The Big Bopper Story" movie to make its debut. J.P. Richardson is truly deserving for his story to be told & immortalized on film.
R.I.P., The Big Bopper.
+wavygr I wouldn't give much hope to him being inducted, from what I understand the selection process for the RNRHOF is about as unbiased as a high school popularity contest.
+Tony Saber La Bamba isnt even Ritchies Best song. Donna is a thousands times better, We Belong Together is bad ass, C'mon Lets go, and other non radio songs if hes carreer seemed short, well fucking ssooorrryyyy the kid was 17 about to make things for himself, but disaster struct. Buddy Hollly was already a experienced rock star he had more time to produce hits.
+Tony Saber dayum way to bash on a 17 year old kid just trying to make rock n rolll, im sure youve done a better job
no La Bamba sucks, i cant stand that song, Donna is a beaty, and his song We Belong Together is totally fucking titts, and OooH My head was his 2 cents on punk rock,
+Tony Saber Donna was a beauiful song, as popular as LaBamba.You are ,,,,JUST ,,, a man... typical .
Just a remarkable story and I'm glad that his son had the opportunity to meet his Dad and gain some closure.
My heart goes out to the son of The Big Bopper. This had to be so difficult for him all those years later seeing his father's body exhumed and on top of it all seeing the body. I can't begin to imagine what he felt like. It had to be devastating. I really like this doctor. He is a very respectful and caring man. God bless him and all those who were involved.
Some people that post comments are so disrespectful - it's truly pathetic.
And also fucking idiots, but yes, very disrespectful.
Yes very true..but there all little kids..I seen it all on here..I seen someone accuse richie and big bopper where cia and wanted to kill buddy..smh..ppl need to get off the drugs..ppl cant handle them at all..dont understand why thay dont get it was a plain crash..nothing less nothing more..not every death is a conspiracy. ..sorry about the rant..just sick of seen this bs on dam near every documentary
Karen K And a bunch of morons.
1963dodgeboy United
Your a wennie washer
Big Boppers son died just a few years after the exhumation of his dad's body. He was also a musician, and the coroner is right...He looked EXACTLY like his father.
roger peterson, the pilot was only 21 years old. hardly experienced enough to fly in that weather. should never have happened.
RIP RICHIE SO YOUNG WHY GOD
@CeeCee Glee Your right, you cannot in any way blame God for thier deaths, This would NOT be the last plane crash to take the life of famous musicians Patsy Cline, members of Lynryd Skynrd, John Denver etc, not to mention athletes
@CeeCee Glee thank you CeeCee, love yours tooo
@Cee Cee TRUTH fighter Oh spare us the God nonsense!
My guess would be because the plane went down.
What a surreal experience that must have been. To see your father for the first time, not as he would have been had he lived, but how he was then. Almost perfectly preserved. I can only guess at what his son must have felt. I bet he had a lot to say to his legendary dad.
Thanks for sharing, this was a great interview, very interesting, sad for his son. Life can be so cruel sometimes..
It's sad we always think about the artist but not the pilot
Who are the real heroes as well. Its the common man in my book but, i guess thats why im so lonely. I no longer voice this opinion as im always looked upon as a hater. Im 31 and its getting profoundly more difficult to understand this world. Most peoples mouths agape at the facade they're presented. Not understanding the whole production isnt possible without the worker. The person who has worked at McDonald's for 9 years is someone i respect far more than a coked up musician.
Very true. Roger Peterson, although not a star, but a human being just the same.
never know he could have caused it.
What's sad about it? I'm sure the pilot was remembered by his friends & family, just as most of us will be when we pass away. In the case of someone like Buddy Holly, whose music was enjoyed by millions and who was one of the top four or five seminal figures in the early history of rock and roll, it's only natural that his death will be mourned by large numbers of fans the world over, and that his memory will live on in the public consciousness for generations to come.
Matthew Earwood: Do you think that nobody who works at McDonald's ever does coke? And do you have some sort of evidence that Buddy Holly tended to be "coked up"? If your answer to these questions is "no", then shut the fuck up.
They left a legacy that will live on forever. Thanks for the memories.
Why do people look so much into this? It was a night of bad weather with a bad choice to fly in a plane. The plane crashed and some great musicians, singers and people died.
Kevin Baker They were all at the peak of success and still so young. Around 1961 I listened to my older brothers records and asked about Holly. He was so creative and innovative. It took a while to sink in that he was gone forever. I was only 6 but had older siblings into music. I would gladly receive their old worn 45s for my own stack.
Kevin Baker, Very true Sir.....and not to mention the inexperienced pilot....was it Roger Peterson? ...People always have to start conspiracy theories, there must be money to be made at it...lol
People always have to come up with elaborate explanations for tragedies. It comforts them to think that there is always a plan behind a huge loss of life. A world that is unpredictable is frightening to them. Hence, the proliferation of so many conspiracy theories.
Don't forget that this was at the expression of this man's family. If you've never undergone the lost of a loved one unexpectedly you may not understand the pressing need for the loved ones to want to know every single detail and have every single question have an answer. In this case the body needed to be exhumed to be moved in order to receive the statue and the son figured to have someone answer a lingering question. He received his answer and his closure. Seems like a good thing to me.
The plane crashed 5 miles from the runway. Instead of going up, the pilot was flying the plane downward and it rolled over in the field after it hit the ground. He had no certification to fly on instruments and hardly any experience in nighttime flying. That's what you get when you put rock and roll stars in the hands of a 21-yr pilot who should have still been taking flying lessons.
I don't understand why the doctor said 'the only one who exits the plane' after it crashed was the Big Bopper. His body was thrown 40 feet clear of the wreckage, but the bodies of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens were also thrown clear of the plane, each approximately 17 feet from the wreckage. I do wonder though why the a Bopper's body was thrown so much farther out, literally across the fence, into the next door neighbor's field.
That was an awesome thing this man did for his son. It gave him and the family closer. God bless you sir
60 years ago today . The world lost 3 extremely talented artists . R. I. P . And thank you for reds solving this Mystery.
4 people died not 3
The weirdest part is when the Bopper's son had his body exhumed and the coffin opened he said his father looked almost as he did in life. Kinda creepy but his son was comforted since he never got to see his father, having been born after his death.
Cissy2cute dude was mangled - It's very common. They use wax to cover this up for funerals. He was seeing a well done wax mask on the skeleton.
Eric Klemm I hope so. Whatever it was, I don't see how see his father'smangled/decomposed body would have done any good. The Bopper was a celebrity, and so I could see why they would do that. But when my cousin was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer when he stepped too far out in the road, there was a closed coffin because I guess there was not enough money and/or the ability to reconstruct his face. My uncle told me when he went to identify the body the whole top of Joey's head was sheared off, but he didn't (or couldn't) mention anything else.
Cissy2cute Write that story down and make a million in HOLLYWOOD
Montgomery Denzer I don't know what you are insinuating.
+Eric Klemm - he had facial fractures...head fractures...that doesn't mean necessarily he was mangled. Since the fractures happened in death, no swelling would have occurred...perhaps just some misshapen look that a mortician would easily have been able to re-shape. I suspect the mortician was quite skilled - the guy doing the autopsy said the remains were the best preserved he had ever seen in an exhumation. I am just glad the son was able to view his father's remains and get some measure of comfort/closure.
Years later, the Sheriff of Clearlake, Iowa died, having kept that job from before the crash until his death. When his desk was cleaned out, an envelope was found containing Buddy's glasses. The Sheriff had kept them all those years. They were sent to the Buddy Holly museum in Lubbock, TX. They are there. I have seen them. Have an excellent week, friend.
I believe that's also true of Waylon Jennings wallet, which he let Holly take in order to get a hotel room at the next stop. It was found on Holly, which led to reports that Waylon was on the plane. How it never got returned to Jennings until decades after the crash is amazing. Jennings was playing bass for Holly on the tour.
That's messed up he kept that if the family didn't know and agreed to it.
I admire, and respect the creativity, thoughtfulness and professionalism of the ME who conducted the X-ray Visual Autopsy.
This avoided the grusome violation of their loved ones body. Experts have admitted, that a real autopsy is a grusome violation of the dead.
Not to forget to mention that a real full autopsy makes it difficult for even the best of professional morticians to prepare the loved ones remains for a viewing.
If a real full autopsy can be avoided it should be. That was said by an experienced forensic pathologist to a friend who works in a hospital.
The use of an X-ray machine as a visual autopsy is a Brilliant practical and effective idea put into action.
It got the results the family wanted without violating the body. Such should be done, whenever possible in similar cases. Way to go. Respect the dead.
How on Earth was Richardson's body so well-preserved after nearly fifty years? It reminds me of the exhumation of Medgar Evers - he'd been dead for 27 years, yet reportedly looked like he was only sleeping. Crazy.
I SAW that,Medgar Ever's SON got to SEE him TOO.
Yes, I saw that about Medgar Evers!! His body was so well preserved that his son could view his body!!
So sad that's the first time his son actually got to see him. My heart breaks for him.😢
Hello Leslie, How are you doing?
I WAS MOVED BY HIS SON SAYING HE HAD ONLY SEEN HIS FATHER IN TWO DIMENTION NOW HE SAW HIM IN ACTUAL FORM
YOU WERE IN THE CRASH THAT FOLLOWING DAY
I mean I highly doubt that you had been but it is possible that you where
I mean I don't think you could survive the hundreds of fractures to be on that plane on that following day of the crash I would feel sorry for you
Wow! Big Bopper's son, although not lucky that lost his father, lucky that he could actually see, in person, father that died before he was born! What an experience! Wow!
Always amazes me that the Big Bopper was that well preserved. Wonder how the son felt getting to see him
🎼 Chantilly lace had a pretty face
And a pony tail hanging down
A giggle in a talk
And a wiggle in her walk
Makes the world go round 🎼
Big Bopper R.I.P
🎼 well you go your way and I'll go
Mine now and forever till the end of
Time I'll find somebody new
And baby we'll say were through
And you won't mater anymore 🎼
Buddy Holly R.I.P
🎼 I had a girl Donna was her name
Since she left me I've never been the
Same , oh how I love my girl
Donna were can you be 🎼
Richie Valens R.I.P
The day the music died..... which they had this on the
Radio instead of Taylor Swift and Shitty DJs xxx
Emily - In the first four lines you have only one line correct. The second.
A wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk.
mike brown Idc tbh ....
Translation: "I don't care, to be honest." A little rude I agree.
mzspargo I am not apologizing because I did not say anything rude all that I have said is to be honest I don't care and to be quiet frank I don't I have enough today as it is thank you
I listened to the Big Bopper when he was alive and well. I remember Chantilly Lace playing at Pacific Ocean Park. Ritchie Valens lived nearby in Pacoima. Of course, who could forget Buddy Holly. I grew up on their music.
" who could forget Buddy Holly?" Anyone younger than 30? That's who.
slug Face Anyone younger than 30 who makes the effort to listen to his music would not forget him.
slug Face I'm 23 and know who Buddy Holly is... .-.
Daephenie do ya like this? /watch?v=a6Nf77I-BN0
Daephenie That's encouraging.
Buddy Holy and Ritchie Valens were also ejected from the aircraft. The actual report from the crash is available and photos also show the three musicians that exited the aircraft upon impact. The pilots body was still in the aircraft.
Holly was definitely a Texan, packing a piece on him at all times lol
That’s also because rock n’ roll artists were paid in cash bk then. Iv’e often wondered if Buddy was counting the money and his gun went off & accidently shot the pilot. An investigator said he FOUND A CASEING INSIDE CABIN BUT LATER DENIED HE SAID THAT! Peterson’s autopsy was “sketchy”.
@@robertdoyle7186 The simple explanation is usually where the truth lies. It is believed the pilot flew into IFR weather. He wasn’t qualified to fly in IFR weather. He trusted his body telling him they were in a climbing right hand turn, when in actuality they were in a banking turn losing altitude rapidly. Then SMACK! Contact with the ground instant lights out! Nobody was shot dude. Jesus. Pilots die this very way every year. Yes even in 2021
@@nordicpride9708 people in farm houses warned him by turning on they’re yard lights. He reacted by PULLING UP! This happened TWICE! Do some research so you know what your’e talking about.Jesus dude, use you’re head
@@robertdoyle7186 Read the NTSB report fuck stick. He wasn’t IFR certified. Says it right in the report. Also says he made a banking right turn which was too steep and hit right wing first, cartwheeling more than 500ft. Not my fault you don’t read official reports. Pulling up twice has nothing to do with why he crashed. It’s called spacial disorientation, but I’m sure you don’t even know what IFR and VFR is. He was flying in IFR weather for which he had no official certification, and the charter PROHIBITED any and all IFR flights. This farm theory you raise has absolutely nothing to do with the causation of this crash, PERIOD!
@@nordicpride9708 Bullshit! I’ve studied this case for yrs, FUCK STICK.
My buddy and I were on our way to Des Moines when we stopped in Clear Lake to eat. It occurred to us that this was where Buddy Holly died, but we weren't sure, so we asked the manager at the McDonald's. "Is this where Buddy Holly died?" "Not at this McDonald's". we were told.
Your a fucking idiot for even cracking that kinda joke here
10karat vagina.
lol!
The day the music died was indeed a very sad day
Yeah I remember it, and it was only 3 musicians died in a plane crash,
not all the many other great performers that gave us tuneful songs we
enjoyed. Its just a trendy way to memorialize Holly, Valens and Bopper,
(who, truth be told, were not exceptionally great in the opinion of many
people at the time- including me).
+GooglFascists were not great ? haha the pioneers of rockbilly, latin rock,and in a way rock and roll weren't great? so what is a great artist ? god ?
The day SOME music died.
I can’t imagine witnessing an exhumation of anyone, let alone my own family
I'm so old, I used to listen to him every day after school, on radio station KTRM in Beaumont, Texas when I lived there with my parents in the early fifties. I would practice the Bop to the records he played, so I could be proficient at school dances. He seemed larger than life. I was sad when he was killed. Conspiracy theorists will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous or outlandish!
He looks just like his Daddy. That's so sad man.
The day the music died
B Caldwell no the music kept on playing
B Caldwell Image
Image dragons
What an original comment
B Caldwell NOT. Best music ever is the hair bands of the 80s
I was taught by Dr. Bass and studied at the Body Farm in Knoxville Tn. What an amazing experience Taft I will never forget. He brought his slideshow out and spoke of this very autopsy.
Bopper wasn't the only one out of the plane. All three musicians were out. You can even see it in the photos in this video. Richie is in the dark coat closest to the plane face down. Buddy is in the white coat left of the plane face up. Bopper was the farthest from the plane ejected like a catapult. The only one actually still left in the plane was the pilot who was trapped between the fuselage and seat.
Richie landed face first. Buddys glasses got broken. Bopper probably got thrown from the plane.
@@angelacooper8973
He was thrown the farthest away.
I read in some of Bill Griggs' compendious work on Buddy that the farmer found the .22 pistol during spring plowing in 1959. He fired the gun at least once before turning it in to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff shortly thereafter. It's amazing to me how honest the people living at the crash site were. Good "Ioway" folks! God Bless Them All!
A combination of a small plane, bad weather, and an imprudent itch to get somewhere has killed many, both famous and unknown. In fact, this was pretty much the exact scenario that ended the life of Patsy Cline. The movie with Jessica Lange fictionalized the crash circumstances for some odd reason. There was no running out of gas and switching tanks. The plane was running fine, but her manager pilot had no instrument rating, and like this crash, got confused in the twilight and drifted down until the plane ran into the woods.
Aaliyah too they were in a hurry and the plane was over loaded
The Big Boppers son died of an heart attack afew years ago.
Wow I had no idea his son passed away
Now they are walking with each other in heaven
So sad.
@@alicemilling3706 I know I heard that once he seen Buddy Holly he was yelling at him
I'd flat out refuse to take that plane in that weather.
they weren't on their way to Mankato,Minnesota,they were on the way to Fargo,North Dakota..that guy was wrong.Both Waylon Jennings,and Tommy Alsop said this in the documentary.
Matt Fisher lol look at the map Mankato is totally not near where their fly was headed
The town they were going to be performing at was Moorhead, MN which is across the river from Fargo. He most likely just got Mankato and Moorhead mixed up. Nobody would fly to Mankato to get to Moorhead. It is almost 275 mi away.
Several factors: Deplorable weather conditions. A young pilot not IFR certified. Being ordered to fly without visibility. No illumination on the runway. Poor weather advisory practices and a severe design flaw in the Beechcraft Bonanza: The Sperry F3 was NOT designed for commercial pilot use.
It was a tragic accident, and all and all, Jerry Dywer was negligent for equipping the youthful pilot with Aircraft he was completely unfamiliar with.
Tornado1994 And there was no excuse for providing them with a bus with no heat. I am certain this would never have happened if there had been heat on that bus. I know it was the '50s, but there must have been some way to obtain another bus with a working heater. In lieu of that, provide several cars to get them to the next destination. Poor planning resulting in the death of music legends.
Cissy2cute ALL they would had to done was reuse to go on the Cold Bus, The Promoters would have came up with a warm one Pronto I know I'm a musician the show must go on and no performer should have to freeze to death, Busses without heat is in excusable
packingten I don't know that back in the day they would have been able to get a bus that quickly. And they had a schedule to keep, putting added pressure on the situation. Buddy grew up learning to fly a small plane (as did many in rural Texas) and it probably was the first thing that came to mind.
"Hug My Radiator" is a very telling song. Every time I hear it I think of these guys :(
Tornado1994 You're 100% correct on this. Not to mention the plane probably had to much weight on board as well. I don't know who in their right mind would send anyone out flying in that plane in those conditions. This was certainly avoidable. They should of been held accountable for being so incompetent.
gojobuddy It was mainly Dywer's fault. He knew the young pilot was not IFR certified. All they had to do was radio him the weather conditions(in which Roger would have known when it was safe to take off) as well as equip him with an Aircraft that had an instrument Peterson was familiar with(Although Peterson was not yet IFR certified, using a regular Gyroscope wouldn't have caused such confusion They thought they were ascending when they were actually decending). Everything that came together that night by Dwyer was a recipe for disaster. I still cannot understand how on earth did he think that young pilot could fly under those conditions, I mean no visibility OR illumination?
Also back in the 50s, Negligence was somewhat of a legal roadblock. These were cases company Defense Attorneys could win instantly due to nepotism.
You can tell by the damage to the plane that the impact was devastating. Likely experienced impact Gs of several hundred. Everyone was killed instantly.
And to see his son standing over the coffin of his father is one thing, but to go out to the field where it happened, on the night it happened, especially in the dead silence of Winter is eerie as hell! Great video.
That was incredibly interesting!!! I had no idea that the Big Bopper was exhumed or that there had been questions about how he died. I live in Iowa and one of my best friends' mother was at that last show in Clear Lake...and grew up with my father listening to these guys on 8 track in the truck, so we have talked about the deaths of Buddy, Richie, and the Bopper many times.
That would be weird to view your fathers body after being buried for so many years,but I can understand why his son did it.It also seems strange that the Big Bopper was thrown so far from the plane when Holly & Valens was near the plane.Since the pilot was still inside I wonder if the other three were not wearing seat belts or if it would have mattered considering the impact speed.
by looking at the plane I'd say it probably wouldn't have helped to wear seat belts... They may have taken them off after they got up in the air...
TheFarmerfitz .
Very true,I wonder how far the plane skidded & rolled ? I don't think I've ever read anything about the distance it traveled after it hit.Since it was winter and the ground was probably frozen might have been some distance.I read the autopsy reports on Holley,Valens & Richardson it done some damage.to them and actually more damage to Holley & Valens than to Richardson.
I've heard a few stories(If you can believe stories)from other youtube videos... that the plane upside down as it crashed because the pilot was disoriented...and also the debris field was fairly large..Of course, I wasn't there so i don't know.lol. I'm sure there is a file, or post about that somewhere... Another story is that the pilot misread the instrument that tells if plane is level or not, flying blind in a snow storm, he didn't know which way was up, and another story of a witness seeing it flying upside down before it crashed...it was no doubt a very violent crash at any rate..
And yes(to you original comment( It would be very weird to view the body of a parent after many years....It would just give me a very eary feeling....
TheFarmerfitz .
I've also heard those stories and I'm like you,I wasn't there either.I have some good pictures of the aftermath of the crash and it is impossible to tell what the orientation of the plane was on impact.I do know the pilot was still inside the plane after the crash and that made me think maybe he was the only one wearing a seat belt.I do know that the plane obviously rolled & tumbled on impact which is one thing that would explain why the three were thrown out and just looking at the wreckage you can see that.I don't know off hand what type of instruments the plane had and what effect if any they played,it also baffles me why the pilot did not know he was descending,I'm thinking it could have been wind shear,very sudden and a loss of control.
RIP Big Bopper, I will allways love your music.
wow i did not know that. i've seen the son in concert, he looks just like his daddy, and to think he got to see him all those years later, that's very touching. thanks for the post.
Dr. Bill Bass is the world-renowned forensic anthropologist who founded the University of Tennessee's Body Farm. For those of you who may not be familiar with that facility, it is the world's first major scientific facility devoted to studying human decomposition. I suspect that this video is just a snippet of a longer program. I don't think there's many people who are as qualified to do an autopsy in this situation as Dr. Bass.
That sure is one weird profession. There is a book all about what happens to the human body after death but I really don't know if I want to read it.
I live in Sevierville, TN just 45 minutes away from UT in Knoxville and I have always wanted to take a tour of this division of the school since I moved to TN. Dr. Bass is at the top of his game. There's a book by Patricia Cornwell entitled "The Bodyfarm" and its all about UT's Bodyfarn in Knoxville. The book is semi fiction except for Knoxville and the University.
I've read about the facility and find it fascinating because nobody has ever done any really comprehensive study of the subject before. He's definitely one of the world's leading authorities if not THE authority!
czcams.com/video/KAd3gYTR2-E/video.html
My heart goes out to the Big Bopper's son, having to go through that. I hope at last he was able to find peace knowing what happened and having his questions answered. I can't imagine what he must feel like. God bless him and the rest of his family.
Thanks to the one who uploaded this. For such a short video.....for 5:56 this video held me spellbound. Extremely fascinating information. I'm going to do a bit of reading on this. Thanks again.👍👏👏👏👏
Shortly into the investigation, the FARMER admitted to investigators that he fired the gun just to see if it worked!!!!! Has everybody forgotten?
Correction.
JP Richardson, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly were all thrown from the wreckage.
Roger Peterson, pilot, was the only person who remained inside the wreckage. His body was removed using a cutting torch.
I once seen a picture in a magazine inside a public library (forgot which one). It showed a picture of a young man with dark hair lying on his stomach. In the distance you could see the wrecked plane. In the article it mentioned that that is probably Ritchie Valens. I remember being shocked by seeing this photo but didn't take a picture of it. Do you happen to know where this picture can be found?
I remember that picture! I think I saw it in an entertainment magazine like "Photoplay" about a year after the plane crash. If I remember correctly, it was of Valens and it looked exactly like you described. I can still picture the dark wavy hair. I was only about 12 at the time so I was really affected by it. It wasn't all that graphic, so I'm surprised that it's not on the internet.
The picture was not graphic but if you take a look at Valens' autopsy report; it is truly horrifying. Really hard to read.
i read it and at first, i had to go back and reread it but it really was horrifying. it's insane how much damage he took and at such a young age, too. :(
There`s one Picture where you can tell it`s Ritchie by his hair. :( Sad. I wish all 3 of them would have went on to make big and better things.
He was NOT the only one ejected from the plane. The pilot was the only one that was still in what was left of the plane.
God bless his son, we carn t imagine what it's like looking at your father's remains immortalised at 28. Even though he wasn't born then, it must be like going back in time and witness history.... Closure is the key it matters squat how he died.(it's all about a sons connection with his daddy.) ....... I think he did.
I love learning random things!👍😉 ty
From what I saw somewhere else, (can't remember where) the casket was an unusual or uncommon design. I think it is called a "bier style". It looks like a bed. The lid is actually what amounts to an upside-down open box, and it is fastened or lagged down along the bottom of the bier or bed part. This would create an 'air chamber" inside (like a water cooler bottle in reverse that keeps the water from falling out) so if the coffin didn't rust out or the bottom seal didn't fail, the air pressure inside would keep tthe water from intruding up to the height of the body. Even if the seal failed, as long as no holes formed in the upside-down box part, which would allow water up to the top. I would think this would be a superior style of coffin, and the body would stand a good chance of lasting longer than average. Simply, picture a covered butter dish, rather than a Tupperware container. They said also, that there was a small pipe cap over a pipe near the bottom of one end, so maybe this allowed them to either pressurize the coffin, or inject a neutral gas like Nitrogen to help preservation. I think they unscrewed this cap off of the pipe while they were in a garage or enclosed building, and initially, the smell "blew their heads off"! They took it outside to dissipate the smell. Then they saw how good he still looked!!
I might need to correct myself. The vault the coffin was in may have had this construction, which protected the coffin from water infiltration.
Interesting.
I wasn't quite a year old when the wreck happened. But I love the music from that era. Rock on, Big Bopper, Valens and Holly! RIP ALL!
According to a documentary, the pistol was a .38. The farmer that found it fired one shot. It was from the 4 part documentary that can be found on CZcams.
All the bodies were in bad shape. Valenz lost half his head.
My gosh ! Nearly 60 years ago !
Larry Lehmer's Book, "The Day the Music Died", is an excellent read on the entire tour.
It’s about time somebody besides me found some facts! Thanks Gerber!
WOULD IT BE STRANGE TO SAY I WISH THEY WOULD HAVE SHOWED THE BIG BOPPER IN THE COFFIN. IM TOUCHED BY THIS VIDEO A GREAT DEAL.
Yes it would. In death we all deserve privacy.
He would have looked horrible from the crash and all the years of slow decomposition.
Yes, I would have liked to see the Big Bopper in his coffin.
spectrumlocalb191 I read somewhere they did a filmed documentary of this, and actually took either some photos or a quick clip of his actual body, but that those pics/scenes would not ever be released to the public for privacy reasons or something. Naturally, we probably wonder what it would look like...but after 48 years dead and buried, well preserved or not, I don't think too many people are truly ready to see that :/
No, I don't believe it is. Anyone saying they wouldn't be curious is lying.
I absolutely love Dr. William Bass and have several of his books. For him to say the body was in remarkable condition means it was near perfect.
I did notice when they were exhuming the casket and vault that the vault was made of cast iron.
That tells me that the weight literally made the casket within water and air tight thus such great preservation.
Wow that's pretty amazing that his body was in such good condition after all those years
Awsome that his son was able to sit and talk to him