The pistol and the exhumation….
A few weeks after the Buddy Holly plane crash, farmer Albert
Juhl was plowing the field
where the crash had occurred. Holly owned a 22 caliber handgun and had
placed it in the
bottom compartment of his overnight bag. During the crash,
the bag had been thrown out
and had been torn open, dislodging the gun in the snow. It
remained there and was found
the day farmer Juhl was plowing. Juhl took the gun and
turned it into the local sheriff, but
not before firing the weapon himself. (There is difference
of opinion on whether or not he
shared that ‘firing’ information with the sheriff.)( Holly’s
iconic black glasses were also
not found until much later in a snow bank.)
After testing, it had been determined that the gun had been
recently fired…. giving all
kinds of speculation that something might have happened on
board that flight involving
the pistol. The facts finally surfaced, but not before
planting a seed of inquiry into the mind
of Jay Richardson, only son of J.P. Richardson the Big
Bopper.
It’s summer 2007, the Big Bopper’s son Jay Richardson wanted
to have his father exhumed.
He had never seen his father, J.P. had died three months
before Jay’s birth. There were
unanswered questions…how severe were his father’s injuries?
On a long shot, was that pistol
involved in some way, shape or manner? His father’s body was found the farthest from
the airplane wreckage… had he survived the crash and tried
to go for help? And so
Jay employed Dr. Bill Bass a credentialed forensic
anthropologist to examine his father
upon his exhumation. The grave was at the Forest Lawn
Cemetery in Beaumont, Tx.
There were a few people present at the exhumation including
a film crew. The grave was
opened, the vault was raised, opened and the metal
Batesville Casket removed. It was
in extremely good shape for being interred 48 years. In a
private setting later that morning
the casket was opened and Jay saw his father for the first
time. By all accounts the
Big Bopper was fully recognizable with his familiar crew-
cut he sported in 1959. The
embalming had been superb, and the restorative art to his
features also done well.
Dr. Bass and his assistants removed the body, performed an
extensive examination and
multiple groupings of x-rays. Dr. Bass concluded and
reported to Jay that there was
no foul play in the death of his father and that he had died
from massive trauma, and
that he died instantly. (Dr. Bass noted that Richardson had
more than 60 bone
fractures resulting from the accident.) Batesville Casket Co. provided a new casket
in
which J.P. was placed and a small procession drove him to
his new resting place. The rumors
were nixed, Jay had seen his father for the first and only
time, and had laid his father
back to rest. Sadly, Jay himself passed away in August of
2013.
So the rumor that the pistol was somehow involved in the
crash was finally
dismissed. Jay
Richardson finally got to see his father for the first time….it
must have been a very
bittersweet day for him, for sure.
So what really happened that terrible morning?
I’m not an investigator by any means, but I actually think
that within minutes
of taking off… Holly in the front seat…finding themselves in
swirling, blinding
snow urged, or more forcefully, told Peterson the pilot to
turn around and get
back to the airport a few short miles away. At the time of
the crash, the
landing gear was not deployed, so the chance of him trying
to land the aircraft
is quite remote. The engine was at normal cruise speed at
the time of the
crash. Peterson may have been trying to gain altitude in an
effort
to get above the weather he was confronting, but in
actuality was making a
descending move not an ascending one. I think Peterson, not instrument
rated, was very confused, spatially disorientated, and lost control.
February 3rd of 1959 is talked and written about
a lot…even 59 years later.
The lack of sophisticated weather tracking, communications
and equipment
were most likely also factors in that terrible day.
Accidents similar to this are
rare today. The four lost that day will not be forgotten.
Their memories will
be perpetuated as time marches on…and that’s the way it
should be.
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