Forensic Scientist Seeks to Clear Up Mysteries Surrounding "The Day the Music Died"

Could Deaths of Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens Have Been Anything but Accidental?

This week, the University of Tennessee annoucned that Dr. Bill Bass, one of the country's leading forensic scientists and a professor emeritus at the college, would be investigating the circumstances surrounding the plane crash in 1959 that claimed three of rock music's brightest stars: Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and Ritchie Valens.

Jay Richardson, whose father J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson topped the charts with "Chantilly Lace," is exhuming his father's body and wants Bass to study the remains and try to find an exact cause of death. The crash was originally ruled an accident, although some circumstances have led people to question that initial finding.

Back in 1959, the three musicians climbed aboard a small passenger plane after a concert in Iowa. The plan crashed shortly after take-off. The flight was chalked up to pilot era. The younger Richardson, also a musician, said little investigation was done. Several inconsistencies with the "simple plane crash" theory don't match with the evidence. While the pilot and two other bodies were found with the wreckage, Richard's was 40 feet away.

Another rumor, perhaps urban myth would be a better tern, reports that there was a bullet hole in the pilot seat. Buddy Holly is reported to have had a pistol on the plane and one was recovered at the crash site, although it was not mentioned in the official accident report. The younger Richardson says the plane's owner believes the pilot was incapacitated at the time of the crash. The pilot had flown the route many times and some aviation experts believe the "pilot error" cause of death was hastily reached, according to a University of Tennessee press release.

Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens often receive more information when the crash is discussed. Both have been the subject of major motion pictures. Richardson, though, was at the start of his career. His "Chantilly Lace" will forever be synonymous with the carefree times of the 1950s.