Jayne Mansfield Autopsy | Report
At approximately 2:25 AM on June 29, the Buick was traveling west on US Highway 90 in Slidell, Louisiana. Ahead of them, a tractor-trailer had slowed down behind a truck spraying a thick fog of anti-mosquito chemical. The heavy white mist obscured the highway. Harrison, driving at high speed, failed to see the slowed semi-truck in time.
To help visualize the distinction between a decapitation (the head separated at the neck) and an avulsion (the top of the head torn away), the table below outlines the differences:
For more than five decades, the death of Jayne Mansfield has been shrouded in macabre legend—most famously the gruesome rumor that she was decapitated. This myth, fueled by gruesome second-hand accounts and the iconic nature of her death, has overshadowed the clinical, sobering reality of the official document that records her final moments: the Jayne Mansfield autopsy report. jayne mansfield autopsy report
Significantly, the report makes no mention of alcohol in the system that night (though blood samples were taken, toxicology was limited), nor does it mention any drugs beyond a brief note of prescription medication found at the scene. Contrary to later rumors that she was decapitated and pregnant, the autopsy explicitly notes that the uterus was "normal in size and non-gravid"—meaning she was pregnant at the time of her death. The rumor that she was pregnant with Sam Brody’s child is a myth.
The is a document of two narratives. On one hand, it is a cold, scientific record that describes a woman who died from blunt-force trauma to the head and chest. It explicitly confirms there was no separation of the head from the torso. At approximately 2:25 AM on June 29, the
The official cause of death listed on the certificate is In layman’s terms, she died instantly from a catastrophic blow to the head and torso.
The official record of Jayne Mansfield 's death, as stated in her death certificate and autopsy report, confirms she died of a crushed skull avulsion (forcible separation) of the cranium and brain Harrison, driving at high speed, failed to see
Jayne Mansfield 's official autopsy report, issued in New Orleans following her death on June 29, 1967, confirms that she was not decapitated
: "Crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain." This indicates that the skull and brain tissue were detached due to the force of the impact. Secondary Injuries : Closed fracture of the right humerus (upper arm). Fractures of the lower extremities.
: Mansfield, along with the driver (Ronald B. Harrison) and her attorney (Samuel S. Brody), died instantly upon impact.