According to the autopsy report, Mansfield sustained severe head and neck injuries, including:

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Mansfield was traveling from a nightclub engagement in Biloxi, Mississippi, to New Orleans for a scheduled television appearance. Inside the 1966 Buick Electra were six occupants: Mansfield, her attorney , and a 20-year-old driver named Ronnie Harrison . Back Seat: Three of her children— , , and a then-three-year-old Mariska Hargitay .

The report notes massive blood loss in the chest cavity.

The "Jayne Mansfield autopsy report" serves as an important historical document that separates Hollywood folklore from forensic reality. While the actress's life was cut short by a graphic and catastrophic highway collision, the persistent myth of her decapitation is entirely disproven by medical science. Instead, her legacy is preserved not just through her cinematic work, but through a vital safety innovation that has saved countless lives on the highway over the past several decades.

The specific injuries recorded by the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office include: Primary Cause

Before analyzing the autopsy, it is crucial to address the elephant in the room: the decapitation myth. The rumor began almost immediately after the crash. Witnesses claimed that the top of the Buick was sheared off, and that Mansfield’s head was severed by the impact with the rear of the trailer.

The car was traveling west on U.S. Route 90 near the Rigolets Bridge in Slidell, Louisiana. According to the Louisiana State Police investigation, the Buick—traveling at high speed—slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer truck that was slowly passing another slow-moving vehicle. The truck’s lowered rear bumper acted as a "shear." The Buick’s roof was peeled off almost entirely above the front seat, crushing the upper compartment where Mansfield, Brody, and Harrison were seated.

The official autopsy report of Jayne Mansfield paints a clear picture of a death caused by massive head trauma—a "crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain." It provides the clinical facts that are the final word on her physical fate. Yet the report also inadvertently became a source of confusion, with its stark descriptions fueling a decades-old myth of decapitation.

To understand the autopsy report, one must first look at the circumstances of the crash. Late on the night of June 28, 1977, Mansfield finished a nightclub performance in Biloxi, Mississippi. She, her driver Ronnie Harrison, and her lawyer and companion Sam Brody set off for New Orleans, where Mansfield was scheduled to appear on a television show the next morning.

The impact was devastating. The Buick slid directly underneath the rear of the trailer, shearing off the top of the car. The three adults in the front seat died instantly. Miraculously, the three children in the backseat survived with only minor injuries. The Birth of the Decapitation Myth

At approximately 2:25 AM, their 1966 Buick Electra collided with the rear of a tractor-trailer on U.S. Highway 90. The truck had slowed down behind a mosquito fogging machine that had obscured the road with a thick white mist. The Buick slid under the trailer, shearing off the top of the car. All three adults in the front seat were killed instantly, while the children in the back miraculously survived with minor injuries. Clinical Findings: The Autopsy Report

Jayne Mansfield was not a headless ghost. She was a mother, an actress, and a victim of a terrible accident. Her autopsy report asks us to look beyond the grotesque folklore and remember the real tragedy: three adults died instantly, and three children lost their mother. In the end, the most shocking detail in the report isn’t the state of her body—it’s the notation that her daughter, three-year-old Mariska, survived with a tiny scratch on her leg.