Roxy says defense lawyers often tried to trip her up as a witness. At one trial, a defense attorney asked Roxy why do you think you're an expert in feather identification? She said: "All I could think of was, well, I walked fast and I stopped"
On October 4, 1960, Eastern Airlines Flight 375 took off from Boston’s Logan airport, and then, two minutes later, it crashed. 62 people died. Investigators couldn't figure out what had happened, and they decided to ask a scientist working at the Smithsonian for help. Roxie Laybourne's investigation helped launch a whole new field of science that changed aviation and forensics.
Special thanks to the Smithsonian Institution Archives for letting us share audio of Roxie Laybourne.