Ask the Memphian: Did someone really try to steal Elvis’ body?
Yes, but it was a ‘goat rodeo’ from the get-go, former Memphis police chief said
The original mausoleum of Elvis Presley in the Forest Hill Cemetery. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
To hear Raymond “Bubba” Green tell it, a mysterious stranger was willing to pay him $2 million to steal the body of Elvis Presley, dead not even two weeks at the end of August 1977.
Green was a heroin addict and a school dropout who had spent more time in jail than out during his first 25 years. In his telling of the tale, a stranger he called “Mr. Cincinnati” took him to a seedy motel room, showed him a suitcase with a million bucks in it, then said Green would get double that if he could pull off the brazen heist.
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Jody Callahan
Jody Callahan graduated with degrees in journalism and economics from what is now known as the University of Memphis. He has covered news in Memphis for more than 25 years.
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