Elvis Presley struggled to find privacy while he was alive, and even after his death, people couldn't keep their hands off him. When Presley died of a heart attack on August 16, 1977, aged 42, the nation went into mourning. And in some cases, denial.
The day after Elvis' death, his father Vernon Presley allowed around 30,000 fans to view his son lying in state in Graceland. At the funeral procession the following day, Elvis was taken to Forest Hill Cemetery in a white hearse, followed by 17 white limousines, for a private ceremony. According to the Daily Beast, Vernon had wanted his son buried at Graceland, but it wasn't zoned for burials. Instead, Elvis was interred inside a steel-lined coffin weighing nearly 1,000 lbs., and placed in a large mausoleum next to his mother Gladys, which was sealed with a double layer of concrete, covered with a marble slab.
That wasn't the end of it, though. On August 29, three men were caught trying to steal Presley's body, with the intention of ransoming it. After that, the burial rules were waived, and Elvis and Gladys were returned to Graceland. When Vernon died in 1979, he was buried next to them. But some have accused Vernon of orchestrating the attempted grave robbery, to ensure Elvis would be moved back to Graceland.
[Featured image by Lindsey Turner via Wikimedia Commons |Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]
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