Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, died on 16th August 1977, aged 43, after overdosing on prescription medication. Or so it seemed.
There have always been theories about Elvis’ apparent death. Recently, however, a new spin has been put on the old conspiracy.
Elvis is definitely alive; there seems to be quite the consensus on that.
But he’s also living in Argentina.
The story is: Elvis faked his own death in 1977 and was granted asylum in Argentina in exchange for working with the US government, offering information on the mafia.
The theory is propagated by a blogger who goes by the name of ‘billyboy’ who runs a website asking for help in finding The King. “I know where he iiiiiiiiis,” says one visitor, “he sells fruit at the corner of my house – his name is Don Rafita.” Another believes he is alive and well and living in Caleta Olivia, and is the owner of a cabaret bar called ‘Venus’.
A short documentary on the site goes into more detail. On 17th August 1977 a Boeing 747 aircraft landed at the Palomar Military Airport. Jorge Daniel Garcia, a military guard at the airport, saw someone leave the plane. “It must have been someone fairly important, as there was a great commotion around. The cars went away quickly, and the plane then stayed on the tarmac for an hour or so.”
According to the documentary, the PanAm flight from Memphis, Tennessee to Ezeiza landed the morning of 17th August 1977 after an hour and a half’s delay. There was a ticket for the flight issued to a Mr. John Burrows, but no passenger with that name arrived on that day.
Then there’s ‘The Letter’. Gabriel Roitberg, an Argentine businessman, talks about his cousin, a policeman who works in Tupelo County, US, where Elvis was born. He worked with a captain, Harold Ray Presley, who was apparently Elvis’ only cousin. When the captain was unfortunately killed in an operation in Lee County, the men at the police station received a letter from Argentina, signed by the captain’s cousin, one Aaron Levis.
“It was a shock for us,” says Roitberg, “because we were both huge Elvis fans. We of course realised that Aaron was his middle name, and Levis is an anagram of Elvis.”
Roitberg’s cousin spoke with the captain’s family about their ‘Argentine cousin’. Apparently, “they denied it… they said they did not have any relatives in Argentina.”
Roitberg talked to a friend of his and told him this story about Elvis’ cousin. His friend claimed to remember a certain Aaron Levis as a customer at a bookstore he once worked at. Roitberg managed to interview the bookstores’ sales assistants. After some persistence, they admitted that the client, Levis, had not been into the shop in a while and that he used to live somewhere in Parque Leloir.
On the morning of 29th October 2006, the documentary makers make a breakthrough. Filming in Parque Leloir, they come across a small silver car with tinted windows. Walking towards the car comes a woman, followed by someone else steering a wheelchair, in which sits an elderly, overweight man.
“Our reporters cannot believe what they are seeing, they are very excited,” says the documentary voice-over. “It is Elvis!”
The reporters run towards the car just as the passengers climb in and speed away. They leave behind a large orange teddy bear, remarkably similar to Elvis’ own, named Mabel, supposedly destroyed by a doberman called Barney at an exhibition in Wells, Somerset, UK, in August 2006. The documentary makers believe, however, “that Elvis wanted to have his favourite bear with him as he sensed his life was coming to an end.”
So far the documentary makers have not been able to contact ‘Elvis’ again. They still have the bear.
Suspending copious amounts of disbelief for a brief moment, if Elvis is indeed alive and indeed, residing in this dear country, I wouldn’t be incredibly surprised.
Of course Elvis would pick Argentina. For centuries the country’s accepted the poor, the needy, those seeking refuge. Why not welcome a hip-swivelling, hamburger-guzzling, sideburn-sporting King of Rock n Roll?
El Rey ha muerto: ¿viva el Rey?
