Jim Morrison's stolen grave memorial found
Jim Morrison's grave memorial bust was stolen in 1988, but now French police have recovered it during a fraud investigation by the police's financial and anti-corruption department.
A stolen memorial bust of Jim Morrison has been found.
Thieves nabbed the statue that adorned the grave of The Doors frontman - who died from heart failure brought on by alcoholism at the age of 27 in Paris, France, in 1971 - in 1988, and now French police have tracked it down in the country's capital city in a fraud investigation by the police's financial and anti-corruption department that was unrelated to the original theft.
The Direction de la Police Judiciaire de la Préfecture de Police posted a statement on its Instagram account on May 17, which said: "After 37 years of absence, the bust of Jim Morrison, stolen in 1988 from the Pere Lachaise cemetery, has been found!
"During an investigation conducted by the Financial and Anti-Corruption Brigade of the Directorate of Judicial Police of the Prefecture of Police, under the authority of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office, this iconic symbol for the singer's fans was recovered."
Despite the statue now having been recovered, it is not clear when it will return to Jim's grave in the Pere Lachaise cemetery - which is also home to the final resting place of Oscar Wilde.
The cemetery's curator told Le Figaro: "The police haven't contacted us, so I don't know whether the bust will be returned to us."
The force released an image of the found memorial bust - which was hand-carved by Mladen Mikulin in 1981 to mark the 10th anniversary of The Lizard King Jim's passing - with its nose and mouth missing, as it was when the bust was stolen, as well as it being covered in graffiti.
It is not clear who stole Jim's statue back in 1988, but the Morrison estate are "happy to hear the news" that it has been found.
A spokesman for the Morrison estate added to Rolling Stone: "Obviously it’s a piece of history, and one Jim’s family wanted there on his grave, so it’s gratifying to see that it’s been recovered."
Jim died in 1971 at the age of 27, with his cause of death officially being registered as heart failure.
He was found in the bathtub in his Paris apartment when he and his bandmates, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore, were recording The Doors' seventh album 'Other Voices'.
