Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412210044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Aitcheson created an international stir in September when he held a news conference at Smith Mountain Lake to release a report by the mysterious Presley Commission. The commission claimed that Elvis Presley didn't die in 1977, but instead faked his death to protect himself and his family from mob death threats stemming from his work as a secret government agent.
Outlandish, yes, but if Aitcheson proved nothing else, he at least showed that Elvis is always big news.
How many other local stories this year generated as much interest?
The Virginia Senate race?
Forget it.
Last winter's ice storms?
We're talking about the king of rock 'n' roll here.
Aitcheson's news conference was covered by The Associated Press, and picked up by newspapers and radio stations all across the country and overseas.
Aitcheson, director of the Presley Commission, gave nearly 50 radio interviews in the weeks afterward, some from as far away as New Zealand and Guam. (Do you think Guam cared about our ice storms?) Even the stodgy BBC gave Aitcheson a ring.
But, alas, no Elvis.
Aitcheson had hoped the publicity would convince Elvis it was safe to resurface, that the mob was no longer a threat. He's still hoping.
Elvis has yet to turn up officially.
"At least I'm not aware of it. But I am aware that he is aware of the report. What's going to happen remains to be seen," Aitcheson said in a recent follow-up interview.
"I was told we made the man proud."
Aitcheson said he learned this from "sources inside the circle of insiders who are aware of his presence."
Aitcheson will not name those sources, just as he won't identify the members of the Presley Commission, which he describes only as an independent group of self-appointed "armchair detectives."
However, he said commission surveillance at an Elvis tribute concert in Memphis in October turned up evidence that Elvis himself may have attended the show covertly.
"We're not so sure he wasn't there. At one point, the spotlight stopped on Priscilla, Lisa Marie and Michael sitting in the audience, and someone in the darkness reached from behind and put their arms around all three of them. We don't know who that was, but we don't think anybody would do that other than you-know-who."
Reports of the commission's findings were sent to Graceland and the White House. Neither issued a response, but Aitcheson also pointed out: "No one has disputed the report to date."
He did receive a personal note, though, from Tipper Gore, the wife of Vice President Al Gore.
"I have reviewed 'The Elvis Presley Report' you were so kind to enclose and found it very interesting," she wrote without further comment.
As for the commission, it will be disbanded now that the report is out. But Aitcheson said the commission will be replaced by a liaison committee called Search Consultants Unlimited that will continue to push for the release of government documents related to the case. He said he will not act as the new committee's chairman, but he will serve as an adviser.
Meanwhile, Aitcheson continues to work as a truck freight broker from his Moneta home. He also has started a graphic design and business services company.
The Elvis file remains open.
Long live the king.
by CNB