Elvis Autopsy Tools Removed From Memorabilia Auction

Valuable items once belonging to rock n’ roll icon Elvis Presley’s are going under the hammer in an auction in Chicago next month, but noticably absent from the sale will be an arsenal of medical instruments allegedly used to perform an autopsy on one of the world’s wealthiest dead celebrities.

Last week, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers made the grisly announcement that rubber gloves, forceps, lip brushes, a comb, eye liner, needle injectors, and a toe tag, all of which were used on Presley ahead of his funeral in 1977, would go on sale Aug. 12. The auctioneers estimated a sale price of up to $14,000.

The instruments were said to have been saved for years by an anonymous, retired embalmer at the Memphis Funeral Home. However, on Friday, a spokeswoman for the auction house, said the instruments had been withdrawn from auction after the funeral operator laid claim to them.

“Due to questions of ownership, the retired embalmer and his son have decided to turn over the property to the Memphis Funeral Home and its parent company, Service Corporation International, with the intention of donation,” Williams said in a statement.

But don’t worry, Elvis fans. There’s still plenty of tried and true Elvis memorabilia for you to get your hands on.

Items still up for grabs at this week’s auction include Presley’s grand white piano, a Triumph TR-6 Convertible, and an address book. The gold-trimmed instrument, kept at the King of Rock and Roll’s Graceland home from 1957 to 1969 is the most sought after belonging up for sale.