A college friend was at a flea market in the early 90s, at a used book stall. The bookseller was talking to a young woman who was looking at a collection of Jim Morrison’s poems. “Pity he died so young,” the vendor said. The woman shouted, “JIM MORRISON IS NOT DEAD! SOMEDAY HE’S GOING TO WALK OUT OF THE SEA AND TAKE ME AWAY!” And then she burst into tears and fled.
My friend and the bookseller were just left staring at each other in shock and surprise.
There was a conspiracy theory about Andy Kaufman faking his death and still being alive. This one seemed a little more plausible than similar theories about other celebrities.
Kaufman was known for going to extreme lengths to carry out an act he saw as a joke.
Kaufman had discussed the possibility of faking his own death before his actual death.
Friends of Kaufman said he was faking his own death and was planning on reappearing.
Faking one’s death, living in obscurity, and remaining so secretive as to defy discovery isn’t a fun way to live one’s life. There needs to be a compelling reason to do so. Was he wanted by law enforcement? No. Was he being tormented by a hellish home life? No. Were his finances in such a state as to warrant such an action? No. The idea just doesn’t make sense to me. What makes sense is that people want to immortalize their heroes. The, “(s)he isn’t really dead”, mantra has been used many times.
Not to mention the fact that if more than two people are in on a secret, it’s not going to remain a secret for long. This is the problem with all conspiracy theories. People actually think that a large number of people can keep quiet about anything. Even non-famous people who have been very good at hiding themselves have eventually been found out. So unless he was in the witness protection program and underwent some serious plastic surgery, Elvis is as dead as disco.
Is it still a thing? I kinda think the “Elvis is alive” CT as a relic of more innocent time. I kinda feel the people who believed that have moved on to more bonkers modern conspiracy theories?
Maybe they think he survived until he was murdered by president Obama and Hilary Clinton when he was threatening to uncover their child cannibalism ring 
Now, I don’t believe he is alive, or even "recently deceased (after years of living in seclusion) " but I can come up with a reason to want to escape it all. When you are at the top of fame, it can be a burden. Everybody wants something, no one leaves you alone. Leaving that all behind could be seen as a fantasy escape plan. Maybe Elvis said “I don’t need the money, I’m just gong to live simple”, and he went and became a long haul truck driver. You see a guy at a truck stop that looks like Elvis, and you’re not gonna say, “Look! It’s Elvis!”, no, you’re gonna say, “gee that driver thinks he’s Elvis! pathetic!”
Found him! His life as an Arkansas preacher has been kinder to the body than the Vegas buffet spreads.
I haven’t given up on Judge Crater. His family had long livers.
Sounds like a job for March of Dimes.
I feel it’s more a passage of time issue rather than any loss of innocence.
Presley died in 1977. People’s memories of him have faded and with that, any intense feelings over his death have faded as well.
Wiki has an article on faked deaths. Compelling reasons apparently ballooned during the 1800s as the life insurance business grew. Escaping the long hand of the law is another popular motive. Wiki has a list of people who faked their own deaths: I didn’t spot a good match for the Elvis hypothesis, but I didn’t look very hard.
Bonus: List_of_people_who_disappeared_mysteriously_at_sea.
Combing through the missing persons reports, few are voluntary. Most adult cases are murders, kidnappings, or governmental disappearances. Some have mental health breaks for a few days.
As for exceptions, this guy disappeared for 5 months, possibly as a publicity stunt, possibly as an art project. This guy self-exiled himself as a political protest. This Olympian left a note in his room saying he wanted to start a new life. He was located in 2 days. Disappearing isn’t easy. This person faked their own death and that of their 7 year old child. They were found after a 12 day disappearance.
Theophilus London was a rapper who was missing for 2 and a half months before his family located him. Details are sparse.
All in all, these stories are pretty grim. Elvis was wise to hook up with some sympathetic alien space creatures.
Some people also believed that about Jesse James. DNA testing blew that to smithereens a few years ago.
I’ve heard similar stories about Jim Morrison, who would now be in his 80s himself if he was still with us.
I thought Elvis had a thing for Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Well, it’s not a successful “faking your own death” if there is any evidence of it. There is no way to tell how common it is.
I thought about that. We have a sample of people who tried to fake their death and failed to do so. Presumably some succeeded. What I couldn’t locate was someone faking their death for reasons other than fraud, escaping the law, or a number of fairly grim issues including mental health. Also, it’s gotten more difficult over time to simply disappear.
Sure, it’s possible that Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, and James Dean all faked their deaths and were wildly successful at it. But one would think that there would be some example of someone who did so for sane and non-desperate reasons, but was caught out.
I tried to find a good parallel to Elvis or Jim Morrison. I could not. I would like to. Maybe someone else can - I only looked at one wiki page of missing persons in detail, and I only skimmed the faked death examples.
Those pushing the Jim Morrison story point to the poet Aurthur Rimbaud, who stopped writing poetry at age 20 and became an international merchant and explorer. But… Rimbaud never faked his death. Maybe the true examples involve those who dropped out of the public light and now live in relative obscurity, like Bill Watterson, the cartoonist who penned Calvin and Hobbes.
But would you know Watterson if you saw him in the grocery store? I think he looks (looked?) like Calvin’s father, but there’s a lot of people who kinda look like that. Everyone alive at the time knew what Elvis looked like; same for Marilyn, Bogart, and Dean; a whole helova lot knew what Morrison looked like. Much harder to escape into oblivion.
Ok, but faking your death raises your public profile and prompts investigation by the authorities. Moving to another country seems like a better plan. There’s also the whole upsetting your loved ones thing to consider.
Buzzfeed has a list of actors who retired early. It can be done.
Except people knew these iconic images they created for themselves, like trademarks. I think if they changed their styles (hair, clothes, makeup, and so on) they’d be difficult to recognize.
He’s sunning himself on the beach in Acapulco, with Lord Lucan and Princess Di.