Authorities Recover Long-Missing Statue of Jim Morrison

Authorities in France have found a long-missing statue of Doors frontman Jim Morrison, which was stolen from his grave in 1988, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

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The statue was moulded by Croatian artist Mladen Mikulin and placed upon his grave at Paris’s Père Lachaise cemetery in 1981 to commemorate 10 years since Morrison’s passing. The famed singer was found dead in 1971 in the bathtub of his Paris apartment at age 27. Though Morrison was a known drug user, no autopsy was performed after his death, and the official cause remains unknown. The New York Times reported that French investigators speculated Morrison died of a heart attack “possibly aggravated by excessive drinking.”

On Monday, May 19, officers working with the financial and anti-corruption department within Paris’s judicial police department located the statue during an unrelated search pertaining to a fraud case, bringing an end to the 37-year mystery. It has since been placed back at Morrison’s gravesite.

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A representative for Morrison’s estate told Rolling Stone that the family was "happy to hear the news" that a "piece of history" had been returned to its rightful spot. “It's gratifying to see that it's been recovered,” he added.

Morrison’s grave has long been a congregation spot for fans of the singer. His resting spot is located in a nook within Pére Lachaise known as Poet’s Corner, where Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, and other famous artists are interred. Fans have come far and wide to pay their respects to Morrison in vastly untraditional ways, such as graffitiing his grave and those of his neighbors.

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