Stolen Elvis gun found in toilet

Around 75,000 Elvis fans attended the candlelight vigil

A handgun stolen from a Memphis museum dedicated to the singer Elvis Presley has been found - in a portable toilet.

Janitor Travis Brookins found the gun - once owned by Elvis - while cleaning the toilet outside the museum.

The pistol was taken from a display case in the Elvis After Dark museum in Graceland as fans marked the 30th anniversary of his death last week.

Thousands of fans held a candlelight vigil at Elvis's Graceland mansion and queued for hours to visit his grave.

Caught on tape

Mr Brookins first thought the gun was a toy, police told the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper.

He pulled the black 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun out of the toilet and took it home to clean it, unaware of its significance until he saw news reports about the theft.

"He called us and said he thinks he had the gun and brought it to us," Memphis police Lt Jerry Gwyn said.

Lt Gwyn said the thief may have accidentally dropped the gun into the toilet.

"Of course, whoever dropped it wouldn't go in there," he said.

The theft was discovered on Friday when a visitor to the museum noticed a glass panel on the case was unfastened, and Graceland officials checked the security camera footage.

A video camera had caught a man removing the gun from the display case.

The singer, otherwise known as "The King", died of a heart attack on 16 August 1977, aged 42. He is buried in a small garden beside the house at Graceland.