The Strangest Heist in Music History: Gram Parson's Body

In 1973, the singer, songwriter, and musician Gram Parsons (a one-time member of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers) passed away in Joshua Tree at the age of 26. What followed is one of the weirdest stories in rock music history. Gram Parsons' eccentric manager, Phil Kaufman, decided to fulfill an old promise that he had apparently made Gram: that he would cremate him in the national park upon his death, scattering his ashes in Joshua Tree. The only problem is that nobody else knew about that promise and there were plans in place to ship Gram's body to Louisiana so his stepdad could exploit the Napoleonic Code to inherit Gram's fruit fortune. So Phil Kaufman set out to kidnap his friend's dead body and drive it to Joshua Tree in a run-down hearse. Sounds like a situation where absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Sources:
https://www.loudersound.com/features/...
https://web.archive.org/web/199904201...
https://www.desertusa.com/dusablog/th...
https://www.verylocal.com/gram-parson...
https://www.newspapers.com/article/st...