Developer sues cleaner over Elvis photo

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 21 (UPI) -- A Florida developer who bought the National Enquirer's Boca Raton headquarters is suing a man he claims stole a famous photo of Elvis Presley from the building.

The picture shows the deceased rock 'n' roll icon lying in his coffin. It appeared on the cover of the tabloid weeks after Presley died in 1977. The issue reportedly sold 6.5 million copies.

The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post said developer David Rustine has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, claiming the grisly photo was stolen by a man he hired to clean the building he bought for $40,000 in 2003, following a 2001 anthrax attack at the Enquirer.

Rustine said he inherited millions of celebrity photos when he bought the Enquirer's headquarters and that the Presley picture was missing when the building reopened in 2007.

The developer said the photo is worth at least $1 million and his lawsuit requests that John Y. Mason, formerly president and chief executive officer of Sabre Technical Services in New York, be forced to surrender it or compensate him for it, the Post said.

In 2004, Sabre and Giuliani Partners formed Bio-One.