Elvis fan and occasional impersonator of The King, Duke Adams, discusses how he helped police recover more than $300,000 of Presley's former possessions stolen last year from the Elvis-A-Rama Museum. Photo by Craig L. Moran. Eliab Aguilar Charged with breaking into the Elvis museum and stealing the jewelry

He wears oversize gold-framed glasses. He has a jet- black pompadour and burly sideburns. Gold medallions dangle from his neck, and gold rings flash on his fingers.

Even in Las Vegas, Duke Adams stands out.

The Elvis Presley look-alike's appearance usually brings smiles and hugs. Last week, however, it brought him a proposition that helped Las Vegas police find a cache of The King's stolen jewelry.

The jewelry went missing in March 2004, when a thief broke into the Elvis-A-Rama Museum near the Strip and stole more than $300,000 in jewels that once belonged to Presley, including his high school ring and a gold-plated pistol.

The case was cold -- until Adams went to the pharmacy last week.

Adams, 62, was leaving the pharmacy when a man asked him if he wanted to buy some genuine Presley jewelry. Adams, an avid Elvis memorabilia collector and occasional impersonator, declined at first, but as the persistent man described the pieces, Adams made a connection.

"Then it clicked -- Elvis-A-Rama. The thought just clicked. Boom," Adams said Wednesday at his employment agency office, just around the corner from the Las Vegas Hilton, which hosted Presley's late career comeback.

The museum burglary made international news. The thief used a stolen tow truck to open a rear door. Once inside, the thief smashed three glass display cases and snatched some of the museum's most prized possessions. The total loot was estimated at more than $300,000, and it would have been higher had the thief taken a pair of blue suede shoes in one of the displays.

The collection belonged to Chris Davidson, who co-owned the museum and has since sold the tourist attraction.

Once Adams made the connection, he gave the man his business card and told him to stop by his office the next day.

The next morning, Adams talked to Detective Kelli Hickle, a property crimes investigator who had been on the case since the beginning. She told him to call her if the man showed up.

That afternoon he did.

Adams called police, then took the man into his office. Sitting at a cramped table in a back room, the man opened his canvas bag and laid out the loot on the table, Adams said.

Adams knew police were on the way and stalled. The man told him he was buying a house and would sell all the pieces for $80,000, Adams said.

At one point, the man asked about a job. Adams had an assistant get an application form.

Before the man could fill it out, two police officers showed up and arrested him, Adams said.

The man seemed shocked, but he never said a word, Adams said.

"He just must've known he was caught," Adams said.

The man, Eliab Aguilar, was charged with breaking into the museum, stealing a tow truck and stealing the jewelry.

Hickle said she couldn't believe that all the stolen goods turned up in one place. The only item missing was a $700 scarf with the Las Vegas Hilton logo on it.

"I know a lot of Elvis fans who are going to be happy," Hickle said. "I heard from a lot of them, and they were heartbroken."

Adams said that he was glad to do his part and that the episode had left him a changed man. After his wife of 21 years, Elaine, died in June, Adams struggled through life, he said. But since the encounter at the pharmacy, he said, he's been overcome with a sense of calm and peace he hasn't felt since before his wife's death.

"I just believe my wife, God and Elvis have got their hands in this," Adams said. "They set me up to do the right thing."