Bob Cantwell, director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, has announced his retirement, ending a 44-year law enforcement career that brought him into close contact with two of the most famous figures of the 20th century.

Cantwell, who has been CBI director since July 1, 1999, was working for the Denver Police Department in 1976 when he befriended Elvis Presley on a moonlighting job and was given a Cadillac by the singer.

He was one of three officers the singer gave a luxury car.

Cantwell was still with Denver when he was assigned to a security detail for Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa in Estes Park in the late 1980s.

Cantwell worked with the Colorado Department of Corrections before he was named to the CBI post.

He expects to leave the CBI in late May or early June.

"I've grown up with law enforcement," he said this week. "I love it. I just love helping people."

Cantwell, who's turning 65, isn't sure what he will do when he retires.

He's had some job offers, he said, and he's thought about working cold cases or finding a ghost writer to help him write a book about his career.

But he's not worried about what he will do next.

"When God shuts one door, he opens another," said the graduate of Metropolitan State College and the FBI National Academy.

Cantwell's successor will be selected through a competitive process. Peter Weir, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, will make the final selection.

The job pays $11,073 to $11,859 a month.

Posted:  27th. April 2008