CNN says public viewing planned

[JazmyneDraven]

I just popped on to CNN and these words were at the top of the page:

Michael Jackson's body will be taken to Neverland Ranch in California for a public viewing on Friday, CNN has learned.

Not a full story yet, it's still developing it seems...

Oop here's the story now...





LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's body will return to his Neverland Ranch on Thursday morning for a public viewing on Friday, CNN has learned.
Michael Jackson, shown at a rehearsal June 23 -- one of his last -- was to perform in London in July.



A private memorial service is scheduled for Sunday.

Also, a Jackson will, written in 2002, has been located, according to Jackson family lawyer Londell McMillan.

The question of where Jackson will be buried remains unanswered.

The singer's hometown of Gary, Indiana, is asking the family to send him there, according to the mayor's spokeswoman.

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay has been in contact with the Jackson family hoping to make that happen, spokeswoman Lalosa Burns said Tuesday.

Clay told Chicago radio station WGN that he expects Jackson's body will, at the least, be taken to Gary for a memorial service he is planning for next week.

"I believe that his body will lie in state in Gary, Indiana," Clay said Tuesday. "Now, it may not happen, but I believe it will." Video Watch the latest twists in the Jackson story »

The Jackson memorial service is set for July 10 at U.S. Steel Works ballpark in Gary, Burns said.

It would be "a memorial that's fit for the prince of peace and a memorial that's fit for Gary, Indiana's favorite son, the greatest entertainer that ever lived," Clay said.

A burial site for the singer could be near a proposed Jackson family museum and a performing arts center, Burns said.
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"The mayor had spoken with a contact of the Jackson family and expressed our interest in having that to be a part of the history of this great family," Burns said. "We have not received confirmation on that."

Jackson's father, Joe, visited the city last year and talked with Clay about a Jackson museum, Burns said.

 

[pamarella]

Thanks!.... Gosh!! this is really beginning to hit me like a ton of bricks.

 

[MichaelYoureAStud]

If they can have the viewing at Neverland, I think he should stay there. That's where all his happiest memories from a better time were at.

 

[Travis]

I have mixed feelings about this. I think I'd rather remember Michael as he was, alive with a smile that warmed the earth.

 

[prismsagainst5live]

ahhh i feel really uncomfortable with the idea of michael's body being displayed like an exhibit....feels so commericial...

 

[Lily]

I don't know if I can stomach a viewing I feel physically ill right now just thinking about it. :mello:

 

[TialovesMJ]

Who is going to go to the public viewing on Fri?

 

[Staffordshire Bullterrier]

Why would the jackson family do this?

 

[yaazgurl]

What's the address to Neverland so that I can make arrangements to be there.

 

[Lily]

Who is going to go to the public viewing on Fri?

Although it's a short drive for me down the coast, I'm not sure I can handle it.

 

[GenieBottle]

This is for real right??

So its gonna be friday at NL...

 

[MichaelYoureAStud]

I really wish I could go to show my support. I went to my Grandma's a few yrs back. It's hard, but we need to say good bye. I know it's a viewing, but you don't have to look at our Michael like that if you go. Just stay at the back.

 

[MJstarlight]

I cant bear it

 

[TialovesMJ]

I wish i could go... But i don't know my way around Cali at all ...

 

[terrell]

I am getting sick. Lord have mercy, this is coming to an end. I just does not seem real.

 

[Mikejoefan]

Who is going to go to the public viewing on Fri?

i really want to go! BADLY

 

[mjbunny]

I don't feel comfortable inside with these plans. Ugh, I feel terrible. The public thing... like on display. My husband wanted that, to see him like they did with James Brown, but I don't think I can handle it. And then at the same time I had this horrible realization as I read it that it's the only chance to see "him" ever, ever again. We were supposed to see him this summer. God, this is awful. I can't go (still waiting for residence permit renewal & can't leave Germany, don't have the money to fly to L.A., just don't... and now I want to, but I don't want to see him without his soul, as just his body, lying there... it will break my heart, but... I still want to, oh God)

...and then... and then... what? Is there a memorial service, where we can hear eulogies and all cry together (in person or on tv), something official then... in Gary? Gary doesn't feel right to me. God. I don't know know how to feel right now. I actually feel kind of sick. Really physically sick. I dreamt all last night, this horrible half-asleep state about funeral arrangements and all this talk and I kept waking up feeling distraught, like the energy of what was being planned was all wrong. I don't know what to think, feel or do.

 

[GenieBottle]

I feel sick, i must be there though...i hope they have medics at the funeral

People might just pass out or get ill

 

[Saghs]

ha the family issued an official statement regarding the funeral/public viewing?

if not, i think they definitely will. let's wait for it

 

[PlatinumMJFan]

I hope Michael is put in Neverland, its a place that he created for himself

 

[Trennyboo]

I think I need to see him sleeping comfortably at peace because the last image I saw splashed across the TV screan was of him in the ambulance is stuck in my head. My only brother passed away last year and I was there when he took his last breath and it bothered me for days untill the funeral when I saw him finally out of pain and sleeping in peace. I neede to have a proper goodbuy.


I love you Johnny "bother"
I love you Michael "hero"

 

[Izzy_LovesMJ]

I hope he will be buried at Neverland

 

[elusive moonwalker]

i doubt mj would want this. ppl staring at him the media will love it. i guess we have to wait on an offical statement . how the heck are fans supp to get there intime it mean flying out either tom or thursday. hoping they announce /denie this asap

this orignally comes from TMZ

 

[mjbunny]

I wish i could go... But i don't know my way around Cali at all ...

Get a map. Hook up with others there. I wish I was in Arizona. I'd go with you. I wish I could go.

 

[ThankyouMichael]

Sorry, I posted this in the other thread.
Is the Memorial on July 10th for the public? And for us fans from overseas, is that the one to go to?

 

[pamarella]

I hope he will be buried at Neverland

I hope so too. But they are saying that the people who live in that area don't want Neverland to be a tourist attraction because it will bring too much traffic. I hope the state of California thinks hard on this, because it would generate millions of dollars for the state that is in debt big time.

 

[starone_angel]

So this is real? Michael is... Noooo.....no way... I can't believe it! I can't bear it! My angel is gone!

 

[TialovesMJ]

Get a map. Hook up with others there. I wish I was in Arizona. I'd go with you. I wish I could go.

I need to find other fans who live in Az to go with first.. I wish you lived in Az too!!

 

[platinumpapi]

thats what im saying, they need to release clear details i advance so us fans can organize, book flight hotel, transportation.....

 

[mjbunny]

I hope he will be buried at Neverland

Joe said yesterday in his latest plug-my-record-company talk with the press (sorry, he's just pissing me off) that Michael will NOT be buried at Neverland. Saw it on CNN. God, Gary just doesn't feel right! I feel so upset right now.uke: