Michael Jackson's tomb remains in mystery at LA-area cemetery

Michael Jackson's tomb remains in mystery at LA-area cemetery

The massive marble and concrete Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was slightly accessible by the public before Michael Jackson was buried somewhere in its maze of floors and hallways.

No fans, no paparazzi, and so far no one trying too hard to steal a glimpse of the vault containing Jackson's golden casket.

The exact location might forever remain unknown to all but a select few: A guest who attended the Jackson ceremony told a famous news agency that the casket had not been put into the vault by the time mourners left.

The guest spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the day.

The funeral started on Thursday night nearly two hours after its scheduled 7 p.m. time. Some 200 mourners, including 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and other celebrities associated with Jackson, showed up promptly, only to wait at the outdoor seating area, under a withering late-summer sun that pushed temperatures to 90 degrees even as it was going down.

The ceremony began with remarks and song after the family arrived to fill the front five rows of white folding chairs.

More than four hundred media credentials were issued to reporters and film crews who were kept behind barricades. The few clusters of fans who gathered around the secure perimeter encircling the cemetery entrance struggled to see.

Glendale police said all went smoothly and there were no arrests.

Michael Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in the Great Mausoleum. The level of security and secrecy about the location of Jackson's vault all but guaranteed it won't be turned into a shrine or tourist stop.

The entombment also ends months of speculation that the singer's body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction.

Michael Jackson passed away on June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. The coroner's office has labeled the death a homicide, and Jackson's death certificate lists "injection by another" as the cause.