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July 8, 2009

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Michael Jackson's body left the Staples Center in Los Angeles in a funeral motorcade Tuesday after a star-studded public memorial service for the singer, but it wasn't immediately clear where the King of Pop's body was headed.

Los Angeles police told FOX News that the hearse carrying Jackson's golden casket would be taken to a cemetery, but it appears unlikely that the cemetery will be Forest Lawn Memorial Park, as was originally expected.

FOX News obtained a copy of Jackson's death certificate, dated Tuesday, which names Forest Lawn for temporary use. The family

held a private service there before the casket was taken to the Staples Center, but Los Angeles Officer April Harding said Jackson's body will not be returning there.

"Deferred" is typed in the space on the death certificate for "cause of death," since authorities are waiting for the results of additional forensic tests before reaching their conclusion. The certificate is signed by Los Angeles County Health Officer Jonathan Fielding. Other information has been redacted.

Click here to view death certificate.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press that Jackson's brain, or at least part of it, was still being held by investigators and would be returned to the family for interment once neuropathology tests were completed.

"As soon as we are done with the brain, we will return it," Winter said. "There is a whole series of tests that will be done."

It is not uncommon for the coroner to hold on to a brain or samples from it. Winter said families sometimes delay burying a loved one until after the brain has been returned, but he had received no word from the Jackson family about their intentions.

"The last I heard, they are not burying the body yet," Winter said.

Police and coroner's officials continue to probe what killed the 50-year-old singer on June 25.

PHOTOS: Click here for scenes from the Michael Jackson memorial. FoxNews reporting.

 
 
 

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