Michael Jackson's closest family viewed him in open coffin
Michael Jackson's family and closest friends viewed the superstar in his open coffin the night before his star-studded funeral
"He looked like himself. He looked like he just was laying there sleeping," says Jackson's cousin David Fossett. "He looked peaceful."
Fossett, 50, says relatives gathered around the casket, "talked to each other and cried" during the viewing at Forest Lawn on Monday night.
Jackson's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, were not among those gathered, but mourners mourners went back to the Jackson home in Encino, California, after the viewing.
"It was a somber mood," Fossett says. "Though he's this big entertainer, he's still our family."
Fossett, who still lives in Jackson's hometown of Gary, Indiana, says he and some other relatives stayed the night at the Jackson home.
He said that the next morning, the family formed the convoy to the 40-minute private service.
About 70 relatives gathered at Forest Lawn, where Jackson's cousin Wendell Hawkins conducted a Jehovah's Witness service, according to Fossett and another cousin, Myron Hawkins.
Jackson's three children, Paris, 11, Prince Michael, 12, and Prince Michael II, seven, were crying during the service. "They lost their father," Fossett says. "They were sad."
But the kids were comforting each other, holding each other's hands and hugging.
During the service, Jackson's elaborate, gold casket was closed, with a spray of flowers on top.
