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Michael Jackson's Oscar statuette is missing

Los Angeles - Michael Jackson's Gone With the Wind Oscar is missing.

The late King of Pop bought the 1940 Best Picture statuette for $1.54m - considerably more than its $300 000 worth - at an auction in 1999, but executors of his estate are now unable to find the trophy.

Lawyer Howard Weitzman told The Hollywood Reporter: "The estate does not know where the Gone With the Wind statuette is.

"We would like to have that Oscar because it belongs to Michael's children. I'm hopeful it will turn up at some point."

It is unclear whether the Billie Jean hitmaker kept the Oscar - which was awarded to legendary producer David O. Selznick - at his Neverland estate in California, the Los Angeles home he shared with children Prince Michael, 19, Paris, 17, and Blanket, 14, when he died, or even at a storage facility.

According to the terms of the late star's 2002 will, Michael's children and his mother Katherine Jackson were named beneficiaries of the trust he established and left all his assets.

Michael's famous Neverland ranch recently went up for sale for $100m.

Colony Capital is offloading Sycamore Valley Ranch in Los Olivos, California and the Michael Jackson Estate could be in line for some of the profit if and when it sells.

In November 2008, Michael transferred the title of Neverland to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC - a joint venture between him and a Colony affiliate.

The Beat It hitmaker purchased the ranch - which was named after the fantasy island which features in Peter Pan, a book series by novelist J. M. Barrie - for $19.5m in 1987.

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