Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Michael Jackson's body today after last night's spectacular memorial show in Los Angeles's Staples Centre.

Jackson's gold-plated casket was wheeled offstage moments after his 11-year-old daughter Paris – surrounded by the singer's brothers and sisters – bid a tearful farewell to "the best father you could ever imagine".

The family had then been expected to return to the Hollywood Hills to lay the star to rest at the Forest Lawn cemetery, where they had held a private funeral ceremony yesterday morning.

But there was no grand motorcade back into the hills to match the one which brought the coffin to the public show and a death certificate released by city authorities last night described the body's disposition at Forest Lawn as "temporary".

It appeared instead that the body had been spirited away to an undisclosed location for burial elsewhere, although when and where is still unclear.

Some members of Jackson's family have reportedly been pressing for the star's remains to be taken to Neverland, the ranch in the Santa Barbara hills where Jackson lived until his acquittal on child abuse charges in 2005.

Under state laws, bodies cannot be buried outside a designated graveyard without special permission. If that was not forthcoming, Jackson's cremated remains could end up at the ranch if plans are adopted to transform it into a West Coast version of Graceland, the Memphis mansion where Elvis Presley died in 1977 and which lives on as a memorial.

Apart from Jackson's resting place, lawyers are preparing for a possible battle for custody of his three children.

In his will, signed seven years ago yesterday, Jackson made clear that they should remain under the care of his mother, Katherine, or, in the case of his mother's demise, under the care of the Supremes star Diana Ross.

Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of Paris and her 12-year-old brother, Prince Michael, has indicated she may seek custody. The identity of the surrogate mother of Jackson’s youngest child, 7-year-old Prince Michael II, is unknown.

An initial custody hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Investigators are also waiting for the result of toxicology tests before they can determine the official cause of death. The death certificate released last night noted the cause of death as "deferred" and the tests could take several weeks to complete.

An LA coroner confirmed that Jackson's brain, or at least part of it, was still being held by investigators and would not be returned to the family for interment until neuropathology tests are completed – which cannot be done until the brain tissue has hardened sufficiently for it to be examined.

Investigators have honed in on drugs that were administered to the singer. The powerful sedative Diprivan, which is usually administered by anesthesiologists in hospitals, was found in his home and detectives have reportedly interviewed five separate doctors who treated Jackson in recent years.

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