Fans stick it out at Neverland Ranch

Fourteen-year-old Belen Morales still holds on to the hope that there will be a public memorial for Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch.

Belen, her older brother and a friend drove up from Los Angeles' Lincoln Heights in a pickup truck, arriving at Figueroa Mountain Road at 2 a.m. Wednesday. They did not believe media reports that no services or burial will be held at the ranch, and they had decided to stick it out there.

Next to their truck, Belen spray-painted a sign on the back of a piece of torn carpet in red and black that read: "We R Waiting For U Michael."

"We're waiting for him. We're still thinking that they're going to bring him here. We're not expecting him to go to Staples," Belen said this morning, before the news conference in Los Angeles that outlined the plans for Tuesday's memorial.

The three would not budge from their spot outside the ranch gates because they feared losing it to the  media or another spectator. If something Jackson-related occurs, they want to be among the first in line.

Nearby, 22-year-old Jason Osborne of Santa Maria sold white T-Shirts that read: "I paid my respects at Neverland" as dozens of other fans gathered at the ranch gates to pay tribute to the late pop star.

Osborne said he was there to "make a buck of course, but I want to be part of it somehow. Give people something to remember."

Outside the gates, fans continued today to leave posters, flowers and other memorials for Jackson. One message read, "Gone Too Soon." Another showed an image of Jackson, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell and the words: "Follow the second star to the right and straight on till morning" and "Thanks Michael for spreading so much love around the world."

-- Ari B. Bloomekatz in Los Olivos