'Gone with the Wind' Oscar missing from Michael Jackson's estate

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Michael Jackson's prized Oscar statuette, which he purchased at an auction for a record-breaking $1.5 million, is reportedly missing from his estate.

The late singer bought the Oscar, given to David O. Selznick for his 1939 masterpiece Gone with the Wind, at a Sotheby's auction in 1999.

The executors of Jackson's estate told The Hollywood Reporter they expect Jackson would have kept the Oscar, if he did not secretly give it away. They are not certain whether it could have been stolen or misplaced during the hectic period of time following the King of Pop's unexpected death.

"The estate does not know where the Gone With the Wind statuette is," attorney for Jackson's family, Howard Weitzman, told the news outlet. "We would like to have that Oscar because it belongs to Michael's children. I'm hopeful it will turn up at some point."

Beneficiaries of Jackson's estate are his three children, 19-year-old Michael, 17-year-old Paris and 14-year-old Prince, and his mother, Katherine Jackson.

A movie fan, Jackson purchased the statuette for much more money than it was said to be worth, which People notes was about $300,000.

Jackson died unexpectedly in the summer of 2009.