Ledger 'to be buried in Australia'

Hollywood star Heath Ledger’s body is expected to be flown home to Australia for burial, reports said today.

Although there are plans for a star-studded memorial service in the US, it is thought his parents and sister, who arrive in New York today, want him to be laid to rest in Perth.

His father Kim Ledger told funeral arrangers: “I just want to be with my son. I will be with my son,” he told funeral home officials in discussing the arrangements, The New York Post reported.

George Amado, the general manager of Manhattan’s Frank E Campbell funeral home, confirmed today that funeral arrangements had been made, but would not reveal any details.

“The family doesn’t want us to give out any information,” he said.

There is speculation that a memorial service for the 28-year-old star, who died in his New York apartment on Tuesday from a possible accidental drug overdose, will be held in Los Angeles.

Ledger’s family placed a death notice today in The West Australian, a newspaper based in Perth, remembering him as “the most amazing ’old soul’ in a young man’s body.”

“As a close knit and very private family we have observed you so determined yet quietly travelling in your self-styled path in life,” said the notice. “Our hearts are broken.”

Meanwhile new details emerged about the chaotic scenes that followed the discovery of Ledger’s body by his masseuse.

Diana Wolozin used his mobile phone to make four calls to the actor’s celebrity friend Mary-Kate Olsen, three of them before she dialled emergency authorities for help.

Police originally said she made two calls to Olsen, seeking help about what to do.

But the revelation of the minutes spent on the phone to Olsen do not have any significant bearing on the police investigation, because authorities believe Ledger was already dead.

Test results due back early next month are expected to show if Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose, after six types of prescription drugs, including pills for anxiety and insomnia, were found in his home.