Jenni Rivera's remains returned to US after crash
By Associated Press
Dec 14, 2012 8:49 AM CST
Jenni Rivera's remains returned to US after crash
FILE - In this March 8, 2012, file photo, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera speaks during an interview in Los Angeles. The remains of Mexican-American music star Jenni Rivera, who died in a plane crash in Mexico on Sunday, were headed back to the United States after being identified...   (Associated Press)

Jenni Rivera, the Mexican superstar killed in a weekend plane crash, has made her final journey home.

The remains of the U.S.-born singer arrived by plane in California from Mexico on Thursday night, accompanied by three of Rivera's brothers.

Rivera and six others were killed Sunday when their plane crashed while flying from Monterrey in northern Mexico to the central city of Toluca. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Results of DNA tests were pending, but her family conceded that Rivera was dead.

"We have received 100 percent confirmation that my sister Jenni is gone to be with the Lord," a brother, Pedro Rivera Jr., said during a news conference. "She is in the presence of God now. They did show pictures to my brothers of the body; it is not the full body."

Escorted by police, her casket was driven to a mortuary, where dozens of fans waited. Other fans gathered outside her mother's home, where well-wishers left a memorial of balloons, candles and flowers.

Rivera, 43, was perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, and had branched out into acting and reality television. Known as the "Diva del la Banda," she sold 15 million records and was loved on both sides of the border for her down-to-earth style and songs about heartbreak and overcoming pain.

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