eBay bidder fails to pay $4.6 mln for tomb over Marilyn Monroe's

MOSCOW. August 26. KAZINFORM A new potential buyer for the crypt above Marilyn Monroe's is being searched for as the $4.6 million winning bid on eBay has been withdrawn, the Los Angeles Times said on Tuesday, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

Elsie Poncher said she needed to sell her husband's final resting place to pay off the more than $1-million mortgage on her Beverly Hills house.

The bidding for the crypt at the Westwood Village cemetery started at $500,000 on August 14, topped $4.5 million on August 17 and ended on Monday with a winning bid of $4,602,100. The winning bidder from Japan later withdrew from the auction because of a payment problem.

Bidders who offered at least $4.5 million now have 24 hours to make another offer. If no buyer is found, the crypt will be removed from the auction.

Richard Poncher, an entrepreneur and the owner of several companies, bought two crypts from Monroe's former husband Joe DiMaggio when the couple was divorcing in 1954 - the crypt where he is currently entombed and the one next to it. He later told his wife "If I croak, if you don't put me upside down over Marilyn, I'll haunt you the rest of my life", Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.