Katherine Jackson’s Attorney ‘Troubled’ by Family Chaos

July 24, 2012 | Filed under: Celebrities | Posted by:

(LA Times) – An attorney for Michael Jackson’s mother said he has been unable to reach Katherine Jackson after her reported disappearance highlighted a simmering family dispute, but said he believes “nothing untoward” has happened to his client.

When asked where the 82-year-old family matriarch is and how she is doing, attorney Perry Sanders said: “We are working today on those two exact issues.”

“I’m hoping this has all been a really big misunderstanding that just got out of control,” he added.

Sanders said he believes his client is “safe in the technical sense of the word” and is with her daughter, Rebbie, but he has not spoken to her.

“I’m troubled because of the chaos that has ensued, but I have faith nothing untoward has happened to her,” Sanders said.

Katherine Jackson was reported missing over the weekend, and although Los Angeles County sheriff’s authorities and members of the Jackson family have said she was out of state with other family members, Paris Jackson — the late Michael Jackson’s 14-year-old daughter — continues to publicly claim she is being kept from her grandmother.

“8 days and counting . something is really off , this isn’t like her at all ..” she tweeted on Monday. “i wanna talk directly to my grandmother!!<|3″

On Tuesday morning, she tweeted again: “9 days and counting… so help me god i will make whoever did this pay.”

Deputies responded to a family disturbance at Katherine Jackson’s Calabasas home on Monday afternoon, but said the incident did not involve Michael Jackson’s three children. Authorities who went to the home determined that a physical altercation had occurred between members of the Jackson family but no arrests were made.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore did not say which adult family members were involved, only that they determined the children were not part of the family fracas.

Meanwhile, deputies continue to investigate allegations from April that Michael Jackson’s mother was being exploited by family members.

Whitmore said a business associate of the family made the accusation. Deputies interviewed Katherine Jackson, who denied the allegation.

The claim was that Katherine Jackson was being “emotionally and financially mistreated by family members,” Whitmore said. “She emphatically denied the allegations, and deputies determined she was in good health.”

Sanders said on Tuesday his client was “absolutely lucid as she can be.”

Sanders said the children were currently under the care of T.J. Jackson, Katherine Jackson’s grandson and Tito Jackson’s son.

T.J. Jackson’s guardianship was a “very temporary situation” that was “appropriate” while Katherine Jackson was away, Sanders said, but he stressed his client would “adamantly” fight any efforts to permanently rescind her guardianship of the children