In rainy downtown L.A., a memorial for Michael Blosil
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Los Angeles faced microbursts of rain and flash flood warnings on Saturday, the day after Michael Blosil, the son of Marie Osmond and her ex-husband Brian Blosil, took his own life downtown.
Non-Angelenos reading this might not realize the degree to which heavy rain shuts down this city -- still, shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, a tiny memorial could be found on the sidewalk outside the Met apartment building on South Flower Street where Blosil lived.
A couple of passers-by commented quietly to one another -- ‘Is that ... ?’ ‘Yeah, it is’ -- and walked briskly on their way.
The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, where Blosil was a student and where Season 6 of ‘Project Runway’ was filmed, is on South Grand Avenue about two blocks east of the Met. Students gathered in the Met lobby Friday night, and ‘everyone was in shock,†FIDM student Tammy Nguyen told The Times. Blosil lived on the eighth floor. An autopsy on Michael’s body will probably be conducted Sunday, and an LAPD investigation into the death is underway. Friends and roommates who talked to police said Michael, who’d gone into rehab for undisclosed reasons when he was 16, was clean and sober around the time of his death, according to TMZ.
A call that someone had fallen from the building came in to 911 at 9:24 p.m. Friday night; KTLA reported that the 900 block of Flower was shut down for a period.
Marie Osmond has indefinitely canceled her show with brother Donny Osmond at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, E! Online reports. Blosil had lived with his mother in Las Vegas and finished up his senior year of high school there before coming to L.A. for further schooling at FIDM.
In March 2009, Marie told People: ‘I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s got a 3.9 GPA in high school. He’s looking at scholarships to some wonderful colleges.’
The Ministry’s thoughts are with Michael’s parents, family and friends.
-- Christie D’Zurilla
A related dispatch from the Ministry of Gossip (which despite its name aims to respectfully report celebrity-related passings):
Marie Osmond’s son Michael Blosil commits suicide in L.A.
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