INSIDE EDITION reports on the strong reaction over the photo of Whitney Houston lying in her coffin.
INSIDE EDITION is learning more about that shocking photograph of Whitney Houston in her casket that was published on the front page of the National Enquirer.
The photo shows Houston lying serenely in her casket wearing her favorite purple gown.
The cemetery where Houston is buried is closed to the public today and police are guarding her grave. Houston was reportedly not buried with $500,000 worth of jewelry. A source involved in making the funeral arrangements told INSIDE EDITION that all of the jewels were removed from Houston's body before burial.
Gayle King expressed revulsion at the National Enquirer front page on CBS this morning.
"I just think, Erica, that it's disgraceful. But the bigger question is where did it come from? Who took the picture and who gave it to the National Enquirer? Utterly outrageous!" King said.
The chilling photo was taken at the Whigham funeral home in Newark, New Jersey. It appears to have been shot with a cell phone camera when the viewing room was empty.
Private investigator Pat Brosnan, an expert in hidden photography, sat down with INSIDE EDITION to tell us what he could about the photos.
"It looks like it was covertly taken within 3 to 8 feet of the casket, and it was either taken by an iPhone type device or it could've been taken by a hidden camera. It could be a button on a shirt, or any device, even an earring," Brosnan said.
Security was tight at the private-invitation only viewing last Friday, and family members and friends of Houston were not asked to hand over cell phones.
A private investigation is underway into who took and sold the controversial photo. Sources tell INSIDE EDITION that workers at the funeral home where Houston's body lay have been ruled out, and investigators are focusing on someone close to the family.
We've also learned surveillance cameras inside the funeral home, which might have revealed whoever took the pictures, were turned off at the request of the family for the entire time Houston's body was there.
