(PEOPLE.com) -- Casey Johnson,
The 30-year-old was pronounced dead Monday morning after being
discovered by Los Angeles, California, police officers.

"The Johnson family wishes to thank everyone who has expressed
condolences and support during this trying time," said family
spokesman Jesse Derris. "Your thoughts and prayers are deeply appreciated.

The socialite's family has arranged for her body to be "flown
back east to her final resting place," Derris said. No other
details were announced.

"The family asks for a measure of privacy over the next several
days as they mourn their loss," Derris said.

Johnson, who made tabloid headlines recently by getting engaged
to reality star Tila Tequila, was found dead Monday in her Los Angeles,
California, home. Johnson had suffered from diabetes since she was a
child and had battled drug problems in the past, though no cause of
death has been determined and police found no obvious signs that she
had taken illegal drugs.

Her family said people can make donations in her memory to the Casey
Johnson Memorial at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
"Casey struggled throughout her life fighting this disease, and
she would want to see all of us continue that fight on her behalf,"
said the family spokesman.

"In bed crying, looking at baby pictures of Casey, Nicky and I.
I feel so upset. I feel like I've lost a sister. My heart is broken.
Miss her," Paris Hilton posted to Twitter.

Nicky Hilton concurred, posting, "Rest in pace Casey Johnson.
I love and miss you so much. You are my best friend,
my sister...I am broken without you."

Johnson is survived by her daughter Ava-Monroe. She adopted
the girl from Kazakhstan in 2007. Ava has been living with Casey's mother,
Sale, for the past several months, according to a family spokesman.

The year before adopting Ava, Johnson told an interviewer she had
recently come back from a trip to poverty-stricken Cambodia with
a new outlook on life.

She allowed the reporter, from Vanity Fair, to visit her two-story
Spanish-style mansion in Los Angeles. That included a room-sized
closet with dozens of pairs of designer shoes, but she admitted
that amid all the luxury she felt like she had so much more than
she would ever need. Still, she said, growing up rich "has its good side."

More recently, after ending a tumultuous relationship with a
boyfriend, Johnson began dating women and was recently romantically
linked to the flamboyant bisexual reality TV star Tila Tequila.

Tequila's publicist said the two were engaged. On her Twitter page,
Tequila wrote late Monday, "Everyone please pray 4 my Wifey Casey Johnson.
She has passed away. Thank u for all ur love and support but
I will be offline to be w family."




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http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/01/05/johnson.heiress.funeral/index.html?section=cnn_latest