Hugh Hefner says decision to bury Anna Nicole Smith in the Bahamas was 'the right one'

LOS ANGELES -- Hugh Hefner says he believes Anna Nicole Smith -- a Playboy Playmate in 1992 -- wanted to be buried in the Bahamas next to her late son, Daniel.

A judge in Florida, where Smith died this month, awarded custody of her remains to a court-appointed lawyer for Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, and urged that burial be in the Bahamas. The lawyer then announced that the Bahamas would be Smith's final resting place.

"I think she was a dear person," Hefner, the founder of Playboy, told reporters Thursday at an event to announce the lineup of the annual Playboy Jazz Festival. His comments were broadcast by KCBS-TV.

"We miss her and I think probably that decision was the right one. I think she wanted to be there with her boy, with her son," the 80-year-old Hefner said.

A hearing in Fort Lauderdale ended Thursday with a decision to bury Smith at a Nassau cemetery beside her son, who died last year while visiting her days after she gave birth to Dannielynn.

Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, wanted to bury Smith in her native Texas.