Dave Dave, Whose Father Set Him On Fire In 1983, Dies At 42

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Dave Dave, who was badly scarred at the age of 6 when his father tried to burn him to death, has died. He was 42.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg says Dave died on July 15 at a Las Vegas hospital. The cause of death is under investigation.

Dave was a respected Las Vegas artist and a close friend of Michael Jackson. Jackson met him after the boy, then known as David Rothenberg, survived a 1983 attack that left him with burns over 90 percent of his body.

His father lit the boy's kerosene-soaked bed at a Southern California motel during a bitter custody battle.

A family friend, Mike Watkiss, tells the Orange County Register that despite his past, Dave had a rich life full of caring and creativity.