Kobe Bryant And Daughter Gianna’s Bodies Released To Family

Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant’s bodies have been released by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office to the Bryant family, Us Weekly can confirm.

The remains of the late Los Angeles Lakers legend and his 13-year-old child, who died in a helicopter crash on January 26, were released on Saturday, February 2, after officials determined their identities and official cause of death, which was listed as blunt force trauma.


The NBA All Star, 41, Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56, helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan, 50, and Sarah Chester, 45, were identified through fingerprints on January 28. Gianna, Gianna’s teammate Alyssa Altobelli, 14, her mother, Keri Altobelli, 46, basketball coach Christina Mauser, 38, and family friend Payton Chester, 13, were identified two days later through “round-the-clock testing and analysis of DNA,” the coroner’s office told Us.

All nine victims lost their lives on January 26 when the private helicopter they were traveling in crashed into a Calabasas, California, hillside. The coroner’s office confirmed to Us that all victims’ bodies have been released to their families, except for Altobelli family.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, which an official described as a “high energy impact crash” in a press conference on January 28. A preliminary report from the NTSB will be released in five days.

Bryant and Gianna are survived by his wife and her mother, Vanessa Bryant, and the couple’s daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months.