Kobe Bryant Dead: 2 More Victims Confirmed By Family Member in Helicopter Crash

Two more victims of the helicopter crash that involved Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant have been identified. Keri Altobelli, the wife of Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, and their daughter Alyssa Altobelli, were in the helicopter when it crashed on Sunday morning with the coach. Bryant’s daughter, Gianna Bryant, 13, also died in the crash.

John Altobelli’s brother, Tony Altobelli, told CNN the baseball coach, his wife and their daughter were among the victims. OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa said Alyssa and Gianna are teammates and they were heading to the Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks, California.

“It was something John routinely did, flying up with Kobe to attend games with his daughter,” La Ruffa said.

Earlier Sunday, La Ruffa confirmed to the Los Angeles Daily News Altobelli was on the helicopter.

Altobelli was the longest-tenured baseball coach in OCC’s history and lived in Newport Beach. He and Keri also have another daughter, Alexis, and a son, J.J., who works as a scout for the Boston Red Sox.

Those who worked with Altobelli and knew his family shared condolences on Twitter.

Bryant’s helicopter crashed just before 10 a.m. PT in Calabasas, California. In an afternoon press conference, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed there were at least nine people on board, including the pilot. There were no survivors.

Officials only confirmed that Bryant and Gianna were victims of the crash and did not reveal the identities of the others until next of kin was notified.

“There has been wide speculation about [what] the identities [of the other victims] are, however it would be entirely inappropriate right now to identify anyone by name, until the coroner has made the identifications… and they’ve made notifications to the next of kin,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said.

Villanueva also called out TMZ for reporting Bryant’s death before his family could be notified, adding it would be “extremely disrespectful” for families to learn the deaths of their loved ones from the website.

Photo credit: Getty Images