Kobe Bryant and eight others died on Sunday morning after the helicopter they were traveling in plummeted to the ground and burst into flames. Recovery efforts have been ongoing in the days since, but the authorities have found all of the victims that had been traveling on the helicopter.
The L.A. County Medical Examiner-Coroner released a statement on Tuesday, revealing that all nine bodies had been recovered. Three had initially been found on Sunday, but the search had to be paused due to darkness and safety concerns.
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Along with Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, the other victims in the crash were John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, Christina Mauser and the pilot, Ara Zobayan.
On Sunday afternoon, personnel from the department’s Special Operations Response Team (SORT) recovered three bodies from the helicopter wreckage located in the 4200 block of Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas.
The next day, the search continued for the other six helicopter occupants. Soon after, their bodies were located, removed from the crash site and transported to the department’s Forensic Science Center.
Currently, investigators are actively working on identifying the decedents. Additionally, body examinations are in progress.
The Special Operations Response Team had continued the search for the remaining bodies on Monday with the promise of providing daily updates. There were questions at the time about the identities of the bodies that had been recovered, but the L.A. County Coroner would not divulge this information until all nine had been found.
According to the press release, the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner will “provide immediate updates on the names of the decedents as soon as they are officially verified and their next of kin have been notified.”
The cause of the crash has not been identified in the two days following the incident, but the National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to the site. According to ESPN, the NTSB typically issues a preliminary report within about 10 days of a crash.
This report will provide a rough summary of what the investigators learned, but it may not reveal the main reason for the crash. This bit of information could take up to a year to be provided by the NTSB. Although the organization did release some additional B-roll footage that showed the investigators picking through the wreckage and documenting the accident site in the hills of Calabasas.
(Photo Credit: David McNew/Getty Images)
