Vanessa Bryant says she's terrified internet trolls will release photos of her late husband Kobe and daughter's remains taken moments after they died in a helicopter crash.
Bryant said that the knowledge photos showing the death of her husband and daughter were 'out there' caused her 'constant fear and anxiety,' and that she was having trouble sleeping and was depressed as a result. She says she has been contacted by internet creeps telling her they'll share the gruesome photos online, although those threats have yet to come to fruition.
She was forced to detail her anxiety in a declaration filed with LA County with whom she has an ongoing lawsuit, after suing the city's sheriff's department for invasion of privacy after the photos were leaked in the wake of the January 2020 smash.
Bryant says she has seen one photo of her husband's body, and that it sickens her to see 'Kobe Bryant body' pop up as a suggested search on Google when she types her late husband's name into the search bar.
Vanessa Bryant submitted documents in court that explains why she feels 'sick and angry' at LA County employees who shared photos of her husband and daughter
Lakers Legend Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, also died on board the helicopter as they flew to a basketball tournament. The two pictured above in November 2019
In documents seen by TMZ, Bryant details how she asked Sheriff Alex Villanueva on the day of the crash, January 26, 2020, to secure the crash site and not allow anyone to take photographs after learning there were no survivors.
She told the Sheriff: 'If you can't bring my husband and baby back, please make sure no one takes photographs of them.'
But just one month later, she learned Sheriff's deputies and firefighters were indeed passing around photos that had been taken of Kobe and Gianna's remains.
Vanessa said finding out the information sent her into a cycle of distress, worrying they would be leaked online.
Firefighters were on the scene after the fatal helicopter crash on January 26, 2020. Vanessa claims first responders disseminated photos of the victims, including her husband and her daughter, in the aftermath
Kobe Bryant is seen with Gianna (top left) and his wife and other children in a family photo
She believes around 20 people managed to obtain copies of the pictures despite being assured by the county that they had been deleted.
Vanessa reveals in the documents that she has seen one photo showing the remains of her late husband.
'Since viewing the photo, I've been tormented with thoughts of who took it and whether it depicts my husband. It infuriates me that the people I trusted to protect the dignity of my husband and daughter abused their positions to obtain souvenirs of their deaths, as though possessing pictures of their remains somehow makes them special. I imagine Kobe watching over what occurred at that crash scene, and I am overcome
