- Staff at the Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona Del Mar, California, have been removing flowers and memorabilia left for Bryant and his daughter, Gianna "Gigi" Bryant , from a plot owned by another family.
- A representative for the cemetary confirmed to USA Today that the gravesite in question "is not Kobe and Gianna's resting place," but some fans refuse to believe the claim.
- The NBA icon and his 13-year-old daughter died along with seven others in a tragic helicopter crash January 26, and the sports world has been in mourning ever since.
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Fans of late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant are flocking to the wrong grave to pay their respects, according to a Southern California cemetery.
Fans of late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant are flocking to a Southern California cemetery to pay their respects to "The Black Mamba" and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna "Gigi" Bryant.
But according to a representative for the Pacific View Memorial Park, they've got the wrong place.
Staff at the Corona Del Mar, California, cemetery have continually removed flowers and memorabilia left for the Bryants from a private plot owned by another family, per a USA Today report published Wednesday.
"We can confirm that is not Kobe and Gianna's resting place,'' Ashley Bunton of Service Corporation International, which owns the Southern California cemetery, told USA Today. "We cannot divulge any additional details as to where they are. But we can tell you that is not the correct location.''
According to their death certificates, both Kobe and Gigi were buried at Pacific View Memorial Park on February 7. Fans began visiting the plot in question due in large part to a Daily Mail article that included photos of the gravesite and falsely identified it as the Bryants' resting place.
The cemetery has reportedly increased security as a result of the mix-up, and one security guard who spoke with USA Today said roughly 400 people showed up at the burial site this past weekend.
"[Fans] have actually run into the family members who've kind of shooed people away from that spot just because it's disturbing the peace to the person interred there,'' the security guard said.
Some fans refused to believe the cemetery's claim that the plot in question belonged to another family, assuming instead that it was an attempt to dissuade visitors from coming to the site. The plot coincidentally has an arrangement of flowers reflecting the Lakers' colors purple and gold but does not have any engravings.
The NBA icon and his 13-year-old daughter died along with seven others in a tragic helicopter crash on January 26, and the sports world has been in mourning ever since. The Staples Center home of the Lakers is set to host a public memorial for the Bryants on Monday.
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- Kobe Bryant started using helicopters as a player as a way to maintain his body and spend more time with his family
- Madison Square Garden glows purple and gold to honor the late Kobe Bryant
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- Kobe Bryant's tragic death sent shockwaves around the world and put a spotlight on how to grieve a public icon
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