Christina Mauser Dead, Girls’ Basketball Coach Killed In Helicopter Crash
Christina Mauser was killed in the helicopter crash that claimed the life of NBA legend Kobe Bryant on Sunday, local officials have confirmed.
Mauser was a girls’ basketball coach at the private Harbor Day School in the Southern California city of Costa Mesa and was married to musician Matt Mauser of the band TijuanaDogs, CBS News reported. The crash also claimed the life of Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, as those on board were reportedly traveling to a basketball game.
Matt Mauser, Christina’s husband, posted about her passing on Facebook and is asking for privacy for the family.
“My kids and I are devastated. We lost our beautiful wife and mom today in a helicopter crash,” he wrote, according to CNN.
“Please respect our privacy. Thank you for all the well wishes they mean so much,” he added.
Mauser was also mourned by Costa Mesa mayor Katrina Foley.
“I just learned that our amazing Matt Mauser of TiajuanaDogs lost his wife Christina in the crash. She coached the girls team,” Foley tweeted.
“This devastating tragedy gets worse by the hour. So much pain for so many local families. Our hearts are broken & grieving for the families impacted.”
The crash also claimed the life of Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa, who was reportedly a teammate of Gianna Bryant. John Altobelli was a college baseball legend, winning four California community college titles and earning several coach of the year awards.
The coverage of the crash and the identification of victims led to some controversy. Family members of Altobelli said they saw the news that Bryant was killed in a crash but did not know that John and his family were on board.
“I got a text message from my older brother asking if I had heard about Kobe’s chopper incident. He didn’t even know that they had been on that chopper. I didn’t hear anything about it. I started checking internets and everything was completely overloaded,” the victim’s brother, Tony Altobelli, told CBS Los Angeles.
In a statement to media in the hours after the crash, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva blasted TMZ, the first to report the crash, for apparently publishing the story before the families of the victims had been notified.
The report from TMZ came well before other news outlets had confirmed and published the story. There were also a series of conflicting reports about those killed, including since-retracted reports that Kobe’s other daughters were on board or that former Los Angeles Lakers player Rick Fox was among those killed. Those rumors have all been confirmed not to be true.
Sarah Chester and her daughter, as well as pilot, Ara Zobayan were also on the deadly flight.
