RIP

"Mad" Mike Hughes may have blacked out and that's why he failed to deploy backup parachutes moments before his fatal rocket crash ... TMZ has learned.

Mike's rep, Darren Shuster, tells TMZ ... the daredevil's launch got off to a terrible start when his parachute got snagged by a ladder next to the rocket. Mike needed a ladder because he didn't wanna be lifted into it, as they had initially prepared.

When the parachute got snagged, Mike's ground control crew radioed Mike and ordered him to deploy his backup parachute. There were 2 backups on the rocket. Problem was ... the ground crew never got a response from Mike.

Shuster tells us Mike's crew believes he may have blacked out with the rocket taking off at around 500 MPH. Shuster believes if Mike blacked out, it could very well explain why he never deployed his backup chute.

The timing for deploying the backup chutes was also critical ... Mike would have had to deploy the backup before he hit his apex because if he was descending at too high of a speed, it would have ripped a hole in the chute. But, Mike never got the chance.

As we reported ... the amateur rocket-engineer launched himself in the air with a self-made rocket that crash-landed. The incident was captured on camera after it was highly publicized.

Mike was attempting to get as close to space from Earth as possible -- known as the Karman line, about 62 miles above Earth's surface without the use of advanced tech.

Vanessa Bryant is heartsick over revelations some L.A. County Sheriff's deputies took photos of the remains of Kobe Bryant and other victims at the crash site and wants them punished.

Vanessa's lawyer says on the day of the crash, Vanessa went to the Sheriff's Department and requested the crash site be designated a no-fly zone so photogs would be kept at bay. The attorney says it was of "critical importance" to Vanessa to protect the dignity of all the victims.

The attorney calls it "inexcusable and deplorable" and "an unspeakable violation of human decency."

As we reported, some deputies took photos at the crash site and shared them with various people inside and outside the department. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ a deputy trainee went to a bar several days after the crash and, in an attempt to impress a woman, he showed her the photos of remains. The bartender overheard the conversation and was so indignant he filed an online complaint with the Sheriff's Dept.

The lawyer says, "Mrs. Bryant is grateful to the individual who filed an online complaint exposing these acts of injustice."

The lawyer adds "Sheriff Alex Villanueva assured us all measures would be put in place to protect the family's privacy, and it is our understanding that he has worked hard to honor those requests."

As we reported, days after the crash top brass at the Dept. told deputies who took the photos to come to the substation and delete the photos, and if they did this no action would be taken. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the Sheriff did not order an internal affairs investigation until the L.A. Times contacted the Dept. and inquired about the photos.

Deputies who responded to Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash site and took pictures of the remains were given a secret way out without repercussion ... TMZ has confirmed.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... in the days after the crash, top brass at the department was aware some of their lower-level deputies had snapped shots of the scene as well as of the remains found, and were showing them to people in and out of the department.

We're told a message was relayed to the Lost Hills substations and possibly others as well ... if you got Kobe pics -- come in, come clean and delete them. Do that, and you won't be punished. That's essentially the directive we're told was handed down by commanding officers.

What's even more concerning is the fact our sources say this attempt to get rid of the damning evidence was all being done on the hush-hush, and it was only when the L.A. Times came around asking about this scandal that the department launched a formal inquiry.

We've learned the Sheriff's Dept. learned that some deputies took pics of remains days after the crash ... this after a sheriff's trainee went to a bar and thought he could impress and pick up a woman by showing her the photos. Sources say a bartender overheard this and was so irate, he contacted the Sheriff's and lodged a formal complaint.

It's clear ... the Sheriff's Dept. kept everything under wraps until it became obvious its cover was about to be blown.

On Friday, the department issued a statement saying, in part, that top dog Alex Villanueva was "deeply disturbed at the thought deputies could allegedly engage in such an insensitive act." They go on to say, "A thorough investigation will be conducted by the department, with the No. 1 priority of protecting the dignity and privacy of the victims and their families."

Joe Coulombe, the guy who founded Trader Joe’s, one of the most enduring grocery chains in the country, has died after a long illness.

Joe died at his home in Pasadena, Ca.

Joe was born in 1930, smack in the middle of the depression, and raised on an avocado ranch near San Diego, CA. He served in the Air Force and got a B.A. in economics and an MBA from Stanford. No slouch.

So here's the path to Trader Joe's. He worked at Rexall Drugs in 1958 and his job was to create a group of convenience stores ... similar to 7-Eleven. The first thing he did -- he worked in a grocery store for free ... just to get the hang of it. The chain was called Pronto Markets. Thing is ... Rexall really wasn't into it, so Coulombe bought the stores and ran them himself.

Joe jumped into the market biz at the same time 7-Eleven was exploding, and he decided to take a different approach. That's when he came up with the idea for Trader Joe's.

He opened his first store in Pasadena, and decorated it with a nautical decor after reading a book called "White Shadows in the South Seas." He was also inspired by the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland. Employees at the store wore Hawaiian shirts. They were called captain and first mates.

The concept of the store -- courting customers with sophisticated taste on a budget. The prices were reasonable and sometimes even low.

Joe sold the chain in 1979 to the German grocery retailer Aldi Nord and retired from the company 9 years later.

Joe met his wife, Alice Steere, in 1952 in college. They married in 1952 and were married for 67 years. They have 3 kids and 6 grandchildren.

Pop Smoke's murder is still a mystery, and police are making little progress in finding suspects due to a variety of issues ... but they're still pressing on.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... detectives have hit a road block in the rapper's murder investigation, specifically with regard to witness testimony. We've heard it before -- a lot of people are simply refusing to talk. But also ... a lot of the info they're getting is sketchy.

Our sources say among the potential witnesses cops have spoken with, stories have either changed or are provably untrue. Also, because nobody was outside or nearby Pop's house when the crime occurred ... they have no neutral witnesses.

To make matters worse ... we're told investigators have wasted time looking into videos posted online allegedly connected to the murder, but they've all ended up unrelated to the case.

Likewise, with the case being bi-coastal -- Smoke was killed in L.A. but lived in NYC -- cops have had to spend extra time and effort tracking down people.

Finally, even though the murder appears to be a targeted hit and not a robbery ... our law enforcement sources say they're still having trouble coming up with a motive.

Cops are working all leads and resources possible in the meantime, but it seems they're in desperate need of a break in the case.

A family's dream of welcoming a new dog into their lives turned into a nightmare when the father went to pick up the pup ... and found a lifeless body inside the crate.

A California man named Cory Mcjimson tells TMZ ... he purchased a 12-week-old Yorkshire Terrier puppy named Sebastian this week from a breeder out of Ohio. Sebastian was going to be a gift for Cory's 5-year-old daughter.

We're told the breeder arranged for the Yorkie pup to fly with Delta Air Lines from Ohio to LAX, with one stop in Atlanta, and arrive in L.A. Thursday night. Cory believes the dog was transported in the pressurized cargo hold during both flights.

He says his family -- wife, son and daughter -- all went to pick up Sebastian from the Delta Cargo location around 6:30 PM, but when he picked up Sebastian's carrying crate ... he opened it to find the dog not moving or breathing.

He says he alerted Delta and his wife the dog was dead, but told his kids Sebastian was just sick because he didn't want them to see and get upset.

We're told Delta officials immediately rushed the dog to an animal hospital nearby where doctors administered CPR, but couldn't revive him. Sebastian was pronounced dead by 9 PM.

Cory says Delta told him it would handle the necropsy and cremation of the dog. The airline tells us ... "Pets are an important member of the family and we are focused on the well-being of all animals we transport."

Delta adds ... "We extend our deepest condolences to Sebastian’s family and are conducting a thorough review of the situation to understand what happened."

Cory tells us he paid nearly $3k for Sebastian ... it's unclear if he'll receive any compensation from Delta or the dog breeder.

As we've reported ... dog deaths on flights have been a growing concern ever since a French Bulldog died in transit in an overhead bin on a United flight in 2018. Delta also had a Pomeranian die on one of its flights that year, and then 2 dogs died on KLM flights in 2019.

This is pretty awesome ... fans at Thursday's LAFC game unveiled a HUGE tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant -- and started a stadium-wide, spine-tingling "Ko-Be" chant at the same time.

The tifo -- soccer's term for in-arena visual displays -- popped up shortly before LAFC's Concacaf Champions League match against Club Leon in Carson, CA.

And, you can see in video of it all ... it's massive -- and amazing.

Fans raised purple and white placards that spelled out the Nos. 8 and 24 ... while a banner with Kobe and Gigi's faces plus the words, "Kobe & GiGi Forever," raised behind the goal.

Soon after ... the entire stadium joined in a raucous "KO-BE" chant as well.

Team star Carlos Vela also wore a captain's armband that had Kobe's initials and jersey numbers on it.

The LAFC match was the team's first at home since Kobe, Gianna and 7 others were tragically killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in Calabasas, CA.

Drew Carey is paying his last respects to Amie Harwick, his ex-fiancee who he called "a beautiful person who didn't deserve to die like she did."

"The Price is Right" host looked understandably somber Thursday morning outside the Huff & Lakjer Funeral Home in Pennsylvania. He walked into the wake, along with Amie's family and friends.

Several of her loved ones cried and hugged outside the funeral home.

As we reported ... Carey opened up about Amie's tragic death recently on his SiriusXM show, calling his engagement to her the "best relationship of my life." He says they shared a special connection over music, and he shared a setlist he made specifically for her.

We broke the story ... Harwick was killed after she was allegedly attacked by an ex-boyfriend in her home, which caused her fatal fall from a third-story balcony.

Gareth Pursehouse has been arrested and charged with her murder. Pursehouse had a long, troubling history with Harwick ... beginning when she filed for restraining orders against him nearly a decade ago.

Who ya gonna call? The Ghostbusters ain't in L.A. yet, so instead the Sheriff's Dept. is on the job, searching for a hearse, fully-loaded -- if ya get our drift -- that was stolen from a church.

Yeah, someone boarded the Hell Express and jacked a black Lincoln Navigator Wednesday night from outside a Greek Orthodox church in Pasadena ... according to cops. The luxury ride was carrying a casket containing a deceased woman who was going to be delivered to a different location.

The theft strikes even L.A. cops as especially bizarre ... or macabre.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department tweeted a helpful hint to the suspect, saying ... "Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator."

If you're in SoCal, the Navigator hearse has the California license plate 7ZDG618.

Look for flames too. If the Sheriff doesn't catch 'em, we're thinking Satan will.

Kobe Bryant's big sister just got a permanent tribute to Kobe and Gianna -- a brand new tattoo with their numbers encircled by a Black Mamba snake.

Sharia Bryant Washington -- the oldest of the Bryant siblings -- hit up tattoo artist Peter Barrios for the work ... and it turned out pretty great.

You can see the numbers 2 and 24 (worn by Gianna and Kobe, respectfully) -- with the Black Mamba snake in the shape of the infinity symbol.

In other words ... Gianna and Kobe forever.

In the past few weeks, a bunch of people who knew Kobe and Gianna have opted for tats -- everyone from LeBron James and Anthony Davis to J.R. Smith and Shareef O'Neal.

Odell Beckham and rapper The Game also got Kobe-inspired body art.

Lamar Odom, who was extremely close with Kobe, told us he's strongly considering a Kobe tat and will likely get one soon.

It's been more than a month since Kobe, Gianna and 7 others passed away in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Ca.

As we previously reported, Kobe's widow, Vanessa Bryant, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company that operated the doomed chopper essentially blaming the pilot for the crash.

Harry Morton died from an irregular heartbeat ... according the L.A. County Coroner's Office, which confirms what his family had been told by the coroner.

TMZ obtained a copy of the autopsy report, and it offers a more clear picture of what the late Hard Rock heir was coping with, medically -- a condition called cardiac arrhythmia due to hardening of the arteries.

The family addressed these conditions based on what the L.A. County Coroner told them after an autopsy was done last year. There were no drugs or alcohol found in his system following his sudden death in November.

According to the report ... on the morning Harry died, he spoke with his brother and made plans to meet at the gym. When Morton didn't show up, his brother got concerned and raced to his house ... where he found Morton lying on the bathroom floor. The report says Morton was apparently preparing for a marathon.

TMZ broke the story ... Harry was found unresponsive in his Beverly Hills home, and was declared dead at the scene once paramedics arrived. As we reported, the restaurateur was suffering from coronary artery disease and also had a "mildly enlarged heart."

Morton's memorial service in early December was attended by Lori Loughlin, Jimmy Iovine, Steve Tisch, Demi Moore, Stephen Dorff and others. Everyone gathered at his father, Peter Morton's home afterward.

Harry was 38.

Ric Flair is all about putting on a show ... but he knows this is an emotional time for the Lakers ... which is why the WWE legend tells TMZ Sports he had to think twice before giving his epic intro for the team Tuesday at Staples Center.

Flair got the entire L.A. crowd pumped before the Lakers took on Zion Williamson's New Orleans Pelicans ... welcoming "the greatest franchise in all of sports" ... and his favorite player, LeBron James.

It. Was. LIT.

Naitch tells us the team asked him to help lift everyone's spirits following a deeply emotional memorial service for Kobe Bryant at Staples Center ... but he was reluctant to accept.

"I felt a little bad that close to the memorial that was so overwhelming on Monday," Flair tells us.

"But, they asked me and I said 'are you guys sure?' and they said 'Yeah, please. The crowd needs to be pumped up a little bit.'"

It was a good thing he accepted ... because the crowd clearly loved the gesture.

The famed author Clive Cussler -- whose 1992 adventure novel "Sahara" was adapted into a film and starred Matthew McConaughey -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Cussler died Monday, according to his son. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Cussler wrote more than 2 dozen novels, including "Raise the Titanic," in his series of Dirk Pitt novels. It became a movie in 1980. By the way ... Dirk is also his son's name, and Cussler's last 3 books were co-authored by Dirk.

"Sahara" was the highest-grossing movie that was adapted from his novels. It grossed $122 million.

In all, Cussler sold more than 100 million books, and he's been published in more than 40 languages.

Cussler was internationally recognized as an expert in shipwrecks. He founded the National Underwater and Marine Agency ... an homage to naval history. One of his books, "The Sea Hunters," was so deep in knowledge, the Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State of New York, gave Cussler a doctorate and did not require a thesis -- the book was enough.

Clive Cussler was married nearly 50 years. His wife died in 2003. Cussler leaves behind 3 children. He later got remarried to Janet Horvath.

Cussler was 88.

Lamar Odom says he REALLY misses Kobe Bryant -- because Kobe would often act as a life coach for Odom, who admits he could really use Bryant's wisdom right now.

Odom and Bryant weren't just teammates -- they were incredibly close friends. Remember, when Odom suffered his 2015 overdose in Nevada, Kobe was one of the first people who rushed to the hospital to be by his side.

Now, Odom says he's adjusting to life without his brother -- and admits the whole situation sucks.

"I'm alright," Odom told us outside of Staples Center on Tuesday ... "I miss my guy though. Real talk."

Odom says he relied on Bryant to advise him through tough situations -- and he's currently in the middle of one right now -- admitting he's getting criticism from fans who are unhappy that Odom pawned his 2008-09 and 2009-10 Lakers championship rings.

"First, I would ask him how do I get these fans to forgive me for pawning those rings?"

As we previously reported, Odom pawned the rings several years ago during his drama with Khloe Kardashian.

Clearly, Odom wants them back -- but it'll cost him. The rings recently hit the auction block where they were expected to sell for around $100,000.

There's more ... Odom says he reconnected with some of his old Lakers teammates during Tuesday night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans and they reminisced about Kobe.

Post Malone proved he can read a crowd ... busting out an awesome custom tee honoring his late pal, Mac Miller, which got concert-goers on their feet and 100% amped.

The singer was performing Monday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Mac's hometown ... and he came out wearing an oldie but goodie that was custom-made to pay tribute to the rapper -- who tragically died of an overdose about 2 years ago.

It's a white T-shirt that's been decked out to read "RIP Mac Miller" with super-dope designs and airbrush lettering. Post originally started wearing the shirt shortly after MM passed.

Sounds like it was a good move to don it yet again in the Steel City, 'cause we're told the audience went crazy -- the energy in the place exponentially jumped, especially when Post and his shirt got splashed across the big screen monitors behind him.

The crowd was definitely into it -- you can hear them helping Posty sing along to his own tune ... even though it doesn't appear he attempted to cover a Mac Miller song while up there. Probably better that way, no one could do it quite like the man himself.

Kobe Bryant was purple and gold as a 13-year-old -- signing his middle school friend's yearbook with "How bout those Lakers" -- and now the book can be yours.

Iconic Auctions has the super-unique piece of memorabilia on the auction block ... and it's pretty amazing.

In 1992, Kobe -- who just returned to the U.S. from Italy -- attended Bala Cynwyd Middle School in Pennsylvania ... where he played on the basketball team.

Bryant arrived midway through the school year, so he didn't have a standard school photo. He only appeared in the boys' basketball team photo.

When yearbooks were issued, Kobe's buddy asked him to sign the autograph page ... and what Mamba wrote was pretty prophetic.

"In a few years you probably will be dunking on me. Not!! How bout those Lakers. Your friend Kobe Bryant #24"

Kobe was just 13 years old in 1992 ... and wasn't a member of the Los Angeles Lakers (or the NBA) until June 1996.

Of course, Bryant -- even back then -- wore (and signed) one of the numbers, #24, that would eventually hang forever in the rafters of Staples Center.

Iconic tells us they expect the yearbook to sell for over $20k ... when the auction closes this weekend.