While the official autopsy for Anna Nicole Smith said she died of a drug overdose 10 years ago, a former bodyguard and pallbearer at her funeral thinks she actually died of a broken heart.
"Daniel was her everything," said Cory Ardizzone, referring to Anna's son Daniel, who died of a drug overdose five months before his mother. "That's why we didn't fly, because Daniel didn't fly."
In the 10 years since Anna passed, Cory has passed on hundreds of interview requests. He spoke to Las Vegas columnist Norm Clarke this week, breaking his silence about his friend for the first time.
Cory wasn't with her when she took her last breath in Florida, and he told the columnist that he's filled with regret.
"The day she passed away I was supposed to be down there. I was with another client. It was rough," he said.
The security guard was able to say his final goodbye's in the Bahamas, where he served as a pallbearer at her funeral.
Anna, he said, was "a beautiful person who had the biggest heart. It showed at her funeral. There was such an outpouring of love."
Since the death, the bodyguard has maintained a relationship with Larry Birkhead and Dannielynn, Anna's daughter, who was five months old when her mother passed.
"I actually was on tour with New Kids on the Block two years ago and we were on the east coast," Cory said. "I reached out to Larry and introduced them."
On the 10th anniversary of her death, Cory also broke his social media silence about his one-time famous client, sharing a video of memories they had together while Toby Keith's "Cryin' For Me" played.
"You will always be missed my dear friend….," he wrote. "RIP Anna Nicole Smith #10years."