LOS ANGELES (HawaiiNewsNow/Gray News) – A woman from Hawaii is still missing after her family says she didn’t make her connecting flight in Los Angeles at LAX two weeks ago.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it is investigating 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi’s disappearance.
According to her family, new footage shows Kobayashi in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 11, which is the last day she was heard from after she texted a friend saying she gave away all her money and was scared.
That new video has not been publicly released, but her family has seen it. They say Kobayashi boarded the Metro and was not alone, and she did not look well.
“It has been confirmed that she did leave the airport on 11/11 in the evening and that she boarded the Metro,” said Kobayashi’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon. “She was not alone. She was with an unidentified person. That causes us extreme alarm because that correlates with the timeline of her going missing.”
“She knows no one in LA,” Pidgeon added. “Our entire family knows no one in LA.”
- Friday, Nov. 8: Hannah Kobayashi flies from Maui to Los Angeles and misses her connecting flight at LAX to New York City. She is captured on LAX security camera.
- Saturday, Nov. 9: A short YouTube video captures Kobayashi outside of an event in Los Angeles.
- Monday, Nov. 11: Kobayashi’s phone location shows her back at LAX. She sent concerning text messages to a friend that said she was scared. She is captured on video boarding the Metro in downtown LA with an unknown person. This is the last day she was heard from.
Kobayashi was traveling from Hawaii to New York City with a connecting flight in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 8. Officials said she missed that connecting flight at LAX and has since disappeared.
She was planning on meeting her aunt in New York City, but her aunt confirmed she never arrived.
Kobayashi’s family said her ex-boyfriend was also on the flight from Maui to LAX because they booked it before they broke up.
But the family said he told them they did not sit together and did not have contact on the flight.
Her family said Kobayashi’s ex-boyfriend made the connecting flight to New York City and has been extremely responsive and cooperative with the investigation.
A security camera photo shows Kobayashi at LAX on Nov. 8, the day she missed her connecting flight.
A short YouTube video also captured Kobayashi outside of an event in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 9, the day after she missed her flight.
The family, however, said the last pinned location on Kobayashi’s phone shows she was back at LAX on Monday, Nov. 11.
That same day, her family said Kobayashi sent concerning text messages to a friend that said she was scared.
“I got tricked pretty much into giving away all of my funds for someone I thought I loved,” Kobayashi’s text to her friend read.
She wrote in a follow-up text, “It’s been really scary.”
Kobayashi’s sister described those texts as “really weird” and said she is unsure if the messages were written by Kobayashi.
“It’s weird to me because it doesn’t sound like her, like there’s just something off about it. So, I wasn’t too sure. I don’t know if it’s her or if someone else was texting,” her sister Sydni Kobayashi said.
Later that day is when Hannah Kobayashi was captured on video boarding the Metro with the unknown individual.
“We try not to think the worst,” Pidgeon said. “We’re trying to keep hope alive, but it has now been basically a week and a day since Nov. 11 when she was last spotted with this unknown person and didn’t seem to be OK, so our mind is now going to abduction and, I hate to say the word but, trafficked. We’re doing the best that we can, but the family at this point is now, we’re having to come to the reality that those things could be a possibility.”
Hannah Kobayashi’s family has traveled to Los Angeles to search for her, holding a rally outside of the Metro station where she was last seen and handing out flyers.
“We’re just trying to get us as much information as we can,” her father Ryan Kobayashi said. “Want to get the word out … has anyone seen my daughter?”
“If someone has her, I want you to look at the pictures that we have posted. I want you to see this family, and I want you to know that she is so loved, and she is so special and kind … So please don’t hurt her, and please give us back our Hannah,” Pidgeon said through tears.
The family has also filed a report with the FBI.
“A lot of worrying, a lot of confusion. Everything is just a blur it seems because I haven’t slept well since I’ve heard the news, and I really don’t know … it’s just really concerning,” Ryan Kobayashi said.
Her family has also dispelled rumors about her mental state, saying Hannah Kobayashi does not have a history of mental illness.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation of, you know, ‘Is Hannah having a psychotic break? Has Hannah had any mental illness?’ She has not, nor has she ever had any mental illness,” Pidgeon added.
Her family has also set up a GoFundMe page to help fund their search efforts, especially since they all had to travel to Los Angeles to look for her.
“While the community support have been truly astonishing, the scope and intensity of the search are expanding, and so are the expenses with them,” sister Sydni Kobayashi wrote on the page.
If you have any information, the family is asking to call them at (845) 750-3006.
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