It’s been almost two weeks since 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi missed a connecting flight in Los Angeles.
Though she was meant to go on to meet her aunt in New York for a “bucket list” trip, the Hawaii native was seen in various places around LA throughout the weekend, including in the downtown area of the city with an unknown person.
In the latest tragic update, her father Ryan Kobayashi was found dead on Sunday near LAX, police said. He had traveled to the city to help search for his daughter.
Meanwhile, a series of suspicious texts were also sent from Kobayashi’s phone, but she has now gone silent, leading her family to fear she may have been abducted.
Here’s what we know:
Where was she going?
The 30-year-old departed her hometown of Maui, Hawaii, on November 8 to visit her aunt in New York City – a trip she described in her hand-written itinerary as “bucket list dreams become reality.”
Kobayashi was due to fly to New York via California, with a 42-minute lay-over in Los Angeles, though appears to have missed the connection.
Her mother, Brandi Yee said her sister – Kobayashi’s aunt – was supposed to meet her daughter at her hotel and go to a show that evening.
Kobayashi had planned the trip with a boyfriend who she had since broken up with. The pair were on the same flight but had decided to go their separate ways once they landed at John F Kennedy International Airport, in New York.
Lee said the man made the connecting flight to JFK and has been extremely responsive and cooperative with the investigation.
Where was she last seen?
A photo of Kobayashi appeared to show her getting off the flight at the Los Angeles airport on November 8.
The next day she was spotted at a Taschen bookstore at The Grove shopping center in the Fairfax area of LA. Her family said they do not know why. According to her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, she then sent a Venmo payment to two people whose names the family does not recognize.
A video posted on YouTube On Sunday November 10 showed Kobayashi at the LeBron XXII Trial Experience, an event held at the Nike store, also at The Grove. A photo of the event also appeared to have been posted on her Instagram account.
That day, family and friends received “weird” texts from Kobayashi, but they did not hear from her again.
However, a day later on November 11, surveillance video around a downtown Los Angeles Metro train station near the Crypto.com arena showed her with an unknown person. Her family said she “does not appear to be in good condition” in the footage.
“She is not safe, and she is not alone,” her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told KTLA 5.
‘Weird’ texts
Concerns have also been raised by the family over a number of “weird” texts sent by Kobayashi to various relatives and friends.
On November 11 her mother texted her, asking whether she made it to New York, to which the 30-year-old responded no.
She later texted a friend, writing: “Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f*** since Friday.” Another message said, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds,” followed by one saying, “For someone I thought I loved.”
Her sister described the texts as “really weird.” “She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn’t come back home or something,” Sydni Kobayashi told HawaiiNewsNow. “It was just really weird texts.”
The text messages used words like “hun,” “love” and “babe,” words that Kobayashi would not use, her sister said.
“I personally don’t think that was my sister,” Sydni Kobayashi said, adding: “It’s weird to me because it doesn’t sound like her, like there’s just something off about it… I don’t know if it’s her or if someone else was texting.”
The Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation into Kobayashi’s disappearance with assistance from the FBI, however her sister said online that the force had “not been much help.”
Speaking to CNN last week, her aunt Larie Pigeon added: “Our mind is now going to, you know, abduction and, I hate to say the word, but, you know, trafficked.
“We’re doing the best that we can, but the family at this point is having to come to the reality that those things could be a possibility.”
Tragic death of her father
In fresh heartache for the family, Hannah’s dad Ryan Kobayashi was found dead in Los Angeles near LAX in the early hours of Sunday morning, police said.
He died in an apparent suicide, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, NBC Los Angeles reported, and was found in a parking lot near the airport.
Ryan had traveled to LA to help search for his daughter. Just a few days before he died, he was handing out missing persons flyers in the city and said he would do everything in his power to find Hannah.
“We’re just trying to get us as much information as we can,” he previously told HawaiiNewsNow. “Want to get the word out… has anyone seen my daughter?”
“She’s a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people,” he added.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.