The household of a 30-year-old Hawaii resident is looking for her in Los Angeles after she missed a connecting flight, despatched uncommon textual content messages after which went silent, the family stated.
Hannah Kobayashi arrived in L.A. on Nov. 8 en path to New York City however missed a connecting flight as a result of a 30- to 45-minute window to get to its departure terminal could not have been sufficient, aunt Larie Pidgeon stated in an interview.
The Maui resident stayed in Los Angeles as she awaited a gap for a last-minute flight to New York and used the time for sightseeing, relations stated. She went to The Grove buying middle within the Beverly Grove neighborhood, about 12 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, to see a Nike advertising occasion on Nov. 10, they stated.
Kobayashi’s Instagram account, verified by NBC News, features a picture she posted that depicts a Nike discover of filming, apparently at or close to The Grove.
The subsequent day, she despatched regarding textual content messages to family members, relations stated.
“Hannah’s final message to us was alarming — she talked about feeling scared, and that somebody may be attempting to steal her cash and identification,” Pidgeon stated in a Facebook submit.
“She hasn’t been heard from since, and we’re gravely involved for her security,” the aunt wrote.
Pidgeon confirmed her Facebook account identify, Larie Ingrum, by textual content. She was one among three family who not too long ago sat for an interview about Kobayashi.
The three have been half of a bigger group of relations and family members who gathered in L.A. in latest days to launch a search effort.
Pidgeon stated Kobayashi, an artwork fan and aspiring photographer, saved for the journey to New York City and was excited earlier than her Nov. 8 departure from Honolulu.
She deliberate to go to the Museum of Modern Art and take in Manhattan’s artwork scene as a part of her effort to determine a profession, Pidgeon stated.
“She was actually attempting to highschool herself on find out how to change into ‘it’ in New York,” she stated.
Family have stated they reported Kobayashi lacking to the Los Angeles International Airport Police Department and the FBI, however the Los Angeles Police Department stated it’s the major investigating company on the case. Officer Tony Im, an LAPD spokesman, stated Kobayashi was reported lacking to the division on Friday.
Pidgeon stated texts despatched Nov. 11 have been alarming and at occasions did not sound like they have been written in Kobayashi’s voice.
Family quoted one of many texts, in keeping with a video report from NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu: “I bought tricked just about into gifting away all my funds for somebody I believed I liked.”
Pidgeon stated the texts describe what quantities to identification theft.
“She stated that somebody was stealing her identification, that she felt scared,” the aunt stated.
It appeared Kobayashi was at Los Angeles International Airport on the time, she stated. Another aunt, Geordan Montalvo, whom Kobayashi was to go to in New York, tried to achieve her, Pidgeon stated.
“Her telephone pinged at LAX at 4 p.m. after which after that, Geordan saved attempting to speak to her, after which it went darkish, her telephone went useless and her communication lower off utterly,” Pidgeon stated.
The Nov. 11 texts have been the final relations heard from the lacking lady.
On a Facebook group referred to as Help Us Find Hanna, which incorporates the participation of relations, a submit by the RAD Movement — a San Diego County, California, lacking individuals nonprofit — says safety video within the space of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street in downtown L.A. exhibits Kobayashi with somebody and has sparked concern.
Family members stated they might not discuss it intimately as a result of they don’t wish to hinder investigators. It’s not clear when the video was recorded, however Pidgeon stated that primarily based on the footage, there’s purpose to imagine Kobayashi “is just not OK.”
Relatives say Kobayashi booked her journey to New York with a boyfriend with whom she has since damaged up. They stated the unidentified man was on the identical flight to Los Angeles however did not have contact with Kobayashi and made the connection to New York City. They described him as very cooperative.
The group gathered in Los Angeles is focusing its personal search on the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street, close to the Convention Center, LA Live and Crypto Arena, relations stated.
Father Ryan Kobayashi is amongst them.
“Everything is only a blur it appears as a result of I haven’t slept nicely since I’ve heard the information, and I actually don’t know … it’s simply actually regarding,” he informed KHNL earlier.
In 2013, the story of lacking Canadian vacationer Elsa Lam, 21, sparked worldwide headlines when her physique was present in a water tank on the roof of a run-down lodge in downtown L.A. Security video of the girl pacing inside a lodge elevator and urgent a number of buttons earlier than her demise helped encourage conspiracy theories, however the L.A. County medical expert decided she drowned unintentionally in an occasion influenced by her bipolar dysfunction.
On Monday, citing hypothesis that Kobayashi wanted a “break,” Pidgeon sought to guarantee the general public that she didn’t undergo from psychological sickness.
“Hannah has by no means as soon as suffered from a psychological sickness,” she stated. “She has no file on that. She is just not on treatment. Hannah’s somebody that we are able to name, and he or she’s going to name us again inside an hour.”