Hawaii woman sent 'alarming' text before vanishing from L.A., family says
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The family of a 30-year-old Hawaii resident is searching for her in Los Angeles after she missed a connecting flight, sent unusual text messages and then went silent, the relatives said.
Hannah Kobayashi arrived in Los Angeles on Nov. 8 en route to New York City but missed a connecting flight because a 30- to 45-minute window to get to its departure terminal may not have been enough, aunt Larie Pidgeon said in an interview.
Kobayashi, of Maui, stayed in Los Angeles as she awaited an opening for a last-minute flight to New York and used the time for sightseeing, family members said. She went to The Grove shopping center in the Beverly Grove neighborhood, about 12 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, to see a Nike marketing event on Nov. 10, they said.
Kobayashi's Instagram account, verified by NBC News, includes a photo she posted that depicts a Nike notice of filming, apparently at or near The Grove.
The next day, she sent concerning text messages to loved ones, family members said.
"Hannah's last message to us was alarming — she mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity," Pidgeon said on Facebook.
"She hasn't been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety," she wrote.
Pidgeon confirmed her Facebook account name, Larie Ingrum, by text. She was one of three relatives who recently sat for an interview about Kobayashi.
The three were part of a larger group of family members and loved ones who gathered in Los Angeles in recent days to launch a search effort.
Hannah Midori Eve Kobayashi.via Facebook
Pidgeon said Kobayashi, an art fan and aspiring photographer, saved for the trip to New York City and was excited before she left Honolulu on Nov. 8.
She planned to visit the Museum of Modern Art and absorb Manhattan's art scene as part of her effort to establish a career, Pidgeon said.
"She was really trying to school herself on how to become 'it' in New York," she said.
Relatives have said they reported Kobayashi missing to the Los Angeles International Airport Police Department and the FBI, but the Los Angeles Police Department said it is the primary investigating agency on the case. Officer Tony Im, an LAPD spokesman, said Kobayashi was reported missing to the department Friday.
Pidgeon said texts sent Nov. 11 were alarming and at times didn't sound like they were written in Kobayashi's voice.
Family members quoted one of the texts, according to a video report from NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu: "I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved."
Pidgeon said the texts describe what amounts to identity theft.
"She said that someone was stealing her identity, that she felt scared," Pidgeon said.
It appeared Kobayashi was at Los Angeles International Airport at the time, she said. Another aunt, Geordan Montalvo, whom Kobayashi was to visit in New York, tried to reach her, Pidgeon said.
"Her phone pinged at LAX at 4 p.m. and then after that, Geordan kept trying to talk to her, and then it went dark. Her phone went dead, and her communication cut off completely," Pidgeon said.
The Nov. 11 texts were the last family members heard from her.
On a Facebook group called Help Us Find Hanna, which includes the participation of family members, a post by the RAD Movement — a San Diego County, California, missing persons nonprofit group — says security video in the area of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles shows Kobayashi with someone and has sparked concern.
Family members said they couldn't speak about it in detail because they don't want to hinder investigators. It's not clear when the video was recorded. Pidgeon said that based on the video, there's reason to believe Kobayashi "is not OK."
Relatives say Kobayashi booked her trip to New York with a boyfriend with whom she has since broken up. They said the unidentified man was on the same flight to Los Angeles but didn't 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 own search on the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street, near the Convention Center, LA Live and Crypto Arena, family members said.
Father Ryan Kobayashi is among them.
"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," he told KHNL earlier.
In 2013, the story of missing Canadian tourist Elsa Lam, 21, sparked international headlines when her body was found in a water tank on the roof of a run-down hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Security video of Lam pacing inside a hotel elevator and pressing multiple buttons before her death helped inspire conspiracy theories, but the Los Angeles County medical examiner determined she drowned accidentally in an event influenced by her bipolar disorder.
On Monday, citing speculation that Kobayashi needed a "break," Pidgeon sought to reassure the public that she didn't suffer from mental illness.
"Hannah has never once suffered from a mental illness," she said. "She has no record on that. She is not on medication.Hannah's someone that we can call and she's going to call us back within an hour."
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