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2 months ago
52 A Hawaii woman’s family is thinking the worst nearly two weeks after her suspicious disappearance.
Hannah Kobayashi has captured the nation’s attention after missing a connecting flight and vanishing without a trace — save for a few eyebrow-raising text messages. On November 8, the 31-year-old set out on a trip from Maui to New York, where she intended to stay with her aunt Larie Pidgeon. But she never made it.
The first thing that should be taken into consideration is she was traveling on the same itinerary as her ex-boyfriend. Her sister Sydni told CNN the pair purchased their tickets before splitting up, but decided to still travel on the same flight after breaking up. They reportedly did not sit next to each other or speak. But worth noting he was there. But halfway through she wasn’t.
For reasons currently unknown, bailed on her connecting flight from the Los Angeles International Airport to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Her unnamed ex did, however, board the connecting flight and land at JFK.
We know Hannah was OK at the time. She traveled into downtown LA, and on November 9, was spotted at The Grove and — according to Sydni — sent two Venmo payments to people the Kobayashi family are not familiar with. Hmm.
The day after that, Hannah was spotted at the LeBron XXII Trial Experience held at The Grove’s Nike store. She even posted the following photo from the event on Instagram:
The day after that, November 11, is the final day anyone heard from her. Hannah’s mother Brandi Yee texted her that day asking if she’d arrived in NY, but she responded, “No.” After that is when the suspicious messages started rolling in. In screenshots obtained by CNN, Hannah texted a friend talking about having her identity and money stolen. One said:
“Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday”
And:
“I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. For someone I thought I loved.”
Bizarre, right? Sydni told HawaiiNewsNow that the messages were “really weird” and didn’t sound like her sister — especially because in additional texts, she used words like “hun,” “love,” and “babe” — words she wouldn’t normally use. Sydni doesn’t believe it even was her sister that sent the messages:
“I personally don’t think that was my sister. 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.”
SO creepy.
The same day Hannah sent out those alarming messages, she was spotted in surveillance footage with a stranger at the Metro station near the Crypto.com Arena — which is odd because her aunt Larie told KGMB/KHNL Hannah “knows no one in LA” — nor does anyone in the family. She also noted Hannah did not look well.
It’s now been over a week, and there’s been no word from Hannah… And her family is beginning to suspect she could have been “trafficked.” Larie told the news station on Tuesday:
“We try not to think the worst. 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 okay, 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.”
So completely and utterly terrifying. We hope Hannah is found safe and reunited with her family. The Los Angeles Police Department told People on Wednesday that an investigation is “ongoing” — but that there are no updates. According to CNN, the FBI is assisting the LAPD now. You can visit a GoFundMe HERE. More information (below):
[Image via Los Angeles Police Department]
