Missing woman Hannah Kobayashi intentionally skipped flight, LAPD chief says
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Three weeks after a Hawaii woman vanished in Los Angeles, her family is vowing to continue the search into the puzzling disappearance amid unsettling text messages.
Hannah Kobayashi, 30, was last heard from Nov. 11 after she had missed a connecting flight from Maui to New York City at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8, her family said.
On Nov. 24, her father, who had been trying to find his daughter, was found dead near the LA airport by apparent suicide, police said.
Surveillance videos have shown her at a mall and train station in Los Angeles, and odd messages and online payments since then have only added to the mystery behind her disappearance.
On Wednesday, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said police determined Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight.
“Our hearts go out to the Kobayashi family during this unimaginable time of grief,” McDonnell said in a Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meeting. “We remain fully committed to locating Hannah and supporting the family as they navigate their way through this tragedy.”
LAPD didn’t return USA TODAY’s request for further updates on the investigation on Friday. USA TODAY also reached out to an organization representing the family.
Here’s what we know:
Hannah Kobayashi is seen on a security camera in Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8, 2024.
Who is Hannah Kobayashi?
Kobayashi is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 140 pounds, according to an LAPD description. She has brown hair, hazel eyes and freckles on her face and normally wears glasses. She has a tattoo of a heart with a knife on her right forearm.
Friends described her as creative and entrepreneurial, and as an aspiring photographer, CNN reported. She was planning to go to New York to visit an aunt, and she was also going to take photos at a concert in Brooklyn in mid-November, her family told the news outlet.
Kobayashi was on the same New York-bound flight as her ex-boyfriend. They kept the tickets because they couldn’t get a refund and planned to go their separate ways after landing in New York, Kobayashi’s sister told the Los Angeles Times.
CNN reported the ex-boyfriend made the connecting flight, but she didn’t.
What did Kobayashi do after missing the flight?
A day after missing her flight, the LA Times reported Kobayashi went to a bookstore at The Grove shopping mall, in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. Her aunt told the newspaper she sent a photo of a book to a relative. Using data from the photo, family later went to that bookstore and confirmed she had been there and that she filled out a newsletter form.
She also sent two payments on Venmo to two people her family didn’t recognize, CNN reported. Police have said she remained active on Instagram.
On Nov. 10, she was identified in a promotional video for a LeBron James Nike event at The Grove. She also posted a photo of the event on her Instagram, her last public post, in which she tagged the LA Times.
Concerning text messages before disappearance
The family began receiving concerning text messages after Kobayashi missed her flight, family and police said. The messages were out of character from Kobayashi, her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told USA TODAY. These included odd phrases and a lack of emojis.
In the messages, Kobayashi said she didn’t feel safe, CNN reported. She texted that someone sought to steal her money and identity. In another text, CNN reported she wrote she was “tricked” into giving away all her funds. “For someone I thought I loved,” a follow-up message said.
CBS reported one of her messages said she had finished a “very intense spiritual awakening” and said she was headed back to the airport but that she “might need some help getting there.”
The last day her family made contact with her was Nov. 11. In screenshots of text messages shared with USA TODAY, Kobayashi said she was on her way to the airport.
“I have a safe passage” and “Will keep you posted,” she said, later adding “Matrix style.”
In follow-up messages, she said, “I’m safe”, “Love you”, “Don’t worry”, “For the good of all”, I will keep you posted”, “Promise” and “Call you soon.”
On Nov. 11, surveillance cameras showed Kobayashi at LAX but she never boarded a flight. Some time after 4:30 p.m., she spoke to an American Airlines agent, Pidgeon said.
Her phone was last turned on at LAX around then.
Where was Kobayshi last seen?
That night, CCTV footage captured Kobayashi in downtown LA. She was at the Pico Metro light-rail station, near Crypto.com Arena, with an unidentified person.
On Nov. 12, Kobayashi’s family said they filed a missing person report. The LAPD announced her as a missing person on Nov. 15.
The search for Kobayashi has garnered widespread attention online and in Los Angeles, and volunteers have organized groups to search the streets for her.
Days later, police found her father, Ryan Kobayashi, dead in a parking lot near LAX on Nov. 24. Ryan had been searching for nearly two weeks for his daughter around Los Angeles.
The family confirmed he had died by suicide. McDonnell, the police chief, said preliminary findings indicate it was a suicide.
Pidgeon told USA TODAY that recent weeks were already difficult before learning about her brother-in-law’s sudden death.
“He just died of a broken heart,” Pidgeon said. “Being on the streets and seeing what the possibilities of where his daughter could be. No sleep. The speculating rumors that are going around. It just took a toll on him.”
Anyone with information on Kobayashi’s whereabouts is asked to call Los Angeles police at 1-877-527-3247 or The Rad Movement at 619-904-0840.
Contributing: Anthony Robledo and James Powel
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hannah Kobayashi search continues three weeks after missing LAX flight
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