A Maui woman missed her flight—then vanished. Her family fears she’s been abducted after receiving chilling texts
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:
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.
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.
