Missing tourist Hannah Kobayashi: Father found dead in LA while ...
NZ Herald
26 Nov, 2024 02:51 AM3 mins to read
Hawaiian woman Hannah Kobayashi was embarking on a bucket list holiday to New York. She never made it, and alarming text messages have since been sent from her phone.
The family of a Hawaiian woman who went missing while on her way to tick off a “bucket list holiday” have been dealt a devastating new blow.
Hannah Kobayashi went missing after boarding a flight to Los Angeles on November 8 before alarming messages were sent from her phone days later.
Now her family are reeling after her father who went to Los Angeles to help search for the missing 30-year-old was found dead in a carpark.
Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found unresponsive in a carpark near the airport days after he arrived in Los Angeles.
Although a cause of death has yet to be confirmed, his family told media they believe he took his own life amid a mental health emergency.
“He died of a broken heart,” says Larie Pidgeon, his former sister-in-law and Hannah’s aunt.
“We’ve been searching tirelessly,” Pidgeon told People.
“I think it just became so overwhelming for him driving the streets, going to Skid Row and seeing where his daughter could possibly have ended up.”
What we know about Hannah Kobayashi’s disappearanceFamily were immediately concerned for Hannah’s welfare after she failed to board a flight from LA to New York to visit her aunt.
After they reached out to Hannah asking whether she got to New York safely, her friends began receiving bizarre text messages from her phone.
Messages to friends from her phone said she “got hacked”, and explained she couldn’t get to New York because she was “stripped of my identity” and couldn’t fly.
When asked by her friend how she got from Maui to Los Angeles, a response from Hannah’s phone replied “some weird s*** babe”.
Messages from the missing woman’s phone continued, with one claiming she “can’t go to the po [police]” and that she was tricked into giving away her funds “for someone I thought I loved”.
Messages from her phone then said she has “been on the streets”.
Her phone has been turned off since November 11, with her last pinned location showing she was at Los Angeles Airport.
Family indicated the messages sent from her phone were not consistent with how the 30-year-old typically acts or responds.
One of her last messages to family and friends said she experienced a “very intense spiritual awakening”, and intends on reaching New York but will “need some help getting there”.
She then apologised for her “craziness” and claimed she was “definitely intercepted”.
Both the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI are now involved.
It is not known where Hannah is.
