Hannah Kobayashi’s last known movements as her family takes the search into their own hands
The search for missing Hawaiian woman Hannah Kobayashi continued Friday as her distraught family scoured Los Angeles for clues that could lead to her being found.
Kobayashi, 30, disappeared after missing a connecting flight between her home in Maui and New York, where she was to visit an aunt.
The missing woman landed in Los Angeles and was seen leaving LAX Airport and heading downtown on November 8.
Her family say they received cryptic messages from her before she stopped contacting them altogether – behavior they describe as highly unusual.
The family is frustrated with the pace of the official police investigation.
They say the LAPD did not contact them for 10 days after initially reporting her missing, and that they are the ones tasked with conducting the search.
Their desperation has driven them to Hollywood media and Internet web sleuth groups.
Last night the family handed out flyers during an LA Lakers Game.
November 8
Now Hannah’s sister Sydni is sharing a list of all the sightings they have recorded.
Kobayashi landed at LAX airport at 9:53 p.m. and was seen on airport surveillance footage getting off the plane.
She was supposed to catch a connecting flight at 11 p.m., but that didn’t work out.
The sister of missing Hawaiian woman Hannah Kobayashi has shared details of every last known sighting as her family continues their painful search
She called her aunt Geordan Montalvo to explain that she had missed the connection and promised to meet her in New York.
It is then believed that she spent the night at the airport before being spotted at various locations in LA.
November 9
Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping center between noon and 3 p.m.
She spent a significant amount of time at Taschen Books, stopping to charge her phone.
At 2:43 a.m., she took a photo and sent it to her aunt before returning to the airport where she was believed to have spent the night.
From there, she called Montalvo again to tell her she was still trying to get to New York.
November 10
On Sunday, two days after she landed, Kobayashi returned to The Grove.
She appeared in the background of a video outside a Nike event with LeBron James at 3:30 p.m
Kobayashi also shared a post on her Instagram from the event with an eye emoji as the caption.
She was then spotted talking to a ticket agent at LAX around 5 p.m.
Kobayashi, 30, disappeared during a layover in Los Angeles while traveling from her home in Maui to New York and was spotted getting off her flight at LAX
In a YouTube video, Hannah was seen in the background at an event at The Grove bookstore for Lakers player Lebron James
Her last post was shared on November 11. It is believed she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time
Her family filed a missing persons report the same day, amid what they described as unusual correspondence from Kobayashi.
One of the messages reportedly read: “Deep Hackers erased my identity, stole all my money and have been in my thoughts since Friday.”
Kobayashi’s mother, Brandi Yee, also reported sending her a text asking if she had made it to New York.
She simply replied, “Not yet.” Another early morning text mentioned that she was in the midst of a “spiritual awakening.”
On a missing persons poster sent out immediately afterwards, police wrote: ‘Before they went missing, [Kobayashi] sent a message on November 10 saying she was scared and that someone might try to steal her money and identity. She hasn’t had any problems since then.’
November 11
The next day, Kobayashi was seen boarding a LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station.
She boarded at 9:02 p.m., before transferring to another train at Rosa Parks Station.
Sydni said it has been confirmed that her sister was accompanied by someone during the trip.
Kobayashi made several trips to The Grove mall, including to this bookstore shortly after she landed
The missing woman’s family has taken matters into their own hands and distributed flyers in the area where Kobayashi was last seen.
Kobayashi was finally seen leaving the Pico subway station with the unknown person at 10:03 p.m.
Latest update
On Thursday, the LAPD had yet to declare that Kobayashi had been kidnapped.
The investigation is still being treated as a missing persons case, a spokesperson confirmed.
DailyMail.com revealed yesterday that detectives waited ten days before contacting the family for an interview.
Sydni also criticized the lack of action and revealed that her relatives turned to psychic mediums for help.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, her aunt Larie Pidgeon said they now fear the worst.
“Our thoughts now turn to kidnapping and, I hate to say it, but, you know, human trafficking,” she said.
They held a meeting before the Lakers’ game Thursday afternoon, just blocks from the station where Kobayashi was last seen
Kobayashi was last seen in the company of an unknown person but has not been declared kidnapped by police
“We are doing our best, but at this point the family needs to come to the reality that these things are possible.”
The LAPD, meanwhile, is still leading the investigation but is now being assisted by the FBI, field office agents in the city told KHON Honolulu on Wednesday.
Statements from Pidgeon to the station seemed to indicate that Kobayashi is still with the person in the footage, who has yet to be physically described.
“She’s not alone, she’s with an unknown person,” Pidgeon said. “And she also got off and at a station,” she continued, before walking away.
“It’s not good and it scared us, it brought her father to tears,” she concluded.
She and others held a rally Thursday afternoon to hand out fliers before the Lakers’ game, just blocks from the station where Kobayashi was last seen.
Before her disappearance, a friend of Kobayashi said she received bizarre messages about a scam.
‘I was so deceived that I gave away all my money. For someone I thought I loved,” the messages read.
They were seen at Pico subway station on November 11, before Kobayashi’s phone was switched off
Kobayashi, a photographer, lives in Haiku, Maui. She was on her way to New York to photograph a DJ when she suddenly disappeared
The family also noted that the young artist’s phone has been turned off since November 11.
“She texted her saying she was scared and she couldn’t come home anymore or something. They were just really weird texts,” Sydni said.
She added that the messages “didn’t seem like her” and wonders if it was Hannah who sent them.
Kobayashi was on the same flight as her ex-boyfriend, as the two had booked the trip before breaking up.
However, they were not together during the trip and he has been helping the police in the search ever since.