Hannah Kobayashi: Family searches for woman who went missing in LA

(NewsNation) — Family members of Maui woman Hannah Kobayashi are in Los Angeles to search for her after the 31-year-old went missing on a trip to California earlier this month.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit, Kobayashi is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes, and fair skin with freckles, as well as a tattoo that says “knife” on her forearm.

Kobayashi’s family last heard from her on Nov. 11, when she started sending them “alarming” text messages, NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reported.

What is known about Hannah Kobayashi’s disappearance

KTLA wrote that Kobayashi, on Nov. 8, missed a connecting flight from Los Angeles to New York City, where she was planning to visit family.

The day after, Kobayashi decided to go to The Grove shopping center for a two-day Lebron James event, which she posted about on Instagram.

While she was at The Grove on Nov. 9, Kobayashi was seen by employees at the Taschen bookstore, Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashi’s aunt, told USA Today.

On Nov. 11, according to the Los Angeles Times, Kobayashi went back to Los Angeles International Airport, though without getting onboard a flight. Family members confirmed to KTLA that they also saw footage of Kobayashi near the Pico Metro Station in downtown Los Angeles.

“I miss her,” Kobayashi’s father Ryan said in an interview with KTLA. “Just want her to know that, and just want her to reach out — anything.”

Kobayashi sent ‘strange’ text messages, family says

Pidgeon said it was when Kobayashi went back to the airport that she started sending the family “alarming” text messages.

“She mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” her aunt said to KTLA. “Strange, cryptic messages — things about the matrix, it was so unlike her. And then all of a sudden, no more communication.”

Kobayashi’s sister started a GoFundMe to assist with search efforts.

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