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Family of missing Maui woman who vanished in LA urge police to do more to find her

One of Hannah Kobayashi’s aunts say police waited 10 days before contacting them

Michelle Del Rey
Friday 22 November 2024 19:31 EST
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Hannah Kobayashi: Search continues for missing Maui woman

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The family of a missing Hawaii woman is asking police to take the investigation into her disappearance “more seriously.”

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, went missing after she missed her connecting flight from Los Angeles to New York City on November 8. The following day, she was spotted at a bookstore at The Grove, a popular outdoor mall in LA. A day later, she was seen at a Lebron James event.

On November 11, surveillance video showed her at a downtown Los Angeles Metro stop with a person not known to her family. Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashi’s aunt told KTLA 5 her niece did not look well. “She is not safe, and she is not alone,” she said.

Her family doesn’t know what has happened to her since. They told the Daily Mail police waited 10 days after Kobayashi went missing to contact them.

Before she disappeared, Kobayashi sent cryptic texts to a friend saying she had been “tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds” to “someone I thought I loved.” Her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, described the texts as “really weird.” Kobayashi added that she was scared and couldn’t come back home.

Surveillance footage shows Hannah Kobayashi arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on November 8
Surveillance footage shows Hannah Kobayashi arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on November 8 (Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook)

Then the texts stopped. Kobayashi is 5ft 10ins and weighs about 140 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes, and fair skin with freckles.

Her family recently flew to Los Angeles to search for her themselves.

Pidgeon said of the LAPD: “As of today the police have reached out to family members who last spoke with Hannah.

“We think they realize we’re not going away and we’re going to be really loud. We’re going to do something until they do something. I think now they are beginning the process of what we began six days ago.”

She continued: “The entire world is looking for you [Hannah] because that’s how special you are. We are not going to stop until we find you. We love you.”

Ryan Kobayashi, the missing woman’s father, handed out missing persons flyers to people on the street. He told the outlet he will do everything in his power until she is found.

The 30-year-old vanished last week while traveling from Hawaii to New York City via LA
The 30-year-old vanished last week while traveling from Hawaii to New York City via LA (Sydni Kobayashi/Facebook)

“She’s a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people,” he said.

The New York City trip was a bucket list item for Hannah Kobayashi. She was set to meet one of her aunts, Geordan Montalvo and her husband Bob, in New York. All of them had tickets for a concert on November 12.

One of her former boyfriends was on the plane ride with her from Maui to Los Angeles. Montalvo said the ex-boyfriend is being helpful with the search.

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