When you know someone intimately, you begin to understand them beyond the surface and shallow things. The knowing goes beyond what they look like, the sound of their voice, their preferences. You begin to understand their essence, their spirit.
The knowing is so deep that you can predict not only what a person might say but how they might say it. This is the reason why one Hawaiian family is so concerned about the last text messages they received from their loved one, Hannah Kobayashi, who recently went missing after not boarding a connecting flight in Los Angeles.
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Hannah, an aspiring photographer, was traveling from Hawaii to New York City, People reports. But her family believes she never made it there. Hannah had a layover in Los Angeles, and reportedly failed to board her connecting flight. Instead, she sent her family alarming text messages before she seemed to vanish.
Larie Pidgeon, Hannah’s aunt, explained the situation in a Facebook group created to help find the 30-year-old. “Hannah’s last message to us was alarming — she mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” Pidgeon wrote on November 14, 2024. “She hasn’t been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety.”
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According to KHON, Hannah left her home in Maui on November 8. She was set to reach New York City on November 9. The last message Hannah sent came on November 11.
Pidgeon said the messages didn’t read like they were written in Hannah’s voice. “She said that someone was stealing her identity, that she felt scared,” Pidgeon told KHNL of Honolulu. Another text read, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.”
Hannah’s sister, Sydni Kobayashi, told HawaiiNewsNow that one of the messages said that Hannah was scared and couldn’t come back home. “It was just really weird texts,” Sydni said. “It doesn’t sound like her, like there’s just something off about it. So I wasn’t too sure. I don’t know if it’s her or if someone else was texting.”
Hannah’s aunt, Geordan Montalvo, tried several times to reach her on the phone. “Her phone pinged at LAX at 4 p.m. and then after that, Montalvo kept trying to talk to her, and then it went dark. “Her phone went dead, and her communication cut off completely,” she said.
One person on the Facebook group claimed security footage had captured Hannah and someone else in the area of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles on November 11.
Later, the family confirmed that it was Hannah in the footage, KTLA reports. Her family says that in the footage, which has not been released to the public, Hannah does not look well. “She is not safe, and she is not alone,” Pidgeon said.
Pidgeon and other family members have traveled to Los Angeles to look for Hannah. The family has been posting flyers as a part of their search. They’ve also created a GoFundMe, asking for funds to pay for hotels and other expenses as the continue their search efforts. The family is adamant about keeping Hannah’s name out there.
“If they can print flyers, if they can just help us do the legwork keep her name out there — the longer her name is out there the more she stays relevant,” said Pidgeon.
The Los Angeles Police Department has an open missing person case for Hannah but it is not sharing details of the investigation with the public. The family asks that anyone with information about Hannah call Larie Pidgeon at 845-750-3006.
