The family of a 30-year-old Hawaii resident is searching for her in Los Angeles after she missed a connecting flight, sent unusual text messages and then went silent, the relatives said.
Hannah Kobayashi arrived in Los Angeles on Nov. 8 en route to New York City but missed a connecting flight because a 30- to 45-minute window to get to its departure terminal may not have been enough, aunt Larie Pidgeon said in an interview.
Kobayashi, of Maui, stayed in Los Angeles as she awaited an opening for a last-minute flight to New York and used the time for sightseeing, family members said. She went to The Grove shopping center in the Beverly Grove neighborhood, about 12 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, to see a Nike marketing event on Nov. 10, they said.
Kobayashi's Instagram account, verified by NBC News, includes a photo she posted that depicts a Nike notice of filming, apparently at or near The Grove.
The next day, she sent concerning text messages to loved ones, family members said.
"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 said on Facebook.
"She hasn’t been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety," she wrote.
Pidgeon confirmed her Facebook account name, Larie Ingrum, by text. She was one of three relatives who recently sat for an interview about Kobayashi.
The three were part of a larger group of family members and loved ones who gathered in Los Angeles in recent days to launch a search effort.
Pidgeon said Kobayashi, an art fan and aspiring photographer, saved for the trip to New York City and was excited before she left Honolulu on Nov. 8.
She planned to visit the Museum of Modern Art and absorb Manhattan's art scene as part of her effort to establish a career, Pidgeon said.
"She was really trying to school herself on how to become 'it' in New York," she said.
Relatives have said they reported Kobayashi missing to the Los Angeles International Airport Police Department and the FBI, but the Los Angeles Police Department said it is the primary investigating agency on the case. Officer Tony Im, an LAPD spokesman, said Kobayashi was reported missing to the department Friday.
Pidgeon said texts sent Nov. 11 were alarming and at times didn't sound like they were written in Kobayashi's voice.
Family members quoted one of the texts, according to a video report from NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu: “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.”
Pidgeon said the texts describe what amounts to identity theft.
"She said that someone was stealing her identity, that she felt scared," Pidgeon said.
It appeared Kobayashi was at Los Angeles International Airport at the time, she said. Another aunt, Geordan Montalvo, whom Kobayashi was to visit in New York, tried to reach her, Pidgeon said.
