Hannah Kobayashi missing: Family fear woman abducted after missing connecting flight home and sending 'alarming texts'

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Hannah Kobayashi has been missing for more than a week and her family now fears that the 30-year-old Hawaiian woman may have been abducted.

Geordan Ingrum Montalvo posted on Facebook that she last spoke to her niece, Hannah Midori Eve Kobayashi, on Sunday night (10 November) at Los Angeles International Airport where she was meant to get a connecting flight to New York City. Montalvo wrote: “I last spoke to her on Sunday night from LAX airport.

“She was trying to get a flight to NY to meet me but never got on the connecting flight. Please spread the word out and help us find her. Thank you.“

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Montalvo attached a picture of Hannah to the post which has information on her appearance. It reads that Hannah is 5’10, has brown hair, brown eyes and is fair with freckles. It adds that she was last seen at LAX as she was on her way from Maui to New York City to see her family.

She was last seen in surveillance footage with an unknown person on November 11, her family said. A a series of suspicious text messages were also sent from her phone and then Kobayashi went silent.

Hannah Kobayashi has been missing for more than a week and her family now fears that the 30-year-old Hawaiian woman may have been abducted. (Photo: Facebook/Danielle Monet)Hannah Kobayashi has been missing for more than a week and her family now fears that the 30-year-old Hawaiian woman may have been abducted. (Photo: Facebook/Danielle Monet)
Hannah Kobayashi has been missing for more than a week and her family now fears that the 30-year-old Hawaiian woman may have been abducted. (Photo: Facebook/Danielle Monet) | Facebook/Danielle Monet

Her family told ABC 7 Eyewitness News: "We try not to think the worst. We're trying to keep hope alive, but it has now been basically a week and a day since November 11, when she was last spotted with this unknown person and didn't seem to be OK”.

Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashi's aunt, told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Tuesday (19 November): "So, our mind is now going to, you know, abduction and, I hate to say the word, but, you know, trafficked. We're doing the best that we can, but the family at this point is having to come to the reality that those things could be a possibility.”

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The FBI is assisting LAPD in their search and investigation of the disappearance, according to a statement sent by to CNN by the Los Angeles FBI field office. Text messages sent from her phone the day of the disappearance used words like "hun," "love" and "babe," according to her sister. She said that she didn't believe her sister had sent those texts as she doesn't use words like that normally.

"I personally don't think that was my sister," Sydni Kobayashi said. "She doesn't use the word 'hun.' 'Love' and 'babe,' but never 'hun.' Even her close friends have said the same."

One message to a friend said: "Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday”. Family member Larie Pidgeon wrote on Facebook on November 14: "Hannah’s last message to us was alarming — she mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity. She hasn’t been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety.”

On November 8, Hannah, 31, left Maui, Hawaii, and was seen on surveillance footage at Los Angeles airport. She missed her overnight flight to JFK Airport in New York, scheduled to land on November 9. She was originally spotted at a LeBron James event in Los Angeles.

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According to the latest location pinned by her phone, Kobayashi was at LAX on Monday. On Monday, she also posted something on her Instagram account that appeared to be a sign from the Nike pop-up event.

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