Editor's note: This article discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
Three weeks after a Hawaiian woman disappeared in Los Angeles, her family vows to continue the search into the mysterious disappearance amid disturbing text messages.
Hannah Kobayashi, 30, was last heard from on Nov. 11 after missing a connecting flight from Maui to New York City at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8, her family said.
On November 24, her father, who had been trying to find his daughter, was found dead near the LA airport of an apparent suicide, police said.
Surveillance videos have shown her at a Los Angeles mall and train station, and strange messages and online payments have since only added to the mystery behind her disappearance.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said Tuesday that police determined Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight.
“Our thoughts go out to the Kobayashi family during this unimaginable time of grief,” McDonnell said at a meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. “We remain fully committed to locating Hannah and supporting the family as they navigate this tragedy.”
LAPD did not return USA TODAY's request for further updates on the investigation on Friday. USA TODAY has also reached out to an organization representing the family.
This is what we know:
Hannah Kobayashi is seen on a security camera at Los Angeles International Airport on November 8, 2024.
Who is Hannah Kobayashi?
Kobayashi is described as 6 feet tall and weighs about 140 pounds, according to an LAPD description. She has brown hair, hazel eyes and freckles on her face and normally wears glasses. She has a tattoo of a heart with a knife on her right forearm.
Friends describe her as creative and enterprising, and as an aspiring photographer, CNN reports. She planned to go to New York to visit an aunt, and she would also take photos at a concert in Brooklyn in mid-November, her family told the news station.
Kobayashi was on the same flight to New York as her ex-boyfriend. They kept the tickets because they could not get a refund and planned to go their separate ways after landing in New York, Kobayashi's sister told the Los Angeles Times.
CNN reported that the ex-boyfriend made the connecting flight, but she did not.
What did Kobayashi do after missing the flight?
A day after missing her flight, the LA Times reported that Kobayashi went to a bookstore in The Grove mall, in Los Angeles's Fairfax District. Her aunt told the newspaper that she had sent a photo of a book to a relative. Using data from the photo, the family later went to that bookstore and confirmed that she had been there and that she had filled out a newsletter form.
She also sent two payments via Venmo to two people her family did not recognize, CNN reported. According to police, she remained active on Instagram.
On November 10, she was identified in a promotional video for a LeBron James Nike event at The Grove. She also posted a photo from the event to her Instagram, her last public post, tagging the LA Times.
About text messages before the disappearance
The family began receiving disturbing text messages after Kobayashi missed her flight, family and police said. The messages were derogatory from Kobayashi, her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told USA TODAY. These include strange phrases and a lack of emojis.
In the messages, Kobayashi said she did not feel safe, CNN reported. She texted that someone was trying to steal her money and identity. In another text, CNN reported that she wrote that she had been “tricked” into giving away all her money. “For someone I thought I loved,” a follow-up message read.
CBS reported that one of her messages stated that she had completed a “very intense spiritual awakening” and that she was heading back to the airport, but that she “might need some help getting there.”
The last day her family contacted her was November 11. In screenshots of text messages shared with USA TODAY, Kobayashi said she was on her way to the airport.
“I have safe passage” and “I'll keep you posted,” she said, later adding “Matrix style.”
In follow-up messages, she said, “I'm safe,” “I love you,” “Don't worry,” “For the good of all,” I'll keep you posted,” “Promise,” and “Call you soon .”
On November 11, surveillance cameras showed Kobayashi at LAX, but she never boarded a flight. Sometime after 4:30 p.m., she spoke with an American Airlines agent, Pidgeon said.
Her phone was last turned on at LAX around that time.
Where was Kobayshi last seen?
That night, CCTV captured Kobayashi in downtown LA. She was at the Pico light rail station, near the Crypto.com Arena, with an unidentified person.
On November 12, Kobayashi's family said they had filed a missing persons report. The LAPD reported her missing on November 15.
The search for Kobayashi has received widespread attention online and in Los Angeles, and volunteers have organized groups to take to the streets looking for her.
Days later, police found her father, Ryan Kobayashi, dead in a parking lot near LAX on November 24. Ryan had been looking for his daughter in Los Angeles for almost two weeks.
The family confirmed that he died by suicide. McDonnell, the police chief, said preliminary findings indicate it was a suicide.
Pidgeon told USA TODAY that the past few weeks had already been difficult before learning about her brother-in-law's sudden death.
“He just died of a broken heart,” Pidgeon said. “Being on the streets and seeing the possibilities of where his daughter could be. No sleep. The speculative rumors going around. It just took a toll on him.”
Anyone with information on Kobayashi's whereabouts is asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department at 1-877-527-3247 or The Rad Movement at 619-904-0840.
Contributors: Anthony Robledo and James Powell
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Search for Hannah Kobayashi continues for three weeks after missing LAX flight
