The case of Hannah Kobayashi, a 31-year-old Hawaii woman who disappeared after missing a connecting flight in Los Angeles in early November, has drawn national attention, which grew after her father, who travelled there to look for her, was found dead Sunday.
Here’s what we know so far.
The facts
• Kobayashi arrived in Los Angeles at 9:53 p.m. on Nov. 8 en route to New York. She missed her connecting flight, according to her family.
• Kobayashi’s family says she was last seen on Nov. 11 in closed-circuit TV footage at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. She was not alone, the family said. She also went to the Grove, a shopping area, before disappearing.
• In some of her last communications, Kobayashi sent bizarre text messages that were out of character, according to her family. Her phone has since gone dead.
• Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found dead Sunday after spending 13 days in Los Angeles looking for his daughter. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide.
Who is Hannah Kobayashi?
The 31-year-old from Maui, Hawaii, was an early-career photographer who was traveling to New York for an assignment, according to her aunt Larie Pidgeon. Kobayashi had sent her mother a detailed itinerary of her stay in New York, listing places she would eat at and museums she planned to visit, Pidgeon said in an interview with News Nation. Kobayashi had paid “a couple thousand dollars” for a hotel reservation, she added.
Pidgeon said that Kobayashi had been working to land a paying photography assignment for the past five years. “That had been on her bucket list forever, to get a paid photography gig,” Pidgeon said in the Nov. 23 interview with News Nation.
Kobayashi is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. She has brown hair, hazel eyes and freckles, and a tattoo of a knife on her forearm. She also normally wears glasses, according to the RAD Movement, a nonprofit group that is assisting the family with the search.
What happened to her father?
Ryan Kobayashi died at approximately 4:15 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. The Kobayashi family said the 58-year-old had taken his own life and that the “loss has compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably.” The family urged the public to remain focused on finding Hannah Kobayashi, in a statement released by the RAD Movement.
“If you see Hannah, please call 911 immediately. Please obtain a photograph if possible. Your prompt action is crucial. If you’re able to safely keep eyes on her until law enforcement arrives, please do so,” it added.
— If you or someone you know needs help, visit 988lifeline.org or call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.