The sister of missing Maui woman Hannah Kobayashi has spoken out of the family’s fears that “someone is controlling her.”
The 30-year-old has been missing since November 8 when she stopped over at Los Angeles International Airport on her way from Hawaii to New York City.
Her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that “strange” text messages friends and family members had received from Hannah’s phone “were absolutely not like her.”
One of the cryptic texts a friend received from Hannah’s number said she had been “tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds” to “someone I thought I loved,” it was previously reported.
“Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f*** since Friday,” another message said.
Sydni described the texts as “really weird.”
“This is absolutely not like her, especially with the text messages that she last sent,” she told the broadcaster. “In my mind, it feels like someone was controlling her. Or it might not have even been her.”
“This whole situation is bizarre,” Sydni added. “She would never have done anything like this to our family.”
The family is currently grappling with the double tragedy of the death of Ryan Kobayashi, Hannah’s father, as they continue to search for the missing photographer.
Ryan, 58, was found dead in a parking lot near LAX on Sunday while he was in the city looking for his daughter. The LA County medical examiner has since ruled his death as a suicide.
Sydni told NewsNation that her father “fought until his last breath” to find Hannah.
“He deprived himself of sleep, he wasn’t eating,” Sydni said, with her voice cracking. “And he pushed and he pushed and he fought for her like any loving parent would.”
Hannah had planned to meet her aunt Geordan Montalvo and her aunt’s husband Bob in New York to go to a concert together on November 12. The vacation was described as a bucket list trip.
But she missed her connecting flight at LAX on November 8.
The following day, she was spotted at a bookstore at The Grove, a popular outdoor mall in LA. One day later, she was seen at a LeBron James event.
On November 11, surveillance video captured her at a downtown LA Metro stop with a person not known to her family.
It was then that the Kobayashi family said they received a “strange and cryptic” text from the woman’s phone suggesting she was being “intercepted” while she was boarding a Metro train, and expressing fear that someone was trying to steal her identity.
“Once the family started pressing, she went dark,” Hannah’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon told the Associated Press on Saturday. She said the phone “just went dead” after November 11.
Police are investigating payments Hannah made over Venmo to a man and woman on November 9, shortly before her disappearance.
It’s unclear exactly how much money she sent before she was last heard from on November 11.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
