○On November 11, the family of 30-year-old Hawaiian photographer Hannah Kobayashi received an alarming text from her cell phone informing them that she had been “intercepted”. A friend received the following message on his phone: “Deep hackers erased my identity and stole all my funds and I have been in chaos since Friday.”
So far, those were the last words the family heard from her. Ms. Kobayashi’s disappearance apparently caused panic among those close to her and triggered a frantic and extensive investigation by law enforcement. The case made headlines both in America and around the world and is believed to have played a key role in her father’s tragic suicide.
However, Kobayashi’s disappearance is far from an ordinary criminal case. Remarkably, authorities last week gave a partial answer to the question of what happened to Kobayashi: She was neither kidnapped nor murdered. Police said she was a “self-disappeared person” and was filmed crossing the border into Mexico alone.
But that wasn’t the end of the story, as some members of her family didn’t accept that official explanation. But some who have followed the story closely and were moved to help the family are wondering whether they should have supported the cause. Law enforcement agencies are also investigating whether Kobayashi was involved in the fraud.
Kobayashi’s family and police continue to make the same appeal to Kobayashi: “Please let us know that you are safe.”
“While she has a right to privacy and we respect her choices, we also understand the concerns her loved ones are feeling,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in December. This was stated in a news release on the 2nd. “A simple message can reassure those who care about her.”
There was little to suggest that Ms. Kobayashi and her family were at the center of such drama. Kobayashi loved travel, photography, art and music, her missing father, Ryan, told CNN.
In 2022, Kobayashi also shared a selfie taken at a volcano in Hawaii on Instagram with the words, “Attachment is the root of all suffering.”
On November 14, Hawaii news outlets reported that local families were searching for loved ones believed to be missing. She was scheduled to travel from Maui to Los Angeles to New York to visit her aunt and take photos at a DJ’s show in Brooklyn, but never arrived.
“This is very different from Hannah, she’s very responsible. I mean, she was really looking forward to this event,” her aunt, Larry Pidgeon, told Hawaii’s KITV 4.
When asked if she had a message for her niece, Pidgeon choked up and said: “I won’t stop until I find you. You have a lot of family and a lot of friends who love you.”
Her family has filed a missing persons report and started a GoFundMe page to help find her.
Photos and videos of her in Los Angeles before her disappearance have been released. When Ryan Kobayashi learned his daughter was missing, he headed to California to help find her.
“I wasn’t very close to her…growing up,” he said in an interview with CNN last week. “I’m just trying to make up. I’m trying to get her back.”
Ryan’s body was discovered near Los Angeles International Airport about two weeks after the search began. The coroner ruled that he died by suicide.
“Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life after a 13-day intense search throughout Los Angeles. This loss has compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably.” A statement from a non-profit organization supporting .
About a week later, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that Kobayashi had voluntarily crossed the border from the United States to Mexico.
She had bought a bus ticket in Los Angeles and was traveling to San Ysidro, California. She crossed the border alone with her luggage, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance video.
“The investigation has found no evidence that Kobayashi was trafficked or the victim of any criminal activity. She is not a suspect in any criminal activity. Additionally, investigators believe that prior to Kobayashi’s departure from Maui, , noted that he had expressed a desire to distance himself from modern internet connectivity,” the release states.
His sister Sidoni did not accept the conclusion that Kobayashi disappeared intentionally.
“I feel like someone is involved or controlling her or doing something,” she told NewsNation.
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“If she had known what happened with my father and his death, she definitely would have reached out to me by now,” Sidoni said. “If you knew what kind of person she was, there was no way you wouldn’t reach out to her.”
However, some followers of the story expressed skepticism that Kobayashi was still, or had ever been, in danger.
To help with the search for her, people have donated more than $47,000 to a GoFundMe page, and the family also created a Facebook group, “Help Us Find Hannah,” with more than 25,000 participants.
“Once something gets talked about, people want to feel like they’re part of the story,” said Daniel Slakov, an assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento, who specializes in media coverage of criminal cases. says. “People will go to Reddit and TikTok and chat with people about this incident.
“These stories become a gathering place on social media,” she added.
Some people are now asking for their donations to be returned.
“I hope this is a valuable lesson for some people who aren’t in a hurry to open their wallets because of strangers and sob stories,” one person wrote of her disappearance in a thread on Reddit. “I will,” he wrote. “Look how much we’ve learned in just three weeks.”
Users of the Facebook group announced they were closing down the page after their families’ lives were threatened and the “negativity and attacks… became unbearable.”
The GoFundMe page remained active. Kobayashi’s sister, Sidoni, said on Dec. 3 that her family remains concerned for Kobayashi’s safety, has hired a lawyer and a private investigator, and has asked Los Angeles to release footage of Kobayashi entering Mexico. I posted a request to the city police.
Sidney wrote on GoFundMe: “As we continue to search for Hannah, we anticipate significant legal fees and expenses in addition to the costs associated with continued search efforts.”
And on December 4, Los Angeles Magazine reported that law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, were investigating new possible reasons for Kobayashi’s disappearance. She and her ex-boyfriend may have concocted an immigration scheme in which they entered into a marriage for money, only to be defrauded of the proceeds.
The report was made after Kobayashi’s mother discovered immigration documents at her daughter’s home in Hawaii. The alleged groom also posted photos from the wedding on social media, but they have since been deleted, the magazine reported.
“The family has not released any information regarding the alleged marriage as they did not have the facts or the necessary documents to verify the validity of this information,” a statement released by the family’s attorney said. is written like this. “We ask that you please avoid jumping to conclusions and spreading unconfirmed claims. It is especially important not to perpetuate speculation that anyone is involved in fraud, and this is the most important step in finding Hannah and leading to her disappearance.” It will only hinder our efforts to define and end the nightmare we are experiencing.”
lastly. The mystery remains, and the only person who actually knows the truth has yet to speak. Kobayashi himself has remained silent, and that may never change.
“If she can, let’s say go to the U.S. embassy and say, ‘I’m safe.’ Tell her family, ‘Please let my family know that I’m safe,’ and her family will be able to You can get back to your life,” said Sulakov, a criminal justice professor. “But it’s true that it becomes very complicated when adults walk away, because they have every right to do so.”
