Family members of missing Maui woman suspect ‘someone has taken her’
By A’ali’i Dukelow
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MAUI, Hawai’i (KITV) — Family members of Hannah Kobayashi are taking matters into their own hands to find her. Some of them are flying to Los Angeles to search on the ground, including her father.
Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashi’s aunt, said her father was too distraught to speak on camera.
“We’re terrified, we’re scared, we’re not losing hope,” Pidgeon said.
“More family is descending on LA as we speak.”
The 30-year-old Maui resident was reported missing at the Los Angeles International Airport more than a week ago.
Kobayashi was supposed to visit her aunt in New York but missed her connecting flight.
Pidgeon said she was last seen at Crypto.com arena last Monday and sightings of her have been circulating on social media
Family members have their own suspicions about what is going on.
“We’re trying to stay positive, we are trying to keep our spirits up, but unfortunately, we cannot give too much information because we don’t want to hinder any investigation, but we fear that someone has taken her,” Pidgeon said.
Unusual and cryptic text messages sent from Hannah’s phone to her relatives tipped them off, with some saying she was scared and feared someone was trying to steal her money and identity.
“All of these messages that we got is why we contacted authorities, that’s why we got alarmed. It’s the reason that we wanted so much attention… again, we’ve been saying, this is out of character for her, that she would not send these types of messages,” Pidgeon added.
Kobayashi is described as being 5-feet 10-inches with brown hair and eyes, as well as fair-skinned with freckles.
Family members are asking if you have any information on her whereabouts, to contact them and LA authorities.
Pidgeon can be reached at 845-750-3006.
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