The mystery man who spent time with Hannah Kobayashi before she disappeared says the two talked about her personal life and her time in Hawaii.
The 30-year-old disappeared from Los Angeles International Airport after missing a connecting flight from her home in Maui to New York on November 8.
Investigators say Hannah ‘knowingly departed’ the airport, before using her passport and cash to buy a bus ticket to the US-Mexico border. She was later caught on surveillance footage crossing into Tijuana on foot between November 12 and 13, police said.
Prior to that, she was spotted speaking with an anonymous man at the airport before they wandered through downtown LA to Union Station, where they both fell asleep.
Law enforcement revealed to People that they had managed to track the man down who told them they initially struck up conversation after she asked how to get to the station.
The man told cops that Kobayashi came across as a ‘free spirit’, with Detective Omar Franco telling the outlet he was ‘an ear to listen’.
He said: ‘She just spoke and talked about her life in Maui, her personal life, her love life and so forth. And he just listened to her.’
The man told officers that they met at LAX’s train stop and struck up a conversation, saying she was coherent and normal.
Investigators say Hannah ‘knowingly departed’ the airport, before using her passport and cash to buy a bus ticket to the US-Mexico border
The 30-year-old disappeared from Los Angeles International Airport after missing a connecting flight from her home in Maui to New York, she is seen after touching down in LAX on the left and buying a bus ticket at Union Station on the right
He said Kobayashi had told him of plans to be in New York, and also mentioned that she wanted to go see the redwoods in The Golden State.
After arriving at Union Station the two ate dinner together before both sleeping in a waiting area. Kobayashi later woke up, grabbed her belongings and left.
She bought a bus ticket and boarded shortly after before arriving at the border several hours later and walked into Tijuana.
Investigators say Hannah ‘knowingly departed’ the airport and have her changed her status as ‘voluntary missing’, effectively closing the book on their investigation.
Such a move has fractured her already devastated family as they still continue to insist her fleeing into Mexico is uncharacteristic of her and are now fighting amongst themselves.
Among their issues is varying relatives having differing opinions on who should speak for the family. Hannah’s sister, Sydni, hit out at her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, for her comments to the press.
‘It’s really unfortunate when you have to question family,’ she told NewsNation earlier this week.
‘The fact that she has gone rogue and wants to disconnect from [our effort], that’s on her.’
Friction amongst her loved ones has since come to ahead since Sydni’s comments, with her aunt announcing she was parting ways with Sydni and her mother to find Hannah.
The family had been searching for Kobayashi since she missed her flight to New York
They have previously said the search for Hannah is ‘far from over, and they are committed to doing everything possible to bring her home safely’
Pidgeon told NewsNation on Friday that she made the decision to split from the two after funds from a GoFundMe were used on a lawyer instead of a private investigator.
She told the outlet: ‘I am preparing to travel to Mexico personally to further the efforts to locate her and verify that she is acting of her own free will and is truly safe.’
The family has previously said the search for Hannah is ‘far from over, and they are committed to doing everything possible to bring her home safely’.
‘We are deeply grateful for the urgency and dedication law enforcement has shown in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,’ they said in a statement shared online by NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin.
‘Our family remains hopeful that Hannah is safe and urges everyone to continue the search.
‘We want answers and a resolution that ensures Hannah’s safety and urge law enforcement and the public to stay focused on finding her and to avoid speculative conclusions.
‘Spreading awareness and sharing verified information about her case is crucial, and we deeply appreciate your continued support in these efforts.’
Police revealed that Kobayashi had been spotted on security footage crossing the border into Tijuana and updated her status to a ‘voluntarily missing person’
The family have repeatedly shared their concerns that Hannah may be in danger, with Sydni saying that even if she decided to go off-grid, she would have reached out after her father took his own life during the search efforts.
‘With my father’s passing, with it being everywhere, in her right state of mind, she would have never thought to not reach out to anybody,’ she told Hawaii News Now.
They also claimed that they received a string of strange text messages from Kobayashi that seemed to suggest she was in trouble and someone had stolen her money.
In the messages, she claimed she had recently undergone a ‘spiritual awakening,’ after she was due to meet family in New York.
In another, she claimed: ‘Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday.’
A third text message to a friend said she was ‘tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I love.’
Kobayashi had also sent some unusual Venmo payments following her disappearance.
One payment was sent at 6:25pm on November 9 to a person named Veronica Almendarez for an unknown amount, with the description of the payment only showing a drawn bow and arrow emoji.
The second was made less than an hour later to someone called Jonathan Taylor, also for an undisclosed amount, with the description only saying: ‘Reading.’
Family members said the did not recognize either name, and have noted hat Kobayashi’s phone has been off since November 11, with her last pinned location being the Los Angeles International Airport.
Sources have since claimed to Los Angeles Magazine that Kobayashi had apparently been scammed out of the proceeds of a green card visa scheme
Sources have since claimed to Los Angeles Magazine that Kobayashi had apparently been scammed out of the proceeds of a green card visa scheme.
The outlet said that Kobayashi and her then-partner landed in LAX with plans to board their connecting flight, with her legal husband and his partner also onboard.
LA Mag reports that the scam was uncovered by Kobayashi’s mother who found documents listing an attorney for her daughter’s marriage, which she handed over to law enforcement.
In a statement from the family lawyer Sara Azari, she said that the family did not have ‘the facts or necessary documents’ to verify what they called the ‘alleged marriage’.
Their statement said: ‘This is one of many leads we are actively investigating with the help of our attorney and investigative team.
‘We would also like to confirm that we turned over the alleged information to law enforcement immediately upon receipt.’
