Hannah Kobayashi’s aunt says she’s received new “hope” after police told her Monday there’s reason to believe the missing 31-year-old is still somewhere in Los Angeles after weeks of being unaccounted for.
“That makes us believe that she’s still out there,” Larie Pidgeon told the Daily Beast by phone. “There’s a ton of manpower from the LAPD on it and it has been escalated. So that makes us believe that she’s still out there, and there’s still hope.”
That small slice of positivity comes at a trying time for the Kobayashi family.
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Not only did Hannah vanish without explanation, but her dad, Ryan Kobayashi, took his own life at Los Angeles International Airport over the weekend. That tragedy came after he spent 13 days desperately searching for his daughter to no avail, Pidgeon said. Police said Ryan’s body was found on the ground floor of a parking garage around 4 a.m. Sunday.
Pidgeon told the Beast the grief-stricken dad’s suicide was the result of a “broken heart” after many sleepless nights in Los Angeles, where his daughter was last seen on Nov. 11.
The aunt added that Ryan, 58, had flown to California from his home in Hawaii and left no stone unturned. That included searching in areas he wouldn’t have expected his daughter to be in, like within Skid Row and its large homeless population.
“He was tireless. He couldn’t take it,” Pidgeon said. “He loved his daughter endlessly.”
Pidgeon, 45, said she’s been organizing and searching within L.A. for two weeks after traveling down from her home in northern California. Other loved ones have made the trek from Hawaii and from New York City to have boots on the ground.
Hannah flew into LAX but was supposed to only be there briefly on a short layover before she jetted to New York City. Once there, she was set to visit her aunt and enjoy a “bucket list” trip in the city.
That flight for the Big Apple was scheduled to leave on Nov. 8, but Hannah never boarded. Her family last heard from her over text the following day, but they said she didn’t sound like her usual self.
“She mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” Pidgeon said to KTLA. “Strange, cryptic messages—things about the matrix, it was so unlike her. And then all of a sudden, no more communication.”
Security cameras captured Pidgeon at a shopping center on Nov. 10 and 11, and then again at the airport and a local train station the following day—though she never boarded a flight. Since then, however, there have been no sightings of Hannah that have been made public. Her cell phone has remained off.
Pidgeon said previously that she fears Hannah may have been abducted or trafficked. The family has launched a massive effort to find her, with over $25,000 being raised by Monday evening on GoFundMe. There have been rallies held in the city to help raise awareness and get Hannah’s face on fliers all across the nation’s second-most populated city.
Those who call Pidgeon’s cellphone when she’s away are now greeted with a heart-wrenching plea to Hannah in her voicemail, just in case she calls. She offered a similar one over the phone to the Beast on Monday.
“Hannah, we are tirelessly searching for you,” she said. “We are keeping hope alive. We are sharing your name. We are making people pay attention to you. We love you with everything that we are and I need you to not give up hope because we’re not giving up hope until we find you.”
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
