‘Unimaginable grief’: Father of missing Hawaii woman found dead
Posted on 11/25/2024
Editor’s note: This story contains discussion of suicide. If you are in distress, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day at 988, or visit 988lifeline.org for more resources.
The father of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi has taken his own life while in Los Angeles looking for his daughter. Ryan Kobayashi and other family members traveled to Southern California about two weeks ago to help find Hannah, 30, who missed a connecting flight on her way to New York on Nov. 8. After she vanished, Kobayashi sent her family cryptic text messages and was caught on surveillance cameras around LA.
On Thursday, Ryan Kobayashi spoke with KNBC-TV near the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown LA, where a volunteer search team had gathered. “We’re just trying to get boots on the ground to find out what happened,” he said.
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“It’s just a nightmare, every parent’s nightmare,” he added.
On Sunday, 13 days after he arrived in LA, Ryan Kobayashi’s body was found on the 6100 block of West Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport, police confirmed in a statement sent to SFGATE. “The Los Angeles Police Department sends its deepest sympathies for the family during this tragic time,” a police spokesperson said. The family confirmed that Ryan Kobayashi died by suicide in a statement.
“You’re with the angels now dad. ... I love you and miss you so much,” Sydni Kobayashi, Hannah’s sister, wrote on social media. “Although my heart is breaking and my world feels shattered, I’m going to continue to stay strong for you we’re going to find Hannah.”
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Hannah’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon, said in a statement that the family is holding onto hope that Hannah may be found in the face of “unimaginable grief.”
Kobayashi, a 30-year-old photographer from Maui, narrowly missed her connecting flight at LAX while flying from Hawaii to New York City to attend a concert and visit family on Nov. 8. She was later fleetingly caught on camera at a LeBron James Nike event at the Grove retail complex, where she posted an Instagram photo. She was also reportedly seen at the Hawthorne/Lennox light rail station in LA with an unknown man, looking “tired and out of it,” a witness told the family.
On Nov. 11, Kobayashi sent family members numerous worrying text messages, including one that read, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.” Some of Kobayashi’s family members doubted that they were written by her.
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Last week, Kobayashi’s family said that Hannah is “believed to be in danger,” and that details surrounding the case will be limited to protect the authorities’ efforts to find her.
“We have received new information that requires us to limit the flow of incoming and outgoing details,” read a statement made on behalf of the family.
The father of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi has taken his own life while in Los Angeles looking for his daughter. Ryan Kobayashi and other family members traveled to Southern California about two weeks ago to help find Hannah, 30, who missed a connecting flight on her way to New York on Nov. 8. After she vanished, Kobayashi sent her family cryptic text messages and was caught on surveillance cameras around LA.
On Thursday, Ryan Kobayashi spoke with KNBC-TV near the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown LA, where a volunteer search team had gathered. “We’re just trying to get boots on the ground to find out what happened,” he said.
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Article continues below this ad
“It’s just a nightmare, every parent’s nightmare,” he added.
On Sunday, 13 days after he arrived in LA, Ryan Kobayashi’s body was found on the 6100 block of West Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport, police confirmed in a statement sent to SFGATE. “The Los Angeles Police Department sends its deepest sympathies for the family during this tragic time,” a police spokesperson said. The family confirmed that Ryan Kobayashi died by suicide in a statement.
“You’re with the angels now dad. ... I love you and miss you so much,” Sydni Kobayashi, Hannah’s sister, wrote on social media. “Although my heart is breaking and my world feels shattered, I’m going to continue to stay strong for you we’re going to find Hannah.”
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Hannah’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon, said in a statement that the family is holding onto hope that Hannah may be found in the face of “unimaginable grief.”
Kobayashi, a 30-year-old photographer from Maui, narrowly missed her connecting flight at LAX while flying from Hawaii to New York City to attend a concert and visit family on Nov. 8. She was later fleetingly caught on camera at a LeBron James Nike event at the Grove retail complex, where she posted an Instagram photo. She was also reportedly seen at the Hawthorne/Lennox light rail station in LA with an unknown man, looking “tired and out of it,” a witness told the family.
On Nov. 11, Kobayashi sent family members numerous worrying text messages, including one that read, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.” Some of Kobayashi’s family members doubted that they were written by her.
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Article continues below this ad
Last week, Kobayashi’s family said that Hannah is “believed to be in danger,” and that details surrounding the case will be limited to protect the authorities’ efforts to find her.
“We have received new information that requires us to limit the flow of incoming and outgoing details,” read a statement made on behalf of the family.
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