Friends Notice Suspicious Detail on Missing Woman's Final Texts as Dad Is Found Dead While Looking for Her
The case of a Hawaiian woman missing for most of the month keeps taking new twists.
Friends and authorities have been looking for 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi since she failed to make a connecting flight in Los Angeles while en route from Maui to New York on Nov. 8, as the New York Post reported.
Kobayashi’s father died of an apparent suicide on Sunday. Now, friends and relatives are questioning whether the last, cryptic texts from Kobayashi’s phone were actually sent by her at all.
Hannah Kobayashi’s friends think final texts before disappearance were faked because they don’t include emojis https://t.co/eU415KnwAT pic.twitter.com/U8q7DrXvpQ
— New York Post (@nypost) November 29, 2024
One friend, Ariana Ursua, who has known Kobayashi since 2017, according to the Post, said the texts don’t match Kobayashi’s normal style.
“I had text messages with her and the ones on those screenshots do not feel like her,” Ursua told the Post.
One detail — missing from the texts — stands out.
“All the texts I have with her — they have emojis. She has a very distinct way of messaging,” Ursua said, according to the Post.
Her messages would usually end with emojis such as hearts, butterflies and rainbows, she told the newspaper.
None of those appear on the final text received from Kobayashi’s phone to a friend:
Hannah Kobayashi, age 31, has been reported missing in Los Angeles, California. Recently disclosed text communications depict a concerning and distressing scenario. Following the transmission of these messages, her mobile device ceased activity and has remained inoperative since… pic.twitter.com/lpCwePwYax
— Our Humanity CA (@OurHumanityCA) November 27, 2024
The oddities around the case started from the beginning.
Flying to visit a relative in New York with an ex-boyfriend, Kobayashi had a quick turnaround of only 42 minutes between flights in Los Angeles, according to the Post.
The ex-boyfriend made the connecting flight. Kobayashi did not.
Los Angeles police say Kobayashi’s failure to do so was intentional, according to CNN.
She was spotted the next day at a book store about a mile from the airport, then on Nov. 10 at an event at a Nike store in Los Angeles. She posted about the event on Instagram, according to the Post.
On Nov. 11, she texted with her mother, confirming she had not arrived in New York.
She was seen the same day on footage from a Los Angeles downtown Metro train, according to CNN. She was with a stranger. She did “not appear to be in good condition,” the family wrote on Facebook, CNN reported.
According to the Post, there have been other messages to friends that contain strange references, including to “a very intense spiritual awakening” and “matrix underworld sh*t” (a possible reference to the “Matrix” dystopian movie franchise).
And while the subject matter was strange, it wasn’t the only strange thing about the texts.
“What was most concerning was the use of the word ‘hun.’ She does say loving words like that, but it felt kind of cryptic her message,” former roommate and business partner Allisa Peterson told the Post.
Ursua said the tone was baffling — and didn’t sound like her friend.
“It feels really weird how cryptic [the messages are] considering how not cryptic Hannah is. At least the Hannah I know,” she said, according to the Post.
“I pray she’s still alive.”
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