Twist in hunt for missing Hannah Kobayashi as cops try to track man and woman she paid via Venmo app hours after missing her LAX flight amid fears she has been trafficked out of California
Police are hunting down a man and a woman who missing Hawaiian woman Hannah Kobayashi sent money to via Venmo after she missed her flight to New York from LAX in a major twist in her disappearance.
Hannah, a 31-year-old aspiring photographer disappeared from the streets of downtown Los Angeles after missing a connecting flight from her native Maui in Hawaii en-route to New York City on November 8. Her family, which faced yet another blow as Hannah's father Ryan committed suicide on Sunday, fears she has since been taken out of California.
It remains unclear why she left LA’s LAX airport and ventured out into the city 15 miles away but she sent a text to a friend saying she had had a ‘spiritual awakening’, and was later seen in the company of a mystery man on November 11.
Her family revealed that on November 9, the day after she was meant to arrive in New York, she made two payments using Venmo.
One was at 6:25pm to a person called 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.'
According to her sister Sydni Kobayashi, Hannah sent these payments to people whose names have not been recognised by the family.
Their relationship with Hannah is not currently known, but the missing woman's family told the Sun that the LAPD is investigating the matter.
Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) disappeared from the streets of downtown Los Angeles after missing a connecting flight from her native Maui in Hawaii en-route to New York City on November 8
Her father Ryan (pictured) tragically took his own life on Sunday after flying into LA to search for her
Hannah sent two people money on Venmo after missing her flight to New York
Hannah's aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told the Sun: 'We have been made aware and so have the LAPD. It's in their hands.
'We are still focused on Downtown LA. Even though it's been 15 [days] we still have hope.'
Pidgeon admitted she and the family fears she may have been taken out of California.
'We are also now encouraging people from across the nation to keep an eye in case she has been taken outside of California.
'We are looking at all possibilities, hotels, metros, bus, train stations.'
The circumstances surrounding Hannah's disappearance are murky, made murkier still by the suicide of her father Ryan, who committed suicide and was found dead at the bottom of a parking lot near LAX on Sunday after flying in to search for his daughter.
She sent a series of eerie texts to her loved ones, claiming she had recently undergone a 'spiritual awakening, after she was due to meet family in New York.
Kobayashi had flown from Hawaii to LAX on the same flight as her ex-boyfriend, who had booked tickets for the two of them before they split up.
One of Hannah's friends received strange texts from Kobayashi's phone - indicating that she may be in trouble
Her family received strange texts from her phone number, leading them to believe they had not been sent by Hanna
He continued to New York, and is 'cooperating with police', after a mystery final text was sent from Hannah's phone, talking about her having a 'spiritual awakening.'
The young traveler was captured by a security camera disembarking the plane just before 10pm on November 8.
The aspiring photographer was seen wearing a black hoodie and colorful sweatpants as she walked through LAX while wearing a pair of headphones.
She was due to take a connecting flight at 11pm, however she never made it.
Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm the following day, on November 9.
She spent a considerable amount of time at Taschen Books, where she stopped to charge her phone.
At 2:43 she snapped a picture and sent it to her aunt, before returning to the airport where she is believed to have spent the night.
In a separate YouTube video outside of an event in Los Angeles on November 10, Hannah can be seen wearing the same clothing. She was spotted at a Nike event featuring LeBron James in LA, where she was wearing the same dark hoodie and headphones she wore at the airport, at around 3:30pm.
Her final post was shared on November 11. It is understood she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time
Hannah Kobayashi (pictured) went missing after missing her connecting flight to New York from LAX on November 8
Kobayashi also shared a post on her Instagram from the event with an eye emoji as the caption.
She was next spotted talking to a ticketing agent at LAX at around 5pm. That same day, a missing-persons report was filed by her family amid what they described as uncharacteristic correspondence from Kobayashi.
One of her text messages read: 'Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday.'
Kobayashi's mother, Brandi Yee, also sent her a text message asking if she made it to New York.
She responded simply: 'Not yet.' Another early-morning text mentioned how she was in the midst of a 'spiritual awakening.'
On a missing-persons poster sent out immediately after, police wrote: 'Prior to going missing, [Kobayashi] sent a message on November 10, mentioning feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity. She hasn't been heard from since.'
The next day, November 11, Kobayashi was spotted boarding an LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station.
She got on board at 9:02pm, before transferring to a different train at the Rosa Parks Station.
Missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi's sister has shared details of every last known sighting as her family continue their agonizing search
Kobayashi was finally seen leaving the Metro Pico Station with the unidentified person at 10:03pm
While mother Brandi Yee and sister Sydni Kobayashi think Hannah left the airport and attended an event based on a series of texts suggesting she 'had a spiritual awakening and was heading back to the airport', a friend believes otherwise.
The anonymous concerned companion said she received strange texts from Kobayashi's phone - indicating that she may be in trouble.
'I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. For someone I thought I loved,' the messages read.
The family also noted that the young artist's phone has been off since November 11 and her last pinned location was at the Los Angeles Airport.
'She heard from Hannah. She was at LAX, and she said that she was scared,' Yee said.
Sydni further added: 'She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn't come back home or something. It was just really weird texts.'
This is the last known image of her leaving LAX, after she missed her connecting flight to New York to visit family
Both Hannah's mother and sister also believe that the messages 'did not sound like her' and wonder if it was Hannah who sent them.
Yee remarked, 'Yeah, we share location' to which Sydni added: 'And we know her phone's off because it goes straight to voicemail.
'We've been trying to call and call and call, text. None of the texts are getting delivered. We can't locate her phone.'
The family has filed a missing person's report with the Los Angeles Police Department, but have since revealed their frustrations with the investigation.
