Aunt of Woman Who Disappeared Before Flight in L.A. Pleads 'Don't Forget About Her' During Rally

Mar. 15, 2025

Hannah Kobayashi.Photo:LAPD

Missing person Hannah Kobayashi was last seen at LAX Airport on November 8th, 2024

LAPD

Family members held a rally in Los Angeles amid the ongoing search for Hannah Kobayashi, whodisappeared nearly two weeks agoafter missing her connecting flight to New York City.

“Please, please do not stop saying her name, Hannah Kobayashi,” Kobayashi’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told the crowd outside Crypto.com Arena on Thursday, Nov. 21, perKTLA. “Your entire family is here. The entire world is looking for you. If you can and you have access, please reach out to us. We’re not mad.”

“If someone has her, I want you to see the pictures we have posted. I want you to see this family, and I want you to know she is so loved. I want you to know that she is so special and kind,” Pidgeon said.

“She’s a beautiful girl inside and outside,” Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, said during the rally. “Just reach out, if you can at all.”

Thursday was the first day the Los Angeles Police Department responded to her family and reached out to her sister for more information, reportsFox 11.

Pidgeon previously told PEOPLE that Kobayashi, 30, left Maui on Friday, Nov. 8, and was supposed to make the connecting flight to N.Y.C. at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), but missed it because of her tight layover.

Pidgeon said Kobayashi contacted Pidgeon’s sister, Geordan Montalvo, and told her she missed her flight and was trying to rebook.

According to Kobayashi’s family, she went to a bookstore around noon on Saturday, Nov. 9, and that evening she went back to LAX, telling Montalvo that trying to get on another flight was a “nightmare,” but that she was still trying to get there.

The family said they have confirmed sightings of Hannah at LAX the next day, too — but on Monday, Nov. 11, they started getting concerning text messages from her, saying, “I think someone’s trying to steal my identity. I’m really scared.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Hannah Kobayashi.Courtesy of Larie Pidgeon

Hannah Kobayashi

Courtesy of Larie Pidgeon

Other text messages said, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds” and “For someone I thought I loved,” according toKGMB/KHNL.

Loved ones grew concerned, and asked her if she was okay, Pidgeon told PEOPLE. However, she said Kobayashi didn’t respond, and “then her phone went dead.”

Family said Kobayashi’s last pinned location was at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) around 4 p.m. local time on Nov. 11, according to Pidgeon.

A ticketing agent told the family that they spoke to Hannah that day and that she was discussing buying a new ticket either back to Maui or to New York, the aunt told PEOPLE.

That same day, Pidgeon added, the family got a confirmed sighting of Kobayashi and an unidentified person getting on the train. Kobayashi exited the train around Pico Station, which is one of the places they went to look after arriving for the search.

“It wasn’t a good neighborhood,” Pidgeon said. “And the officers that were there and people that we spoke with, they were like, you don’t come here after dark.”

source: people.com