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Family of woman who went missing on cross-country vacation says cryptic texts sent from phone unlike her

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Family of woman who went missing on cross-country vacation says cryptic texts sent from phone unlike her

Hannah Kobayashi’s family has gathered in Los Angeles to retrace the missing photographer’s steps after she missed her transfer flight to New York then disappeared after a series of cryptic messages and a brief appearance with an unknown man on surveillance footage near Skid Row. 

The 31-year-old Oahu, Hawaii, resident had planned a vacation to see her aunt in New York City and flew from Maui to Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8, her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told Fox News Digital. She was elated about her first music photography gig in the city, had an involved trip itinerary and had paid thousands for her hotel room, Pidgeon said.

Kobayashi was scheduled to take a connecting flight to New York, with a 40-minute layover at 11 a.m., and planned to go to a show with her aunt, but she never got on that flight. Her family is unsure why.

Then friends and family received a flurry of bizarre text messages that didn’t match the young woman’s usual cadence. She texted a friend that she “got tricked into pretty much giving away all my funds” and that she was tricked “for someone I thought I loved.”

HAWAII WOMAN’S CRYPTIC TEXT MESSAGES PROMPT CONCERN AFTER DISAPPEARANCE

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Hannah Kobayashi, 31, was last seen on surveillance footage from the Pico Metro station with an unknown man on Nov. 11. She never boarded her flight from LAX to JFK on Nov. 8. (Larie Pidgeon)

“There was not a single emoji. She’s an artist. … Instead of a … question mark, she would put a crystal ball – she’s just that cute – and there was none of that,” Pidgeon said on Thursday. “She said that someone was trying to steal her funds, not cash, not money, funds. Like, who uses that word?”

“She [wrote she] was having a spiritual awakening, that she was concerned about the matrix. It was just the most bizarre text messages. And it went from, ‘Hi, I can’t wait to see you guys. Love you. Everything’s great.’”

Before sending the messages, Kobayashi was seen talking to a ticketing agent and trying to get a direct flight to New York rather than waiting on standby, Pidgeon said.

Hannah Kobayashi is pictured on surveillance footage from LAX on Nov. 8. Her family says there is also surveillance footage from Nov. 11 showing her with an unknown man at the Pico Metro Station in downtown Los Angeles but that it has yet to be released to the public. (Missing People of America/Facebook)

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Kobayashi’s mother reported her missing on Nov. 11, Pidgeon said, the day that communications from the woman’s phone to family and friends halted. Through their own investigative work, the family viewed surveillance footage of Kobayashi from that day with an unknown man near the Pico Metro station in downtown L.A.

“The Pico station is in a very bad neighborhood, [and] it was late at night,” Pidgeon said. “That causes us even more alarm because it’s not a place that Hannah would go. There’s no reason that she would go to a neighborhood of crime. Even if she said, ‘Hey, I need to go get a hotel room because I’m tired,’ there’s 18 hotels by the airport … she would have to have two transfer stations to get to this station.”

MOM 9 MONTHS PREGNANT MISSING FOR A MONTH, LAST SEEN AT BOYFRIEND’S HOUSE, FAMILY SAYS

Hannah Kobayashi’s family traveled to Los Angeles to distribute fliers near where she was last seen. (Larie Pidgeon)

“We can’t release the footage; we would love to get it released to the public by the LAPD,” Pidgeon said on Thursday. “We’ve seen it, we know that it’s out there, and we’re like, ‘Why is it not getting released?’ At this point it’s been 10 days, I feel like it could help so much in the investigation.”

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Pidgeon said Thursday morning that the Los Angeles Police Department had yet to reach out since the family filed a missing persons report. Several hours later, Kobayashi’s family said that a detective had spoken to them.

The LAPD said on Thursday morning that it could not confirm whether they had viewed the surveillance footage or contacted the family, only that Kobayashi had been reported missing and that they had distributed a flier on their social media accounts.

Kobayashi also charged her phone with an employee within The Grove outdoor open-air mall and had filled out an application for a book club at the TASCHEN book store using her Hawaii address on Nov. 11, her aunt said. Witnesses there told the family that Kobayashi “was in good spirits” and said that “she had a little bit of time to explore in L.A.,” Pidgeon said.

SUZANNE SIMPSON’S HOME MAY BE SOLD AS MISSING REALTOR HUSBAND REMAINS BEHIND BARS IN MURDER CASE

Kobayashi sent mysterious texts to friends and family before losing contact entirely, writing that she “got tricked into pretty much giving away all [her] funds.” (Larie Pidgeon)

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“Every confirmed sighting that she has with an individual, she’s of sound mind,” Pidgeon said of her conversations with those who last spoke to her niece. “She’s happy, she’s kind. She doesn’t appear [to be] drunk or on any substances. … That is why we are here handing out fliers and flying in, because it is so unlike our character.”

Kobayashi’s family held a rally on Thursday at the Crypto.com Arena to hand out fliers and search the area near where she was last seen.

“We’re just running,” Pidgeon said. “You know, we’re just going down and up and down Skid Row.”

Pidgeon described her niece, pictured, as an outgoing person who makes those around her laugh and dabbles in fire spinning, DJing and charity work. (Larie Pidgeon)

“We want to do as many interviews as we can. The longer that we keep her name out there, the longer that she’s on the news, the better chance that her family has to get her back,” Pidgeon said. “I’ve become a press secretary, a journalist, a photographer. This is how much we love her.”

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Pidgeon said the 31-year-old “does everything” and dabbles in fire spinning, DJing and charity work. 

“She’s a pivotal person in her community, she’s a wonderful person, a great daughter, she makes everyone laugh,” Pidgeon said. “If I’m having a problem at 2 a.m., I can call Hannah because she’ll pick up.”

Hannah Kobayashi, 31, was heading to New York City to visit family. (Hannah Kobayashi via Instagram)

Friends and family have been making minute-long videos sharing memories of Kobayashi to distribute under the hashtag “#FindHannah.” Thus far, Pidgeon said, about 30 people have sent videos, a testament to “how incredible she is.”

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“I’m just grateful for all the other best wishes and support from the community and Hawaii, New York, California, everywhere,” Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, told Fox News Digital. “You know, it’s just amazing. We miss you, Hannah. We love you.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the RAD Movement hotline at 619-904-0840.

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Denver, CO

Denver area events for March 5

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Denver area events for March 5


If you have an event taking place in the Denver area, email information to carlotta.olson@gazette.com at least two weeks in advance. All events are listed in the calendar on space availability. Thursday Camilla Vaitaitis Quartet — 6:30 p.m., Dazzle at Baur’s, 1080 14th St., Denver, go online for prices. Tickets: dazzledenver.com/#/events. Miguel — 7 p.m., Fillmore Auditorium, […]



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Seattle, WA

Seeking a House in Seattle for About $600,000

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Seeking a House in Seattle for About 0,000


Ted Land had almost given up on being a homeowner.

When he moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, he was an award-winning television journalist, having lived and reported in Indiana and Alaska before arriving in Seattle to work for a local station, King 5. At first, he rented a studio apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

[Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com. Sign up here to have The Hunt delivered to your inbox every week.]

“It’s very walkable, with lots of transit, very L.G.B.T. friendly, great restaurants, nightlife, parks,” said Mr. Land, 40. “It has everything I like in a neighborhood.”

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His journalism career had been fraught with unexpected transitions, so it didn’t seem sensible to buy a home. “I thought I was going to move up and be a reporter in New York City or L.A. or D.C.,” he said. “I had my sights set on that. It really wasn’t even on my mind. Buying a house seemed so out of reach for me.”

As the years passed and he bounced from rental to rental, the hustle of TV news began to wear him out. Finally, in 2022, he grabbed an opportunity to move into corporate communications. With that choice came a higher income and a more stable future in Seattle with expanded living options.

“I kept signing lease after lease, not wanting to confront the daunting process of purchasing, and increasingly frustrated with the fact that I didn’t lock in a low interest rate during Covid like so many of my peers did,” Mr. Land said.

He had up to about $620,000 to spend, but as a single-income buyer, he was vexed by the down payment. “Everyone says that you’ve got to put down 20 percent. It’s like, ‘Where am I going to get $100,000? Does anyone know? Can you please tell me that?’”

With help from his broker, Mark Chavez of Windermere Real Estate, Mr. Land arranged to structure a purchase with 10 percent down using a mortgage insurance that costs him less than $100 per month, with his payments reducing in size until they total 20 percent of the home price. “I mean, $50,000 is a lot easier to save for than $100,000,” he said.

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But even with that cushion, options were limited in pricey Seattle, especially for the kind of home he wanted. “Apartments are noisy places,” Mr. Land said. “They just are. And that kind of gets old after a while. I was looking for something a little quieter where I’m not hearing neighbors all the time.”

Most of Mr. Chavez’s clients want single-family homes, the broker said, but “it’s a bigger expense and there’s more to take care of, like the landscape. It used to be that to get into a condo, the entry point was more affordable. However, with many homeowner associations underfunded for future expenses, it is becoming more challenging to buy into a condominium.”

The middle ground? Townhouses. But every square foot needed to count, and location was critical. Mr. Land loved Capitol Hill, but felt he couldn’t afford to buy there. “I just really like being in the central part of the city,” he said. “The more I looked, the more I realized that walkability is a really important attribute for me.”

Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:



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San Diego, CA

UNLV faces San Diego State after Hamilton’s 24-point performance

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UNLV faces San Diego State after Hamilton’s 24-point performance


UNLV Rebels (16-14, 11-8 MWC) at San Diego State Aztecs (19-10, 13-6 MWC)

San Diego; Friday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: UNLV faces San Diego State after Kimani Hamilton scored 24 points in UNLV’s 92-65 victory over the Utah State Aggies.

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The Aztecs have gone 13-2 in home games. San Diego State is eighth in the MWC with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Miles Heide averaging 2.0.

The Rebels have gone 11-8 against MWC opponents. UNLV ranks eighth in the MWC shooting 34.4% from 3-point range.

San Diego State averages 79.1 points per game, 0.6 more points than the 78.5 UNLV gives up. UNLV averages 7.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 9.1 per game San Diego State allows.

The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. San Diego State won the last meeting 82-71 on Jan. 24. Miles Byrd scored 23 points points to help lead the Aztecs to the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Reese Dixon-Waters is shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc with 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Aztecs, while averaging 13 points. Byrd is averaging 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds over the past 10 games.

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Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is shooting 50.9% and averaging 20.6 points for the Rebels. Hamilton is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Aztecs: 5-5, averaging 74.9 points, 28.9 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.0 points per game.

Rebels: 6-4, averaging 84.1 points, 32.3 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 6.4 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 50.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.8 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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