The family of a 30-year-old Hawaii resident is searching for her in Los Angeles after she missed a connecting flight, sent unusual text messages and then went silent, the relatives said.
Hannah Kobayashi arrived in Los Angeles on Nov. 8 en route to New York City but missed a connecting flight because a 30- to 45-minute window to get to its departure terminal may not have been enough, aunt Larie Pidgeon said in an interview.
Kobayashi, of Maui, stayed in Los Angeles as she awaited an opening for a last-minute flight to New York and used the time for sightseeing, family members said. She went to The Grove shopping center in the Beverly Grove neighborhood, about 12 miles north of Los Angeles International Airport, to see a Nike marketing event on Nov. 10, they said.
Kobayashi’s Instagram account, verified by NBC News, includes a photo she posted that depicts a Nike notice of filming, apparently at or near The Grove.
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The next day, she sent concerning text messages to loved ones, family members said.
“Hannah’s last message to us was alarming — she mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” Pidgeon said on Facebook.
“She hasn’t been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety,” she wrote.
Pidgeon confirmed her Facebook account name, Larie Ingrum, by text. She was one of three relatives who recently sat for an interview about Kobayashi.
The three were part of a larger group of family members and loved ones who gathered in Los Angeles in recent days to launch a search effort.
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Hannah Midori Eve Kobayashi.via Facebook
Pidgeon said Kobayashi, an art fan and aspiring photographer, saved for the trip to New York City and was excited before she left Honolulu on Nov. 8.
She planned to visit the Museum of Modern Art and absorb Manhattan’s art scene as part of her effort to establish a career, Pidgeon said.
“She was really trying to school herself on how to become ‘it’ in New York,” she said.
Relatives have said they reported Kobayashi missing to the Los Angeles International Airport Police Department and the FBI, but the Los Angeles Police Department said it is the primary investigating agency on the case. Officer Tony Im, an LAPD spokesman, said Kobayashi was reported missing to the department Friday.
Pidgeon said texts sent Nov. 11 were alarming and at times didn’t sound like they were written in Kobayashi’s voice.
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Family members quoted one of the texts, according to a video report from NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu: “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.”
Pidgeon said the texts describe what amounts to identity theft.
“She said that someone was stealing her identity, that she felt scared,” Pidgeon said.
It appeared Kobayashi was at Los Angeles International Airport at the time, she said. Another aunt, Geordan Montalvo, whom Kobayashi was to visit in New York, tried to reach her, Pidgeon said.
“Her phone pinged at LAX at 4 p.m. and then after that, Geordan kept trying to talk to her, and then it went dark. Her phone went dead, and her communication cut off completely,” Pidgeon said.
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The Nov. 11 texts were the last family members heard from her.
On a Facebook group called Help Us Find Hanna, which includes the participation of family members, a post by the RAD Movement — a San Diego County, California, missing persons nonprofit group — says security video in the area of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles shows Kobayashi with someone and has sparked concern.
Family members said they couldn’t speak about it in detail because they don’t want to hinder investigators. It’s not clear when the video was recorded. Pidgeon said that based on the video, there’s reason to believe Kobayashi “is not OK.”
Relatives say Kobayashi booked her trip to New York with a boyfriend with whom she has since broken up. They said the unidentified man was on the same flight to Los Angeles but didn’t have contact with Kobayashi and made the connection to New York City. They described him as very cooperative.
The group gathered in Los Angeles is focusing its own search on the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Hill Street, near the Convention Center, LA Live and Crypto Arena, family members said.
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Father Ryan Kobayashi is among them.
“Everything is just a blur it seems, because I haven’t slept well since I’ve heard the news, and I really don’t know … it’s just really concerning,” he told KHNL earlier.
In 2013, the story of missing Canadian tourist Elsa Lam, 21, sparked international headlines when her body was found in a water tank on the roof of a run-down hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Security video of Lam pacing inside a hotel elevator and pressing multiple buttons before her death helped inspire conspiracy theories, but the Los Angeles County medical examiner determined she drowned accidentally in an event influenced by her bipolar disorder.
On Monday, citing speculation that Kobayashi needed a “break,” Pidgeon sought to reassure the public that she didn’t suffer from mental illness.
“Hannah has never once suffered from a mental illness,” she said. “She has no record on that. She is not on medication.Hannah’s someone that we can call and she’s going to call us back within an hour.”
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A group of nonprofits are asking the public to help support efforts to return Maunawili Valley to community care.
Dean Wilhelm, co-executive director of Ho’okuaaina, Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, aloha aina project manager at Trust for Public Land, and Kaleo Wong, executive director of Kauluakalana, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about more than a decade of work by Hui Maunawili–Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ohana to purchase and protect more than 1,000 acres on windward Oahu to benefit the community.
“Our Hoihoi Maunawili fundraising campaign is four nonprofits working together to raise $500,000 for the future stewardship of the land. The nonprofit partners are Kauluakalana, Ho’okua’aina, Hawaii Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land,” Hayashi said.
Nonprofit leaders say Hoihoi Maunawili is working with the current landowner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to transfer stewardship of the land.
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“These lands include the most fertile growing soil in all Hawaii, important cultural sites, and freshwater streams and springs that will be forever protected. Capital funds have been secured to purchase the land,” Hayashi said.
“This land has sustained generations. By returning it to the community and restoring it for shared use and cultural renewal, we will safeguard resources for future generations and increase our community’s resilience,” Wilhelm said.
“Until the 1960s, this land was very productive. It was the ‘Breadbasket of Oahu.’ Alii specifically would ask for kalo grown on these lands. This effort seeks to return it to its former abundance, ultimately improving local food security and water security through community-led agriculture that strengthens Hawaii food systems and creates green jobs for a sustainable local economy.”
“Buying and protecting the land is only the beginning,” Wong said. “In this season of giving, we are asking the community to join us in this movement to restore water, food, culture and community in Maunawili.”
To donate and learn more, visit hoihoimaunawili.org. The public can also support by volunteering or joining a talk story.
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Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green predicted Friday that thousands of Hawaii residents may give up their health insurance after Congress did not extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies.
Green pledged millions in local taxpayer funds to help them maintain coverage.
Hawaii’s 24,000 Affordable Care Act customers faced uncertainty in December as they had to reenroll without knowing whether extra subsidies would be extended.
Now that the subsidies are ending, customers must find more money or reduce their coverage.
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Premium increases force difficult choices
Insurance agent and radio host Martha Khlopin works with about 300 people who depend on ACA premium subsidies.
“People, I think, will be making the decision, taking that risk and just praying they don’t get sick,” Khlopin said. “So I pray that too. Don’t get sick in 2026, because your premiums and co-pays might be a lot.”
As an example, Khlopin cited a 50-year-old man who makes $40,000. He was paying about $170 a month this year for a plan with good coverage. His new plan will cost about $500 a month starting in January.
“It’s a pretty big increase for him,” Khlopin said. “So what he decided to do was just use his savings to cover the premiums because he really needs to keep the very generous platinum plan that he has right now.”
Coverage downgrades expected
Khlopin said others are downgrading their coverage, choosing lower premiums but much higher out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.
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“So it’s a lower premium, but you have higher cost because you have to meet a deductible,” Khlopin said, noting that could lead some people to avoid care.
“So if I do need a particular procedure that’s expensive, I might decide not to get that done, which ultimately can cause more problems down the road,” Khlopin said.
Green predicted an even more dire scenario with thousands choosing to go without coverage.
“That’s really bad, because it’s not just the lack of insurance for them. It’s also $150 million of uncompensated care to rural facilities to our community health centers,” Green said.
State tax credit proposal
Green proposed that the state make up the lost subsidies with a state tax credit for about 8,000 ACA customers.
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“The analysis we did is that to do the enhanced subsidy that Congress walked away from for now would cost $16.5 million,” Green said.
“That would definitely be a very, very wonderful gift to people to know that there is some relief coming to lower those health insurance premiums,” Khlopin said.
What remains unclear is how quickly that aid could reach policyholders and what will happen to those who decided not to renew when the deadline for open enrollment ended Monday.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Southwest Airlines is adding more routes from Sin City to the Aloha State.
The airline, which is headquartered at Dallas Love Field, will fly from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Hilo International Airport starting Aug. 6, 2026. The service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, pairing with existing service between Las Vegas and Honolulu.
“When I took office, I pledged to strengthen ties with the ‘Ninth Island’ — Las Vegas, where many Hawaiʻi-born residents live,“ Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a statement. ”Southwest’s renewed service shows its dedication. Quicker flights across the Pacific means more convenience for our local families and another chance to support our hometown airline.”
Hawaiian Airlines is Hilo’s dominant carrier, offering more than 105,000 available seats this month, according to Cirium Diio Mi data. Southwest was second, offering more than 54,000 available seats.
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“We heard you, Hilo,” Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and network operations control, said in a statement.
“Las Vegas is important to you, and you’re important to us..”
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This month, Southwest offered 146 flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu, totaling more than 25,000 available seats, according to data from Diio by Cirium. Southwest first began flights from the western U.S. to Hawaii in 2019. The airline currently flies to the Hawaiian islands from Las Vegas and Phoenix, and from California cities Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego.
Southwest does not operate direct flights to Hawaii from Dallas.
The Hawaii route expansion comes at a time when Southwest is weighing the possibility of building a more than 12,000-square-foot lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, according to documents previously viewed by The Dallas Morning News.
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