Hawaii
Missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi’s family says Venmo payments to mystery duo — possibly for tarot reading — being probed
The family of missing Hawaiian photographer Hannah Kobayashi says two suspicious Venmo payments she made to a man and woman around the time she vanished are being investigated by cops.
Kobayashi, 30, made the payments on Nov. 9 — a day after she missed a connecting flight to New York and was left stranded in Los Angeles, her aunt Larie Pidgeon told the US Sun.
One sent at 6:25 p.m. was to a woman named Veronica Almendarez and had a description of a bow-and-arrow emoji.
The second payment was made less than an hour later — at 7:19 p.m. — to a man named Jonathan Taylor with the subject line “Reading,” which appeared to be for a tarot card reading, sources told the outlet.
“We have been made aware and so have the LAPD. It’s in their hands,” Pidgeon told the Sun.
“We are still focused on Downtown LA. Even though it’s been 15 [days] we still have hope,” she added.
The distraught aunt also said the family was asking people “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,” she added.
It was not immediately clear how much money Kobayashi sent either of the recipients, who have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Taylor, who has since gone private on social media, did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the Sun said.
There was no mention of Almendarez.
The LAPD would only tell the Sun that it was still investigating the missing woman’s disappearance.
Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, is erupting again this week, spewing fountains of lava more than 330 feet in the air.
It’s the latest event in an eruption which started nearly six months ago and scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory say the fountains could climb even higher as the activity intensifies.
Impressive video from cameras focused on the volcano showed a stream of lava shooting out of the site.
According to the County of Hawaii Civil Defense, the eruption is causing the heavy traffic on the island’s Highway 11, fronting the entrance of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The latest event was preceded by gas-pistoning, where gas accumulates at a lava column’s top within a vent, on Tuesday.
The observatory said this process causes the lava surface to rise or piston.
“Eventually, gas escapes as splatter/lava is erupted, and lave drains back into the vent,” the observatory wrote on its Facebook page.
These were occurring up to 10 times an hour, but increased in intensity until a small, sustained dome fountain began to feed flows to the crater floor a day later.
It is the 25th eruptive episode since the volcano on the southeastern part of the island began erupting on December 23. It has been pausing and resuming since.
Most of the eruptive episodes have spewed lava for about a day or less, with pauses between them generally lasting a few days.
No changes have been detected in the East or Southwest Rift Zones. All current and recent activity has remained within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, officials said.
Park visitors are reminded to stay clear of closed areas around Kilauea’s caldera rim, which remain hazardous due to unstable crater walls, rockfalls and ground cracking.
Hazards from the volcano eruption include elevated sulfur dioxide gas emissions and Pele’s hair, or strands of glassy lava that can irritate skin and eyes if handled or inhaled, officials said.
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SOUTH KOHALA (HawaiiNewsNow) – A fire has damaged a home estimated to be worth $26 million on Hawaii Island early Sunday morning.
The fire was first reported to the Hawaii Fire Department at 12:53 a.m. at Pauoa Way.
Firefighters arrived on the scene at around 1 a.m. and extinguished it at 3:14 a.m.
HFD said the fire was located in the attic, and crews were able to contain it to about 25% of the main structure.
Fire officials said they saved close to $20 million worth of the property.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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