What The Heck Is Happening With Hannah Kobayashi?

Here is probably the most succinct summary thus far.

Basically, the long and short of it is: On November 11, Hannah here flew from Maui to Los Angeles. She missed a connector. She was going to fly from Los Angeles to New York, but because she had some time before the next flight, she went into Los Angeles, and was apparently hanging out near where the Lakers play. She disappeared. There are reports she was last seen with a “mystery man.” Then her friends started getting cryptic texts about her losing funds, and she can’t fly, she’s had her identity stolen, etc. Then radio silence.

Her dad came to Los Angeles from Hawaii to look for her — and then, about 10 days into that search, he apparently jumped off a parking structure at LAX, killing himself.

Obviously there already was intrigue and confusion about this case, and the dad’s suicide jumped it up a level. Let’s see if we can unpack it at all.

What is the deal with the ex-boyfriend?

On the Maui to LAX leg of the flight, she was on that flight with her ex-boyfriend, apparently on tickets they had purchased together when they were still dating. Somehow, and this is confusing, he made the connector to New York on a 42-minute layover, but she didn’t. Hmm. He has yet to be named, although I am sure you could find his name online by now if you wanted. He doesn’t logically seem to be involved if he made that connector, but I suppose he is a name to keep in your head.

Who is the mystery man?

This footage has not yet been released, but apparently she is seen at the Pico Metro station at 10pm on November 11. She is with a man and “does not look good.”

If you want a full timeline/map, here you go:

So, sometime between 9:02pm at LAX and 10pm at the Pico station, she seems to have acquired a male companion, as said male companion is not mentioned in relation to her leaving LAX. There is stuff in the cryptic text messages about “being robbed of money” “by someone she loves,” but again, those may not have been sent by her.

Was she trafficked?

This appears to be the prevailing Internet theory of the moment. I would personally say that “was distraught over her ex-, ended up with a bad dude via a dating app while stuck in Los Angeles” would be equivalent to “trafficked,” but I don’t know all the details, obviously.

Here’s a Reddit.

Within there, you have this:

It’s beginning to sound like she intentionally missed her connecting flight to meet someone at LAX that she had been talking to online. Breaking up with her boyfriend before the trip, the screenshot texts where she says she got scammed out of all her money over someone she thought she loved. When her sister asked if she had been catfished and Hannah responded with “no, we met.” Then there is a screenshot someone posted in the Facebook group where an American Airline employee confirmed seeing Hannah at the airport for three days. Hannah told her she was waiting for a man that was supposed to meet her there but he never showed up.

Alright. That’s one theory.

Hopefully this doesn’t sound crass, but while she is conventionally attractive, she was also 31 — and that seems to be a higher age range than trafficking normally would initiate on.

Is this a mental health break?

That is one possibility, for sure. Reading over more and more stuff about her, I would say the bigger possibility is that she was “talking to” someone online post-breakup, and he agreed to meet her in Los Angeles, but he got “stuck” somewhere else (or was setting up his plan to murder her) and that’s why she left the airport a few times for a LeBron event at a NIKE store, etc. Maybe she finally met a guy who really wanted to off someone. Mental health break is also definitely a possibility, but because of the appearance of another guy at 10pm at a Metro station, I would lean towards that. Maybe a combination.

Is her father involved or did her father traffick her?

You’ve seen this come up across the Internet (another example of why the Internet is terrible for early-stage true crime cases). I personally think the father committed suicide because he was so sad about everything, and the rumor is that he was estranged from his children for much of their lives. I don’t think he jumped off a structure at LAX because he thought he was close to getting caught. It's certainly possible, but doesn’t seem probable. Obviously that theory is currently being investigated.

Here is more fodder on the “mental health break” angle.

In there, you have another “missed her flight on purpose” angle:

I believe she missed her flight on purpose. (no proof or video evidence of her running to catch next flight) There was at least a dozen flights she could have got on and she choose not too. I think she went to see LA went to some shows/music/events. Went to a spiritual “thing” sunday evening into monday morning.. Took some psychedelic drugs. Sent text at 5:30 about having the spiritual awakening. Went back to LAX to get her bags. tossed her phone or sim card. To be free of social media/calls etc… to be within some type of spiritual journey.. When her friend told her to go back to Hawaii- she said the redwoods are calling her- then she might goto a homeless shelter- if that was her texting- there is no doubt she didn’t want to go back home. I think she meet some one or some people & is either inside someone’s place or camping out up in the redwoods being grounded by nature, music and drugs and has no idea what’s going on. No electronics and is into this “journey” so deep.. she has no thought about anything but continuing.. Just my opinion- i have no idea of the spiritual awakening stuff- personally think it’s bs. But at no time did she ask for help to get home.

You also have this, re: “maybe she’s on Skid Row:”

Unfortunately, LAPD hears stories like this all the time. Hannah’s is not unique. Almost all of the people on Skid Row have ended up there under similar circumstances and have family members who may never see them again. It’s something that makes California a very dark place for me, it’s like a black hole that pulls all of the distressed people of the world towards it and they get swallowed up there forever.

There is also a lot of speculation on that thread about how she’s deep into spiritual stuff and tator card readings (apparently she attended a Christina Ricci tarot card event during her time leaving LAX) and maybe she got sucked into something that way.

If you’ve been following, what do you think is going on?