The father of a missing Hawaiian woman who traveled to California to look for her was discovered dead there on Sunday. In order to assist in the search for his 30-year-old daughter, Hannah Kobayashi, Ryan Kobayashi recently traveled to Los Angeles.
She was traveling to New York City when she stopped at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) earlier this month and vanished.
The 58-year-old Mr. Kobayashi was later discovered dead in a parking lot close to the airport, according to LA officials.
The cause of death was listed as numerous blunt force traumatic injuries due to suicide by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Maui-based photographer Ms. Kobayashi vanished soon after arriving at LAX on November 8.
The LAPD has started a search, but it’s still unknown what happened to her. In what was called a “bucket list” journey, she was scheduled to travel to New York to see her aunt, Geordan Montalvo, for a concert.
She claimed to have been “tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds” to “someone I thought I loved” in strange text messages that her family and friends have reported receiving from her cell phone since she vanished.
They said that she had been seen a couple of times, including on November 10 in a mall in Los Angeles and the next day in surveillance footage near a downtown metro rail station with an unidentified individual.
A non-profit organization assisting with the hunt verified Mr. Kobayashi’s suicide death on Monday.
The group, known as the RAD Movement, posted on Facebook that “Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life after tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days.”
“This loss has compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably.” The team demanded that while the family takes “space to grieve and process this significant loss,” the search for Ms. Kobayashi should continue.
“Hannah is still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger,” it stated. “It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant in their efforts to locate Hannah.”
According to People Magazine, which cited police sources, a phone call alerted officers to the presence of a vehicle park close to the airport.
At a rally prior to his passing, Mr. Kobayashi told reporters, “We’re just trying to get us as much information as we can.” He went on to say that ever since his daughter vanished, he had been anxious and perplexed.
–Deeprows News
