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The search for a missing Hawaii woman in Los Angeles has turned tragic on Sunday after the father of the woman was found dead near the airport that is among the last places she was seen before she vanished.
Hannah Kobayashi, 31, was unable to catch a connecting flight from Maui to New York City on Nov. 8 at LAX.
She was later seen in different parts of Los Angeles on security cameras but the last time her family heard from her was on November 11.
Since then her family has been in pure anguish and sorrow which seemed to become worse when Kobayashi’s father passed on over the week.
Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was discovered dead at around 4 a.m. on Nov. 24 at a parking lot near LAX, police said.
The family later posted on the social network Facebook that he had killed himself.
Larie Pidgeon, Hannah’s aunt, said in an interview with USATodayWorld on Monday that the past two weeks were already terrible before the news about her brother-in-law’s death.
“He just died of a broken heart,” Pidgeon said. I think because he is walking the streets and seeing what the possibilities are of where his daughter could be. No sleep.
The speculating rumors that are going around. It just took a toll on him.”
Instead Of Speculation, Families Require Support, According To Pidgeon
Ryan and several other family members went to California after Hannah’s disappearance, Pidgeon said. On Saturday, he marched on the streets of LA with several voluntary organizations campaigning for the cause.
Pidgeon, who described her brother-in-law as the most compassionate sensitive man, denied rumors that Ryan had been involved in any foul play.
”This is a man who just had a mental breakdown from sleep depression,” Pidgeon said. It was like, suicide is not something that was even spoken of.
It was not even something that we would consider would take place. And now we have lost two tragedies.
We are barely surviving and all we want is for the search to go on because there’s still life in Hannah.
Now more than ever, Pidgeon said she wants the public to be kind to the family and not add to the pain through gossip and “becoming detectives.”
The Last Time Hannah Was Seen Was With An Unidentified Man
The LAPD remains on the case of the missing Hannah. She was last seen on November 11 when the family said airport employees reported seeing her at the airport’s LAX but not getting on a flight.
Pidgeon said that Hannah was on the phone with an American Airlines ticketing agent for approximately 40 minutes.
Security cameras captured her near the Pico Metro station in downtown LA several hours later with another man, whom Pidgeon said she thinks “deceived her.” ‘We think she just confided in the wrong person,’ she said.
The family also received messages from Hannah which they said were out of character for her, containing strange phrases and few emojis.
Hannah’s physical appearance is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, 140 pounds, brown hair, and brown eyes, fair skin with freckles.
”She is just so amazing, she is loving, she is kind, she is compassionate, she is funny,” Pidgeon added.
‘We just want to keep the focus on finding her and we still think she is alive and we still have hope that we can bring her home.’