The father of a woman from Hawaii who came to Los Angeles to look for her after she was reported missing was found dead near Los Angeles International Airport.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner says that Ryan Kobayashi’s body was found in a parking lot on Sunday. He was 58 years old. Officials from the Los Angeles Police Department said they went to the 6100 block of Century Boulevard around 4 a.m. Sunday after hearing reports of a body and found someone who had killed themselves.
Kobayashi went to Los Angeles to look for his 30-year-old daughter Hannah Kobayashi. Hannah was last seen at LAX on November 8 and last called her family on November 9.
In a statement released on Sunday, Ryan Kobayashi’s family confirmed his death and said they had “been through a devastating tragedy.”
“After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life,” as stated in the statement. “This loss has compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably.”
The girl’s family has asked people to “keep their attention on the search for her.” Hannah is still lost, and people think she is in grave danger. In their search for Hannah, everyone needs to stay alert at all times.
On November 8, Kobayashi got on a plane in Maui that was going to New York City with a stop at LAX. But her family told USA Today that she never made it to New York.
She got to LAX but missed her next flight because she went to the Grove shopping center instead, where she went to a Nike event on November 10, according to her family. Kobayashi went back to LAX the next day, but he didn’t get on a flight. Her family said the texts she sent later that day were “weird.”
A spokesperson for the LAPD, Charles Miller, stated that Kobayashi’s disappearance is being looked into as a “active missing person case.” However, Miller would not give any more information about the investigation. There were no new information available Monday morning.
“Strange” text messages that Kobayashi is said to have sent have been brought to the attention of the family by Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni, who spoke to The Times.
Kobayashi texted her friend that her ID had been stolen and that she was worried that someone she loved was trying to steal her money.
“She seemed like it was someone else or she was just totally out of it,” she said. “It just didn’t seem right because it’s not how she normally texts.”
His sister said that Kobayashi was going to spend time with family and see her aunt in upstate New York.
