Hannah Kobayashi’s Sister Shares Their First Conversation Since Being Found in Mexico: Reveals She Prefers Not to Return Home

HANNAH Kobayashi has broken her silence as she spoke to her family members after being found safe in Mexico.

Her sister Sydni revealed that Hannah, who is now staying with her aunt Larie Pidgeon, does not wish to return to her family.

Kobayashi was found safe after being missing for more than a month. She disappeared after arriving in Los Angeles on November 8 from a flight originating from Maui, Hawaii.

Sydni said she and her mum spoke to Hannah over a call after reports emerged saying Hannah was found safely.

She added: “We have only spoken to her over the phone, and she was allegedly found safe with Larie [her aunt], but at this time, she does not wish to return to us.

“At this time, my mother and I have not physically seen Hannah. We do not have actual proof of where she is, other than that she is somewhere in Mexico.”

Kobayashi became the subject of national attention after her loved ones begged for help finding her last month.

She had been missing since November 11 and her dad was so distraught over her disappearance that he killed himself while searching for her in the streets of Los Angeles.

Her family announced she was found safe following an “unimaginable ordeal”.

Sara Azari, the family’s attorney, did not confirm where Kobayashi was found or why she traveled to Mexico and has not responded to a request for comment.

Kobayashi initially had a layover in Los Angeles, where she was expected to catch a connecting flight to New York City on November 8. However, she missed her 42-minute window to board.

The search began after she sent cryptic texts to her family before going off the grid, prompting crowds of volunteers to canvass the city and hunt for clues in Kobayashi’s disappearance.

The case took a tragic turn when Kobayashi’s dad, Ryan Kobayashi, died by suicide at a Los Angeles parking garage on November 24 after weeks of searching for his daughter.

It’s unclear whether Kobayashi has learned of her dad’s death yet.

Meanwhile, sister Sydni accused Aunt Larrie of creating a “media circus”.

She said: “Larrie, a self-proclaimed social media influencer, became the point of contact for the media and did many interviews, despite the me and my mum not being in favour of it.

“There were many occasions when my mother and I requested that Larie respect our feelings and tone down her posts and interviews. Our priority was finding Hannah, not creating a media circus.”

Family lawyer Sara Azari added that it is important to note that Hannah’s family comprises Sydni, ‘her mother and her uncle and that side’ and not Pidgeon.

But the worried aunt told the New York Post that her niece is “throwing her under the bus” because she wants to be at the centre of the attention.

TRIP TO MEXICO

Last Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that Kobayashi crossed into Mexico alone on November 12.

Cops deemed her disappearance as “voluntary” due to surveillance footage showing she made the trip from San Diego to Tijuana by herself, with her luggage and passport.

Kobayashi’s vanishing in Mexico further fueled theories that the traveler was involved in a green card marriage scam.

A green card marriage scam typically involves a non-American person marrying an American citizen to obtain legal residency via a green card.

Speculation started to swirl after a picture of Kobayashi appearing to marry an Argentinian man before her trip to Los Angeles circulated on the internet.

However, Azari told The U.S. Sun last week that the family is completely in the dark about any alleged marriage.

After the LAPD closed the case, her family vowed to keep searching for Kobayashi, insisting her erratic behaviour was too bizarre to ignore.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

But despite Kobayashi’s sudden reemergence, there are many unanswered questions about why the aspiring photographer went missing in the first place.

Family members described Kobayashi’s travel to the Big Apple as one of her “bucket list trips.”

Kobayashi, an art fan, had an itinerary planned out for her stay in New York, including stops at the Museum of Moder Art, absorbing Manhattan’s art scene, and visiting her aunt, Geordan Montalvo.

In the days after she stopped contacting her loved ones, Kobayashi was caught on surveillance footage strolling around Los Angeles, including making stops at a bookshop at The Grove, a shopping mall about an hour from Los Angeles International Airport.

On November 11, she uploaded a picture from a Nike event to her Instagram account before shutting off her cell phone.

Then, on November 12, unbeknownst to her family, Kobayashi boarded a bus from Union Station to San Ysidro, San Diego, where she crossed the border into Tijuana, Mexico, by foot, alone and carrying luggage.