(NewsNation) — The aunt of missing woman Hannah Kobayashi announced she is parting ways with Kobayashi’s mother and sister in her effort to locate her niece.
Larie Pidgeon told NewsNation that she made the decision to part ways with her sister and daughter and said she saw no need to use funds raised by the family on a lawyer instead of a private investigator.
Pidgeon also said she is not associated with her sister’s GoFundMe account and never has been.
“My sole focus remains on finding Hannah and ensuring her safety and well-being. It has now been 25 days since anyone has heard from her, and I am determined to continue my search,” she said. “I am preparing to travel to Mexico personally to further the efforts to locate her and verify that she is acting of her own free will and is truly safe.”
Kobayashi disappeared while on a trip from Hawaii to New York, missing a connecting flight in Los Angeles. Family members said they received texts that were out of character from her before her phone was turned off.
Surveillance video showed Kobayashi at LA’s Grove Market and near the stadium where the LA Lakers play. She did not appear to be alone in some of the footage, leading her family to fear she had been trafficked.
The family’s search for her was complicated by the suicide of her father, Ryan Kobayashi.
Police later said Hannah Kobayashi intentionally skipped her flight and instead went to Mexico on foot, classifying her case as a voluntary missing persons case.
Her mother and sister pushed back, saying police had released inaccurate information and were not updating them on developments.
They said they do not think Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight and believe she may have been a victim of a green card marriage scam after photos of what appeared to be a wedding between Kobayashi and an unknown man surfaced online.
“A Facebook user sent what looked like a Hawaiian beach wedding photo of Hannah with another man with leis around their necks wearing white, and they said that they learned off of Reddit that there was this sham marriage for money and that this is the wedding picture that’s being circulated on Reddit,” said Sara Azari, the Kobayashi family attorney, to NewsNation. “Of course, that came as a shock to Hannah’s sister.”
When asked about Pidgeon’s statement, Azari implied Pidgeon was motivated by raising her profile as an influencer.
NewsNation’s Mills Hayes contributed to this report.
