The family of a Hawaii woman who vanished while traveling to New York said eerie final text messages sent from her phone have led them to believe she may have been "trafficked."
New York City was Hannah Kobayashi's final destination from Maui, Hawaii, when she departed Nov. 8. But she had a layover at LAX in Los Angeles, and never made it on her connecting flight.
Kobayashi was traveling with an ex-boyfriend, and the pair agreed they would go their separate ways when they got to New York, her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, told CNN.
Days later, loved ones received alarming texts.
"I got hacked, stripped of my identity, I can't fly," a message sent to loved ones from Kobayashi's phone three days later Nov. 11 read, her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told NewsNation.
"I got tricked pretty much into giving away my funds for someone I thought I loved," a follow-up text stated, before her phone was shut off. "I've been on the streets."
Between the time she landed to when family received the suspicious messages, downtown LA surveillance footage reportedly captured Kobayashi appearing unwell, with an unidentified person, according to Pidgeon.
She was also spotted on-camera at popular shopping spot The Grove.
"Time is of the essence, and it's dwindling, so we are terrified," Pidgeon told the network. "We're thinking of things like, was she abducted? I hate to say it, but the word 'trafficked.'"
Speaking with CNN, Pidgeon echoed the family's fears her niece might be held captive somewhere.
"If someone has Hannah, I want you to know that she is the kindest, most beautiful soul in the entire world. And please don't hurt her," she pleaded.
"Please just give us back to her. No questions asked. Just don't hurt her. Please."
Kobayashi is 5-foot-10, 140 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes, according to a missing persons poster distributed by the Los Angeles Police Department. She has freckles on her face and a knife tattooed on her forearm.
