By Jenna Tibak
Hannah Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight on November 8, 2024, crossed the US-Mexican border four days later, and was never seen again. At least, that is the story most people know. But for Kobayashi, only a month would pass between her disappearance and reappearance on December 11th of the same year. While the public may never know what actually happened in her story, the twists and turns of her one-month vanishing have most true-crime junkies wondering one question: why? However, society’s prejudice is clear in Kobayashi’s case, limiting the coverage of thousands of other missing people nationwide.
On November 8th, Hawaiian native Kobayashi flew from Maui to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), with a scheduled connecting flight to New York. She was travelling with her ex-boyfriend and an alleged Argentine husband, Alan Cacace. Her marriage to Cacace was never confirmed, but believed to be a green-card strategy for Cacace. One of Kobayashi’s friends said she knew about it but was told not to mention the federal crime to anyone. Either way, her ex-boyfriend left LAX for New York while Kobayashi stayed behind and purposefully missed her flight. During the next two days, Kobayashi stayed in Los Angeles, made two Venmo transactions to unidentified users, and bought a bus ticket for a place near the California-Mexican border. On November 11th, Kobayashi texted her friends and family for the last time before leaving her life behind. Two of her last texts sent to her friend chilled law enforcement, her family, and the world: “Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday,” and “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds” (CNN).
Kobayashi crossed into Mexico voluntarily by herself on November 12th, carrying her luggage. Within the next few days, a nationwide search went out for the 30 year-old. Unfortunately, her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found dead by suicide near LAX on November 24th. His family revealed that the stress of his daughter going missing is the ultimate verdict in his tragic end. Nethertheless, Hannah Kobayashi was still nowhere to be found; she would not be for another twenty-one days. On December 11th, Kobayashi was finally located in Mexico and soon returned home. Her family is currently asking for respect and privacy.
Most people will never know the true story behind Kobayashi’s disappearance. However, the publicity of certain cases is clear. Gabby Petito is a name most of us remember. Though Petito and Kobayashi’s stories had different outcomes, both were similar in two ways: they fit society’s beauty standards, and the public blew up their stories like never before which was key in locating both missing persons. Take Jermain Charlo, a Native American woman who disappeared under very mysterious circumstances. Even though all signs of Charlo’s captor pointed toward her ex-boyfriend, it took investigators ten days to even begin looking into her case after being reported missing. Kristin Smart, a young college student that vanished with a man who was known for being inappropriate towards women, was not served justice until three decades after disappearing. And the list goes on. Both Charlo and Smart were beautiful, even if not by societal standards. Society’s double standards are revealing itself to be the underlying issue in delayed missing persons cases. Yes, Petito and Kobayashi deserved to be taken seriously and have an immediate investigation, but so did Charlo and Smart, who were never found. Over and over, the police fail to act in those critical ‘72 hours’ after a person goes missing, and people fail to be found. Everyone deserves a fair investigation, and the public needs to begin putting circumstances in place of societal standards to prevent missing people from staying missing.