Hannah Kobayashi has told her family she does not want to return to Hawaii after she was found safe earlier this week.
Kobayashi, 31, contacted family members on Wednesday to tell them she was doing well after disappearing from Los Angeles International Airport in November.
Her sister Sydni has now broken her silence about her find, issuing a statement she hoped would clear up any confusion.
In it she said: ‘At this time my mother and I have not physically seen Hannah. We have no actual proof of where she is other than she is somewhere in Mexico.
“We only spoke to her on the phone and she was said to have been found safe with Larie (her aunt), but at this time she does not want to return to us.”
Her statement also described how difficult it had been for the family to be in the spotlight during her disappearance.
The search for her sister proved to be a tough task for her family as some members had different ideas on how to handle the difficult time.
Her father Ryan also took his own life after searching for her for 13 days. He was found dead on November 25 after jumping from a parking garage in Los Angeles.
Sydni’s aunt Larie Pidgeon and her sister also had a falling out over media interviews and disagreements over their GoFundMe to help find Hannah.
Hannah Kobayashi, 31, went missing in early November before contacting her family last week to say she was fine
Kobayashi was seen at Los Angeles International Airport on November 8, but she never boarded her connecting flight to New York
‘Larie, a self-proclaimed social media influencer, immediately began participating in multiple interviews and became the self-proclaimed point of contact for the media. Even though my mother and I were not in favor of this, it still happened.
‘There were many occasions when my mother and I asked Larie to respect our feelings and tone down her messages and interviews. Our priority was finding Hannah, not creating a media circus,” Hannah wrote.
During the search, Sydni asked Pidgeon for her comments to the press.
“It’s a real shame when you have to question family,” she said NewsNation. “The fact that she has gone rogue and wants to disconnect from (our efforts), that’s her business.”
“I will do everything I can at this time to protect our family and do everything I can to find my sister,” Sydni continued.
“And I don’t want to have any connection with the confusion I think she’s caused since this thing started with my sister.”
Family attorney Sara Azari added that it is important to note that Hannah’s family consists of Sydni, “her mother and her uncle and that side,” and not Pidgeon.
It was unclear what exactly Pidgeon said that the other family members disagreed with.
But the concerned aunt told her New York Post that her niece ‘throws her under the bus’ because she wants to be in the spotlight.
Hannah Kobayashi’s sister Sydni asked her aunt about comments she made to the press and now says she no longer considers her family
Kobayashi’s father Ryan, 58, joined the search after the family believed she may have been kidnapped. He is seen here next to her aunt
“They want to be the face,” Pidgeon said of her extended family. “They want to be the whole thing… It’s really sad.”
She went on to say that she agreed that the LAPD’s statement that Kobayashi “voluntarily” left the airport and went to Mexico is likely true, but said she also planned to travel to Mexico to continue the search for her niece to put.
Sydni further claimed that she and her family had also faced “relentless criticism” from public opinion.
“The last 31 days have been absolute hell for us, and I think they will continue to be so for a while, even as we try to return to some semblance of normality,” she said.
“Every day brought the unbearable uncertainty of whether my sister was alive or dead. Losing my father to suicide during this ordeal was more than my soul and heart could bear. I am human. Despite the differences that every family has – and we all do – my son, family and I loved him dearly.”
However, the family has also come under fire for not being honest about her sister’s circumstances and taking advantage of the GoFundMe set up to help in the search for Hannah.
Sydni said: “My mother and I have remained completely transparent and have not misled or abused anyone.
“While the GoFundMe lists my mother as the beneficiary, we have kept all the receipts to show where the money was used: for the search for my sister.
‘When my father died suddenly, I, as a surviving relative, added funeral costs and arrangements to the campaign.’
Sydni’s Facebook post further explained that her family had not lied and further condemned her aunt for certain untruths. “There were times when we received information from the public or from Larie – who I no longer consider family – that turned out to be inaccurate or half-truths.”
Kobayashi was initially reported missing on November 11 after she failed to board her connecting flight from Los Angeles to New York.
After weeks of searching, Los Angeles police announced Monday that the 30-year-old had “knowingly” crossed the border into Mexico on November 12.
DailyMail.com revealed that she had been on the run with her new Green Card husband, Argentinian Alan Cacace, in an attempt to make immigration officials believe their marriage was real.
Her ex-boyfriend Amun Miranda joined them on the same flight with his own Green Card wife Marianne – who happened to be Cacace’s girlfriend.
Kobayashi and her ex-boyfriend Miranda seen at a Christmas party in 2023
The love square was only possible after Cacace allegedly gave her $15,000 with the promise of another lump sum after the proper immigration documents were issued.
The ruse of their marriage of convenience was already in the works after they tied the knot in October.
Cacace believed that photos of him while Kobayashi toured the Big Apple would be enough to convince officials that their marriage was real.
Photos of the ceremony were shown to Kobayashi’s coworkers at Up ‘N Smoke, the Maui smoke shop where she worked.
“There was no secret,” Desiree, a colleague, told DailyMail.com. “She told us about her plans.”
“The Argentinian couple wanted to go on a last-minute trip because it provided an opportunity to take photos of their ‘romantic vacation,'” Desiree explains.
“I’ve been racking my brain all day, every day, for the past month,” Desiree told DailyMail.com, just days before Kobayashi contacted the family and declared her safe.
“Something scared her so much that she ditched her trip and went to crazy Mexico. I don’t understand why she would have to miss her bucket list trip.”
She and the Kobayashi family now hope they can now get those answers personally from Kobayashi.