By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-12 18:06:20 | Updated at 2024-12-12 20:44:33
2 hours ago
The family of Hannah Kobayashi have told GoFundMe donors they would issue refunds after she was found safe.
The Hawaii woman, 31, made contact with relatives on Wednesday to tell them that she was fine after disappearing from Los Angeles International Airport in November.
In a bid to help their search efforts, her family had launched an online fundraiser which raised over $47,000.
A post made to the fundraiser has since said the family would be turning donations off and that they would honor any claims submitted for a refund.
They said: 'We are turning donations off, and any donor who would like a refund can submit a claim by December 18th, and it will be honored.'
In a statement, her family said on Wednesday they were 'incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe'.
She had vanished at LAX on November 8 while traveling from her home in Hawaii to New York City.
Her father ended up travelling to Los Angeles shortly after she vanished to help in the search, and ended up killing himself over her disappearance.
DailyMail.com revealed that she had been on the flight alongside her new Green Card husband Argentinian Alan Cacace in a bid to hoodwink immigration officials into believing their marriage was genuine.
The Hawaii woman, 31, made contact with relatives on Wednesday to tell them that she was fine after disappearing from Los Angeles International Airport in November
A post made to the fundraiser has since said the family would be turning donations off and that they would honor any claims submitted for a refund
The family of Hannah Kobayashi, including her late father Ryan, are seen here in November in downtown Los Angeles after she vanished
Her ex-boyfriend Amun Miranda joined them on the same flight with his own Green Card wife Marianne – who just happened to be Cacace's girlfriend.
The love square was only possible after Cacace allegedly gave her $15,000 with the promise of another lump sum after appropriate immigration documents were issued.
Kobayashi and ex boyfriend Miranda seen at a 2023 Christmas party
The ruse of their sham marriage was already in the works after they tied the knot in October.
Cacace believed that pictures of him with Kobayashi sightseeing around The Big Apple would be enough to persuade officials that their marriage was for real.
Pictures of the ceremony were shown to Kobayashi's colleagues at Up 'N Smoke, the Maui smoke shop where she worked.
'There was no secret,' Desiree, a co-worker told DailyMail.com. 'She told us about her plans.'
'The Argentinian couple wanted to hop on the trip at the last minute because it presented an opportunity for photos of their "romantic vacation",' Desiree explained.
Kobayashi's colleagues said she had mixed feelings about going on the trip – both excited by checking off a location on her bucket list where she could see relatives, but also frustrated she'd have to share her flight with ex-boyfriend Miranda.
Her coworkers also divulged that her cash cows in the form of Cacace and his girlfriend were also a point of contention for the formerly missing woman, who didn't want either of them coming on this trip.
Kobayashi was caught on camera at LAX airport three days before her family reported her missing when they received cryptic text messages
Kobayashi supposedly told them she didn't want to waste time taking photos but would reluctantly sacrifice one day of her weekly planned vacation to satisfy their wishes.
And then there was Marianne, who Kobayashi had a recent fight with revolving around her jealousy of marrying her boyfriend Cacace.
'I do remember Hannah saying that the girlfriend had an issue with her,' Desiree said.
'And Hannah was like girl, I'm not trying to steal your man. This is an arrangement we all talked about beforehand.'
When Kobayashi's family reported her missing after receiving cryptic text messages, her coworkers decided to dig since they knew the backstory of what was going down on the trip to New York City.
Desiree who had known Miranda since high school texted him telling him they were actively looking for his ex, going as far as to ask for the Argentinian couple's name and if they made it to New York.
'All seems very sus and you should have told her family she didn't get on the flight,' Desiree texted Miranda. 'Actually no you should've got off that flight when you realized she wasn't on it.. Explain.'
Miranda shot back at the questioning coworker saying it wasn't his job to look after her. 'She's an adult and I'd heard she'd also possibly had plans in Cali,' he texted.
Ryan Kobayashi holds a picture of his missing daughter Hannah outside the Crypto.com Arena with her aunt Larie Pidgeon
Kobayashi's ex-boyfriend also vehemently defended her Green Card husband Cacace.
Miranda is a carpenter who lived with Kobayashi until their split in a small home along a dirt road that rested on a lush hill sloping down to the ocean.
They started planning a trip to New York early this year, purchasing tickets for what was initially planned as a vacation for just the two of them.
But that plan would expand to include their Green Card scam – connecting with the couple from Argentina who had come to Maui's north shore for the beach lifestyle and higher-paying jobs.
DailyMail.com was unable to reach the Argentinian couple, while Miranda did not respond to messages left at his mother's property.
Locals say he's back in town but lying low to avoid attention in the aftermath of the disappearance.
Before her reappearance, Kobayashi was caught on surveillance footage crossing the border into Tijuana on foot on either November 12 or 13, police said.
Investigators later declared that Kobayashi 'knowingly departed' the airport and changed her status to 'voluntary missing', effectively closing the book on their investigation.
Before her reappearance, Kobayashi was caught on surveillance footage crossing the border into Tijuana on foot on either November 12 or 13, police said
Her family contested this decision, sharing their concerns that Hannah may be in danger, claiming that they’d received a string of strange text messages from Kobayashi.
One seemed to allude to the scam, with Kobayashi texting a friend early on that, 'I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. From someone I thought I loved.'
As of this week, signs still hung at the entrance to Up 'N Smoke, with Kobayashi's picture declaring her missing.
'I've been running my brain all day, every day for the past month,' Desiree told DailyMail.com just days before Kobayashi reached out to family declaring she was safe.
'Something freaked her out that she dumped her trip and went to freaking Mexico. I can't understand why she'd miss out on her bucket list trip.'
She and the Kobayashi family are now hoping they can now get those answers from Kobayashi in person.
