The sister of Hannah Kobayashi revealed her family is suffering through "overwhelming feelings of exhaustion, devastation, and betrayal" one month after the missing Hawaii woman turned up safe.
"The past 31 days have been absolute hell for us, and I feel they will continue to be for a while, even as we try to transition back to some semblance of normalcy," Sydni Kobayashi penned, in part, in a lengthy Facebook post Thursday.
Loved ones reported the 30-year-old photographer missing Nov. 11, three days after she flew out of Honolulu and failed to board her connecting flight in Los Angeles bound for New York City.
At the same time, she cut off communication with family members, leading them to worry she might have been kidnapped or sex trafficked.
Her sudden disappearance prompted her father, Ryan Kobayashi, to leave Hawaii two weeks later and fly out to LA in search of his daughter, during which he was seemingly driven to jump to his death near an LAX parking garage.
"Each 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," wrote Sydni.
Earlier this month, Los Angeles police alleged Hannah willingly cut ties with loved ones and entered Mexico via the San Ysidro crossing in San Diego on Nov. 12, citing surveillance footage.
Detectives moved to classify her as a "voluntary missing person" following several weeks of investigation and rumors of a potential green card marriage scam involving an Argentinian man, masterminded by her ex-boyfriend.
On Wednesday, Sydni and their mother, Brandi Yee, confirmed Hannah was found safe in a statement through their lawyer.
"At this time, my mother and I have not physically seen Hannah. We do not have actual proof of where she is, other than that she is somewhere in Mexico. We have only spoken to her over the phone, and she was allegedly found safe with [aunt] Larie [Pidgeon], but at this time, she does not wish to return to us."
As a side note, Sydni clarified she and her mother "no longer consider" Pidgeon family, partly, after she deemed herself family spokesperson and allegedly delivered them information on Hannah "that turned out to be inaccurate or half-truths."
Pidgeon also reportedly ignored Sydni's several requests for her to "tone down her posts and interviews."
"As you can imagine, we are all extremely relieved and glad that my sister is alive and seemingly okay, but we also have mixed and overwhelming feelings of exhaustion, devastation, and betrayal," Sydni continued. "We are kindly asking the public to respect our privacy and offer us grace for a moment as we are still grieving. There is still so much unknown, and so much that still needs to be navigated."
"In due time, the truth will surface, and we will all get the answers we truly deserve. I stand by the choices I've made for my family, and we know where our hearts lie in this."
Originally published on Lawyer Herald
