Lacking photographer Hannah Kobayashi might have been intertwined in an alleged marriage rip-off with an Argentinian nationwide earlier than her disappearance, in response to a surprising report.
Kobayashi, 30, landed at Los Angeles Worldwide Aiport on Nov. 8 along with her alleged new husband, Alan Cacace, an Argentinian man, and his girlfriend, Marianna, simply days earlier than she was seen crossing the border into Mexico, sources informed Los Angeles Journal Wednesday.
The outlet reported that its sources imagine the aspiring photographer might have been scammed out of cash after allegedly marrying the person in a inexperienced card visa scheme gone improper.
Kobayashi’s mom, Brandi Yee, allegedly found immigration paperwork at her daughter’s residence in Hawaii that confirmed she was working with or in touch with an immigration lawyer.
Yee allegedly tried to contact the lawyer, however “that lawyer was not cooperative,” one supply informed the outlet.
The supply shared that Yee allegedly gave the paperwork to the FBI and LAPD for investigation.
The household’s lawyer, Sara Azari, mentioned in a assertion Wednesday that the involved mom turned over “the alleged info to legislation enforcement instantly upon receipt.”
“We need to stress that the household has not publicly introduced any info concerning an alleged marriage as a result of we didn’t have the information or the required paperwork to confirm the legitimacy of this info,” Azari wrote on X.
“The household has not confirmed the authenticity of the pictures or the accuracy of the knowledge supplied a couple of doable secret marriage.”
Azari requested that the general public “keep away from leaping to conclusions or spreading unverified claims.”
“It’s particularly essential to not perpetuate hypothesis that anybody is concerned in a rip-off, as this solely hinders our efforts to seek out Hannah and convey readability and closure to the nightmare we live due to her disappearance,” Azari added.
Earlier than she minimize contact with family members, Kobayashi despatched cryptic textual content messages to pals, together with one saying she’d had a “very intense religious awakening” and one other claiming she “bought tricked into just about freely giving all my funds.”
In a second message, Kobayashi informed the pal that she was supposedly hoodwinked “for somebody I believed I beloved.”
Information of the alleged marriage rip-off got here days after surveillance footage confirmed Kobayashi shopping for a ticket to the border and crossing into Mexico on foot.
The 30-year-old brunette magnificence from Maui was reported lacking by her household on Nov. 11 after she missed a connecting flight at LAX just a few days earlier after which went darkish.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell mentioned investigators reviewed varied surveillance footage and interviewed a number of witnesses, who confirmed Kobayashi’s actions from when she landed within the Golden State on Nov. 8 to when she was final seen crossing into Mexico via the border crossing tunnel in Baja California on Nov. 12.
The Los Angeles police declared the 30-year-old a “voluntary lacking particular person” and mentioned she willfully crossed into Mexico to “step away from fashionable connectivity.”
“We’ve principally achieved every thing we are able to do at this level,” McDonnell mentioned. “She’s left the nation and in one other nation now.”
McDonnell revealed that his division’s investigation discovered no proof that Kobayashi was being trafficked or concerned in any prison exercise.
The Los Angeles Police Chief mentioned the LAPD’s investigation wouldn’t proceed into Mexico however urged the general public to return ahead with any credible info on her whereabouts.
Baja is a vacationer vacation spot for surfers, solo vacationers and psychedelic retreats.
Nevertheless, town can be swarming with organized crime, violence, medicine, kidnappings, and murders, notably in Tijuana, the largest border metropolis in Mexico.
Whereas the LAPD shared they imagine she voluntarily left the US, her household insisted the search is “removed from over” regardless of the declaration on Tuesday that she was thought-about voluntarily lacking.
“Our household stays hopeful that Hannah is protected, and urges everybody to proceed the search,” the household mentioned in a press release.
