While allegations swirl that Hannah Kobayashi may have been involved in a green card scam involving a fake marriage to an Argentinean man, her aunt continues to search for the missing traveler from Maui.
“I’m just as confused as everyone else,” Kobayashi’s aunt Larie Pidgeon told the Long Beach Post today. “My only concern is to make sure she’s safe.”
Multiple reports allege that Kobayashi secretly married an Argentinian man named Alan Cacace as part of an immigration scheme allegedly involving her former boyfriend, who hasn’t been publicly identified.
According to the reports, on Nov. 8, when Kobayashi flew from Maui to LAX on her way to New York, she was traveling with Cacace, his girlfriend Marianna, and Kobayashi’s former boyfriend.
Now-deleted images from Cacace’s Instagram account appear to show him and Kobayashi posing as a couple.
The new information about an alleged secret marriage may help unravel the mystery of why Kobayashi missed her connecting flight to New York, sent a series of troubling text messages, and then took a bus to the border and crossed into Mexico.
“I can’t explain all of it,” said one text message sent from Koyabashi’s phone on Nov. 11. “Just please be open with this please.”
Sara Azari, an attorney for Kobayashi’s mother and sister, said in a written statement yesterday: “The family has not confirmed the authenticity of the images or the accuracy of the information provided about a possible secret marriage.”
As for reports that the FBI is now involved in the case, Rukelt Dalberis, an FBI Public Information Officer, told the Long Beach Post today: “LAPD is still the lead agency. We have provided assistance and will continue to provide assistance, if requested.”
Pidgeon vows to keep searching for Kobayashi despite the new allegations. “I don’t care about all the drama,” she told the Long Beach Post. “My goal is to find Hannah.”
Contact Doug Kari at [email protected].