Missing Hawaiian woman Hannah Kobayashi sent two Venmo payments to two separate people while in Los Angeles on Nov. 9, the same day she was expected to arrive in New York City. According to the U.S. Sun, the identities of the people who received those payments, and what the money may have been for have now been revealed.
The Sun says Kobayashi, 30, sent the first payment for an undisclosed amount to Veronica Almendarez around 6:30 pm on Nov. 9, two days before Kobayashi’s family last heard from her. She sent another to Jonathan “Johnathan” Taylor about an hour later. The Almendarez payment had a bow-and-arrow emoji indicating what the payment was for, and the Taylor payment said, “Reading.”
Kobayashi’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon, who has been involved in the search, confirmed Kobayashi’s family and the LAPD are aware of the Venmo activity. Both names are unfamiliar, Kobayashi’s family said. Unconfirmed Reddit posts say both names have been tracked to Texas.
Kobayashi was en route from Maui to New York on a “bucket list” trip when she missed a connecting flight at LAX on Nov. 8. Kobayashi was traveling with her ex-boyfriend. They had agreed to fly together on nonrefundable tickets and then go their separate ways in New York, where Kobayashi planned to spend time with her aunt.
Kobayashi’s ex made the connecting flight, but Kobayashi missed it. Afterward, Kobayashi was on standby for several days as social media activity, video, and photos showed her at several places in LA near LAX. One image showed Kobayashi with someone who remains unidentified.
Kobayashi kept in contact with her family, but her family said she sent them a series of concerning texts including, “Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f*** since Friday,” and also, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds … For someone I thought I loved.”
Kobayashi’s family has since said because of the tone and language used in those texts, some of the messages may have been sent by someone else.
“I just finished a very intense spiritual awakening”
One text, in particular, that her aunt said Kobayashi sent her, “I just finished a very intense spiritual awakening,” now has new meaning in the context of the Venmo payments. The bow-and-arrow emoji remains unexplained, but the note on the second payment — “reading” — might mean tarot reading, something Kobayashi had an interest in, sources said.
Reports say Jonathan Taylor was contacted on TikTok after Kobayashi disappeared, which he has since set to private. Reddit users claim Taylor went live on social media, and said that he introduced Kobayashi to a man he didn’t name, and that he hasn’t heard from her since, but those claims are unsubstantiated.
Another unconfirmed Reddit post says Almendarez could be the same Veronica from a business called “Tarot Card Readings By Veronica,” but that is also unsubstantiated. It’s unclear if Almendarez has been reached for comment.
Kobayashi conspiracy theories
All combined, Kobayashi’s “spiritual awakening”, along with evidence she paid someone for a tarot reading, seem to confirm online conspiracy theories that Kobayashi was involved in a scam. Moreover, it’s widely reported Kobayashi followed the “love cult” Twin Flames, or Twin Flames Universe-related accounts on social media. She also disappeared on 11/11, a numerologically significant date in that community.
There has been no official statement confirming if any of that is true. LAPD has listed Kobayashi as a voluntary missing person, but her family insists she’s in danger. The Kobayashi family faced still further tragedy when Hannah’s estranged father, Ryan Kobayashi, who traveled from Hawaii to L.A. to search for his daughter, took his own life at LAX. Pidgeon, Hannah’s aunt, said Ryan “died of a broken heart.”