Theory Suggests Missing Woman Hannah Kobayashi Was Involved in a Fake Marriage Scheme Gone Wrong

On Nov. 12, 2024, a Maui woman named Hannah Kobayashi was reported missing by her family. Since then, the case surrounding her disappearance has been shrouded in mystery and conspiracy theories.

She was initially on a trip from Hawaii to New York with a layover in Los Angeles, but after intentionally missing her connecting flight and sending a series of suspicious text messages to her family, she dropped off the face of the earth — only to be spotted again, almost a month later, on foot.

Authorities have reported that no foul play is suspected to have been involved in her disappearance, and they feel that, as an adult, she has the right to go missing if she wants to.

However, a new theory has arisen on the internet that her going has something to do with a failed marriage-for-visa plot. Here's what we know.

Amid all of the speculation about what could have happened to Hannah (or why she would have intentionally gone missing from her family), one theory that keeps popping up online is that she may have been involved in a marriage scam. It all began on Reddit when the story of Hannah's disappearance first started making national news.

In a since-deleted post on the platform, someone claiming to be a friend of Hannah's ex, Amun, shared that he has allegedly been involved in some shady activities — namely, coordinating illegal marriages between U.S. citizens and immigrants seeking visas.

Of course, this is just speculation, but it's worth noting that Hannah and Amun were originally set to go on the trip to New York together. After breaking up, they still flew on the same flight from Hawaii to California, but unlike Hannah, Amun did catch the connection to New York.

This theory was only strengthened when a popular internet sleuth and private investigator named Steve Fischer posted online about someone named Alan.

Reportedly, Alan C. is an Argentinian man who was also traveling with Hannah and Amun, along with an Argentinian woman named Mariana. According to the theory, Amun had arranged a marriage-for-money plot in which he would marry Mariana and Hannah would marry Alan in order to help them get visas to live in the United States.

And supposedly, Alan and Mariana are actually partners.

In a leaked Facebook screenshot, an anonymous friend or family member of Alan's commented on his page a few days after the news of Hannah's disappearance broke, "Bro, how have you not gone private with this account? [You're] gonna get Amun and all [of them] exposed," which many believe solidifies the theory that this mystery man named Alan was involved with Amun's marriage scheme.

On Hannah's trip itinerary, she had also written down that she intended to take photos with someone named Alan in New York — possibly to bolster the validity of their "marriage."

On his X (previously Twitter) page, Steve Fischer recently shared that, according to his findings (although he won't share his sources for legal reasons), the marriage theory is all but confirmed — and allegedly, Hannah's family knows this.

"As of Nov. 16, the family is fully aware that both Hannah and her ex-boyfriend are involved in green card marriages for profit," he shared. "They even suspected that the ex-boyfriend is responsible for scamming Hannah out of her money and contributing to her behavior."

But why would this have caused her to flee to Mexico?

Well, some believe that the plan fell through, and either she's upset about her financial situation and trying to cope by removing herself from society, or she's being extorted with proof that she intended to go through with the highly illegal scheme.

This theory is supported by text messages that she was reported to have sent to her family before going dark, including one saying, "I risk my freedom if this goes wrong," and one in which she told her sister that she had been scammed "by someone I thought I loved."

Of course, nothing about this theory is confirmed.