Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
The mystery man who spent nine hours with photographer Hannah Kobayashi before she vanished told investigators that she was a “free spirit” — but otherwise seemed completely normal, according to a report.
The day before she walked into Mexico, Kobayashi and the man bumped into each other outside of LAX and walked through downtown LA together, talking and smiling until they made their way to Union Station where they fell asleep together.
When he woke up in the morning, the 30-year-old photographer was gone.
The man was one of the first people who authorities tracked down after she was reported missing after police saw the pair on security cameras.
“For a while, he was the last person to have seen her when we didn’t know where she was,” Lt. Doug Oldfield, of the Los Angeles Police Department’s missing persons unit, told People magazine.
“So we did have to spend a few days on this to ensure that nothing bad happened,” he says.
After analyzing hours of footage, police determined that he was not a threat. He was often smiling, and Kobayashi had an opportunity to cry out for help as they walked past LAPD officers.
Investigators have spoken twice with the man, who said they first met around 9 p.m. local time on Nov. 11 as she was leaving the airport. She was looking for directions to get to the train station, he told police.
The two decided to walk together and formed an instant bond as they talked.
“For the amount of time they spent together, he pretty much was an ear to listen,” said Detective Omar Franco, who heads the missing persons unit.
“She just spoke and talked about her life in Maui, her personal life, her love life and so forth. And he just listened to her.”
The man described Kobayashi as a “free spirit” but told police she seemed perfectly normal and not scared.
She didn’t seem scared, and had even mentioned her plans to be in New York — where she was supposed to fly three days earlier to visit her boyfriend but never boarded her flight.
When they got to the station they ate dinner together and passed out in a waiting area.
Kobayashi then got up by herself in the early morning, gathered her luggage and “walk[ed] off on her own,” Franco told the magazine.
“These things, we were able to corroborate,” Oldfield said.
She purchased a bus ticket around 6:10 a.m. on Nov. 12. Four hours later she was at the border and walked into Tijuana around noon, police said.
Her phone was left at LAX for reasons still unknown.
Police have cleared the “gentleman” of any wrongdoing and do not suspect Kobayashi was a victim of any crime.
While her whereabouts remain unknown, Kobayashi may have been caught up in a marriage scam perpetrated by an Argentinian national.
The photographer is believed to have landed at LAX with her alleged new husband, Alan Cacace, and his girlfriend, Marianna, according to Los Angeles Magazine.
The outlet reported that its sources believe the aspiring photographer may have been scammed out of money after allegedly marrying the man in a green card visa scheme gone wrong.
Kobayashi’s mother, Brandi Yee, allegedly discovered immigration documents at her daughter’s home in Hawaii that showed she was working with or in contact with an immigration attorney.
Tensions have divided family members since Kobayashi’s self-disappearance and her father’s tragic suicide.
The tear in the family between Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni and aunt Larie Pidgeon spilled out into the public last week.
Sydni blasted Pidgeon – who has become the de facto for updates – saying she doesn’t speak for the family.
“It’s really unfortunate when you have to question family,” Sydni told News Nation. “The fact that she has gone rogue and wants to disconnect from [our effort], that’s on her.”
Pidgeon has hit back at her niece telling The Post that “Sydni is throwing her under the bus” because she wants the limelight of national TV interviews.
“They want to be the face. They want to be the whole thing … It’s really sad,” Pidgeon said.
The rift follows the death of Kobayashi’s father, who police said jumped off a parking garage at LA International Airport after arriving in the city to help look for his daughter.
