The search for Maui photographer Hannah Kobayashi is tearing her family apart, as various relatives fight over how to keep her story in the headlines and what to do with the $50,000 raised online to help look for her.
It all spilled out into public this week when Kobayashi’s sister Sydni blasted her aunt Larie Pidgeon — who had become a de facto spokesperson for updates on the search for the missing 30-year-old — saying Pidgeon 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.”
Now the aunt is hitting back, 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.
Pidgeon emphasized that she believes Sydni and the other family members are not trying to scam the public, and genuinely want to bring Kobayashi home safely.
Sydni did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Separately, there’s also the question of what to do with more than $50,000 in GoFundMe money raised in two separate funds — one to help look for Kobayashi and one to help the family after her father’s death.
GoFundMe said the fundraisers have not violated the company’s terms of service.
However, Pidgeon said there’s also “major tension” over what happens next now that the LAPD declared Hannah Kobayashi “voluntarily missing” earlier after receiving evidence that she crossed the border into Mexico.
Sydni criticized LAPD’s decision to stop looking for her, saying, “We do not believe Hannah would willingly … cause her loved ones this unimaginable pain.”
Pidgeon said the official explanation is probably true.
However, she said she still plans to travel to Mexico and continue the search for her niece.
