The fake husband of the Hawaii woman who triggered a nationwide manhunt after she went missing late last year has finally broken his silence for the first time since she was found safe and their sham marriage was exposed.
Argentinian national Alan Cacace secretly married Hannah Kobayashi, 31, in Maui, in a $15,000 deal meant to secure him a US green card, weeks before she mysteriously disappeared last November.
Speaking out for the first time exclusively to Daily Mail, Cacace revealed his fake wife had offered to refund him the money in exchange for his silence, hoping to keep the crime a secret after she vanished, but never paid up.
The bombshell allegation adds a new twist to the bizarre saga of the aspiring photographer, whose disappearance made national headlines and even led to her father’s suicide, only for her to be found safe – and at the center of an immigration scam.
‘She’s a terrible person,’ he told the Daily Mail exclusively this week.
For months, Cacace had been lying low in Argentina and not responding to media requests even after their phony marriage was exposed.
He finally reached out to DailyMail.com after his short-lived wife broke her silence in an astonishing Instagram post last week. Kobayashi has not responded to Daily Mail’s request for comment.
Kobayashi, an aspiring photographer and Hawaii native who had kept a low profile since she was found safe in December, shared a video about ‘loss’ – a reference to her father who killed himself while searching for her.
Hannah Kobayashi’s disappearance made national headlines last November and even led to her father’s suicide, only for her to be found safe – and at the center of an immigration scam
Argentinian national Alan Cacace, who secretly married Kobayashi for a green card in a $15,000 deal, claims she offered to refund him the money in exchange for his silence but never paid up
She said that life is ‘such a precious gift.. especially after such loss and pain and suffering.
‘We should all learn to be kind to one another and cherish every single moment that we can because we are all connected.’
In another video, Kobayashi told how ‘grateful’ she was for everyone who dedicated their ‘time and energy’ into looking for her in the international search.
‘It means the world to me,’ she said. ‘Thank you so much… from the bottom of my heart.’
Many comments on her post were supportive, as users expressed their relief that she was back home safely. But others accused her of being selfish – with one user even asking her why she did not attend her father’s funeral.
‘You don’t know the whole story,’ Kobayashi replied.
‘My intention in this post is to acknowledge that I am going to speak about my experience and to stand up against all the hate that was cast upon me,’ she said.
Kobayashi’s comments didn’t sit well with Cacace.
Kobayashi spoke publicly about her father’s untimely passing – six months after he killed himself while searching for her – in an Instagram video (left) shared last month
Kobayashi’s father Ryan (right), who participated in the search, committed suicide by jumping from a building near the same airport his daughter walked out of 11 days prior
‘I just saw what Hannah posted,’ he wrote in correspondence with a DailyMail.com reporter, who had reached out to him multiple times since November.
‘That girl is sick,’ he added.
Cacace then explained why he hadn’t responded to that point, sharing how she’d offered to pay for his silence.
‘I didn’t tell you anything before because in exchange for my silence she promised after everything she did to return my money,’ he said, ‘but I see that it was just another of her lies.’
‘She’s a terrible person,’ he continued. ‘I thought that after everything that had happened, she was going to do things correctly, but she lied to me once again.’
DailyMail.com revealed the real reasons behind her disappearance in December, right after she came forward to declare she was safe and well.
Much of the story was already in the news, how she was on her way to New York from her home on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, when she walked out of Los Angeles International Airport during a layover and disappeared.
But DailyMail.com revealed that she was on her way to the Big Apple alongside Cacace, her new green card husband.
Kobayashi sparked a massive manhunt after she was last seen leaving Los Angeles International Airport where she had a layover to New York
Kobayashi was traveling with her ex boyfriend Amun Miranda on her way to New York City on November 8. They are pictured together at a 2023 Christmas party
And on that same flight, Kobayashi’s ex-boyfriend Amun Miranda joined them with his own Green Card wife – Cacace’s girlfriend, Marianne.
Cacace and Marianne, both Argentinian nationals, had been visiting Hawaii and paid for the sham marriages to gain U.S. citizenship.
It was no secret. She told co-workers about the arrangement and even offered to help set them up with their own lucrative sham marriages.
After the wedding ceremonies in Maui, the twisted love square hastily arranged a trip to New York to hoodwink immigration officials into believing their marriages were genuine.
They were planning to get loved-up pictures in front of the Empire State Building, in Central Park, or by the Statue of Liberty.
But the dynamics of the group got complicated.
Kobayashi’s colleagues at a smoke shop in Maui previously told Daily Mail that she expressed mixed feelings about going on the trip – feeling both excited by checking off a location on her bucket list where she could see relatives, but also frustrated that she’d have to share her flight with ex-boyfriend.
Her coworkers also divulged that her cash cows in the form of Cacace and his girlfriend were also a point of contention for the formerly missing woman, who didn’t want either of them coming on this trip.
DailyMail.com later revealed Kobayashi had been on her way to the Big Apple alongside her new green card Argentina-native husband Alan Cacace, in a bid to hoodwink immigration officials that their marriage was real
Kobayashi and Cacace married in October at Ho’okipa Beach on Mauii’s north shore after the Argentinian immigrant paid her $15,000
The couple from Argentina had come to Maui’s north shore for the beach lifestyle and higher-paying jobs.
Kobayashi purportedly told them she didn’t want to waste time taking photos but would reluctantly sacrifice one day of her weekly planned vacation to satisfy their wishes.
She had also reportedly had a fight revolving around Marianne’s jealousy that Kobayashi was marrying her boyfriend Cacace.
Kobayashi’s family reported her missing three days later after receiving cryptic text messages.
