Alysha Hanin was just 24-years-old when she went missing. Two decades later, her son is on a mission to find out what happened to her. Photo: Supplied by Stuff
Immersed in the darker side of life - including partying on Epstein's Island - New Zealander Alysha Hanin disappeared in Miami Beach in 2002. She left behind a young son, who is now on a mission to find out what happened. Katie Ham investigates.
A cold case involving a Kiwi woman who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the United States more than two decades ago has been reignited by the Florida police.
Alysha Hanin, who was just 24 years old when she went missing, lived a fast life of drugs and partying on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's island before she vanished after leaving a luxury Miami hotel in the middle of the night in 2002.
Hanin left behind a then three-year-old son, Adrian Hoffmann, who has now begun his own search for answers in the case local police suspect involved "foul play".
"She was a very sweet, smart girl who got caught in a bad circle, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve justice," Auckland based Hoffmann told Stuff.
The case resurfaced when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement posted Hanin's profile on their social media as part of their '#MissingMonday' series earlier this month.
Hoffmann was contacted by the Miami Herald, prompting him to think back to 2002.
On 6 January 2002, Hanin - known to family in New Zealand as Krsangi - was seen leaving the luxury hotel Shore Club in south Miami Beach at approximately 4am.
She never returned to the hotel and no-one has heard from her since.
Her passport, luggage, purse, ID and credit cards were found inside the hotel room.
Known to travel between LA, California and Miami on a monthly basis, there has been no activity on any of Hanin's bank cards since the day she was last seen.
According to the Miami Beach Police Department, "foul play is suspected" to have played a role in her disappearance.
Hoffmann was just 3 years old when his mother went missing, leaving behind her a trail of unanswered questions and blurred memories.
Now a year older than his mother was when she went missing, Hoffmann has decided to speak publicly about his mother for the first time.
"My hope is to shed a little bit more light on what happened to her, to just find out that little bit more.
Hanin was last seen leaving a luxury hotel in south Miami Beach at about 4am in 2002. Photo: Supplied by Stuff
"There are a lot of little pathways that I have a gut feeling will end up connecting," he said.
Although Hanin's case received little media coverage in New Zealand at the time she went missing, it did attract the attention of a private investigator who travelled with Hanin's mother to Miami Beach in the weeks following her disappearance.
Having recently been contacted by Hoffmann, private investigator and ex-police detective, Michael Campbell, told Stuff he conducted "extensive inquiries" with Hanin's family at the time.
"This was a tragic series of events, which involved a beautiful young life and there's no reason why this case couldn't be solved," Campbell said.
As Hanin's son, Adrian Hoffmann, has grown older, he has learnt that she was a "very sweet, smart girl who got caught in a bad circle". Photo: Supplied by Stuff
Describing a life littered with tragedy, Hoffmann told Stuff that his mother had been born in India but had spent her life travelling as part of the Hare Krishna community.
When Hoffmann was just four months old, his father died, leaving Hanin to raise him alone.
With Hanin's mother - Hoffmann's grandmother - living in New Zealand, Aotearoa was always a base for her as she continued to travel the world, sometimes with Hoffmann and sometimes without.
By the early 2000s, Hanin's life had begun to spiral, with drug use and work as an escort becoming more regular, Hoffmann understands.
Hanin is described by police as a a caucasian female, between 5'6 and 5'7, and approximately 120 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Photo: Supplied by Stuff
Hanin also told her loved ones she would be invited with friends to party on Epstein's Island, Hoffmann said.
"It seems like she was sucked into this from a mostly innocent start - partying, drugs and money are common - but if you go down that rabbit hole with the wrong people, you can end up not being able to get out," he said.
Weeks before her mysterious disappearance, Hanin returned to Aotearoa to drop Hoffmann with his grandmother, and said she was returning to Miami Beach to "tie up some loose ends".
She told Hoffmann's grandmother that she wanted to leave the life she was leading in Miami behind and raise her son here, Hoffmann understands.
No one has seen or heard from Hanin since she disappeared in 2002. Photo: Supplied by Stuff
This is the last time she was seen by her family.
Hanin is described by the Miami Beach Police Department as a caucasian female, between 5'6 and 5'7, and approximately 120 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
She has ear piercings and a piercing on her left nostril, as well as a scar on the pad of her right index finger.
Hanin is known to have gone by the first names Alysha, Krsangi and Yami, and the surnames Hanin, Senk and Devi.
This story was originally published by Stuff.