Hannah Kobayashi, the Maui woman who mysteriously disappeared in Los Angeles after failing to catch her connecting flight to New York, has been spotted crossing into Mexico alone, police confirmed.
“As the family is aware, late yesterday after travelling to the U.S.-Mexico border, we reviewed video surveillance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection which clearly shows Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters during a press conference Monday.
Kobayashi, 30, crossed the border on Nov. 12, just four days after she flew from Hawaii to the mainland U.S., McDonnell said.
“She was alone, with her luggage and appeared unharmed,” McDonnell continued, adding that she was seen walking into a pedestrian tunnel at the San Ysidro point of entry, 200 km southeast of Los Angeles.
McDonnell said that this new information shows no evidence that she’s been trafficked or was otherwise a victim of a crime. Her disappearance is now classified as a “voluntary missing person,” and the investigation will not continue into Mexico.
However, the chief did urge her to get in contact with her family or law enforcement, to let them know she is OK and not in danger.
“She has a right to her privacy and we respect her choices, but we also understand the concern her loved ones feel for her,” McDonnell said. “A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”
McDonnell added that if she returns to the U.S., law enforcement will be notified.
Read on to learn the timeline of Kobayashi’s disappearance and the ensuing investigation.
A flight to New York
On Nov. 8, Kobayashi flew out of Maui, destined for upstate New York to spend time with an aunt.
She never boarded her connecting flight from Los Angeles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport that same day.
Her sister, Sydni, previously said that Kobayashi was on the same flight as her ex-boyfriend; they had booked the flights when they were a couple, but had since broken up. They decided to keep the tickets because they could not get a refund but planned to split up to enjoy separate vacations once they got to New York, she said.
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According to The Associated Press, she told her family she would sleep in the airport that night.
Several spottings and strange texts
The following day she was spotted at The Grove shopping mall in downtown L.A., spending time in a bookstore.
“She went to the bookstore and asked employees to charge her phone. So she charged her phone there for an hour and a half while she got food,” her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told Fox.
On Nov. 10, two days after missing her connecting flight, she was spotted at The Grove again, this time appearing in the background of a YouTube video from a Nike and LeBron James event that was happening at the mall that day. She also posted to Instagram, sharing the event with her followers.
Nov. 11 was the last day anyone saw or heard from Kobayashi. Her sister said their mother sent Kobayashi a text to ask if she finally made it to New York; she responded no.
More alarming, however, were text messages Kobayashi sent to friends that day, saying she believed someone was trying to steal her identity and money and that she did not feel safe.
“Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday,” one message to a friend said, according to Hawaii News Now.
Another message said, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds,” followed by one saying, “For someone I thought I loved.”
“We started getting texts saying that she didn’t feel safe, that someone was trying to steal her funds, that someone was trying to take her identity,” Pidgeon told USA Today of the texts. “Weird things, calling us babe, things that weren’t quite the normal way that she speaks.”
Pidgeon also said Kobayashi’s aunt in New York received a message from her niece’s phone that day that said: “I just finished a very intense spiritual awakening.”
Another text apologized for “craziness,” adding afterward, “was definitely intercepted.”
That same day, Kobayashi was seen on surveillance footage at LAX speaking to an American Airlines ticketing agent for about 40 minutes. The family said they believe she was trying to get off standby status and get a direct flight out of Los Angeles, but was unsuccessful.
She was also spotted on surveillance camera at the Pico Metro light rail train station in downtown Los Angeles that evening, alongside an unidentified person, getting onto a train.
Describing this sighting, Kobayashi’s family said in a statement that “it is evident that Hannah does not appear to be in good condition and she is not alone.”
On Nov. 12, Kobayashi’s family filed a missing person report — not knowing she was crossing into Mexico that day — and on Nov. 15 the Los Angeles Police Department launched a social media campaign asking the public to come forward with information.
Kobayashi’s father dies
On Nov. 25, Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found dead outside a business near LAX.
He had flown to Los Angeles to look for his daughter and the previous day took to the streets to hand out flyers with several volunteer groups spreading awareness about her disappearance.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office determined he died by suicide.
Pidgeon said she believes Ryan “died of a broken heart.”
“Being on the streets and seeing what the possibilities of where his daughter could be. No sleep. The speculating rumours that are going around. It just took a toll on him,” she continued, describing her brother-in-law as the “most compassionate, sensitive man,” and dismissing unfounded speculation that he had been involved in his daughter’s disappearance.
“This is a man who just had a mental breakdown from sleep depression,” Pidgeon said. “Suicide is not something that was even spoken of. It wasn’t even a concept that we would think would happen.”
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