Hannah Kobayashi, the Maui woman deemed “voluntarily missing” by the Los Angeles Police Department after she vanished last month and crossed the border to Mexico, has been found safe, her family announced Wednesday.
“We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,” Kobayashi’s family said in a statement. “This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through.”
Kobayashi disappeared after missing her Nov. 8 connecting flight to New York at the Los Angeles International Airport, according to her family. She was reported missing after her family said she sent them cryptic text messages suggesting that her identity and money had been stolen.
Kobayashi’s disappearance spawned a weeks-long search that culminated in the LAPD classifying her as a “voluntary missing person,” saying there was no evidence of criminal activity and video showed her crossing the border into Mexico. LAPD also said they didn’t believe Kobayashi was a victim of trafficking or foul play.
On Nov. 12, the 30-year-old was seen using her passport and cash to get a bus ticket to Union Station in order to reach the San Ysidro border crossing, where she crossed into Mexico through a tunnel, officials said.
Kobayashi’s case also prompted conflicting accounts of what transpired, between Kobayashi’s family, who insisted that their relative was still missing and wouldn’t go off on her own, and the police account, which stated that she traveled to Mexico alone and of her own free will.
Kobayashi’s father, Ryan, traveled from Hawaii to Los Angeles to help look for his daughter. His body was found Nov. 24 near LAX; authorities deemed his death a suicide.