Hannah Kobayashi, the missing Hawaii woman whose disappearance prompted a massive search and a missing persons investigation in Los Angeles, has been found safe, police said Wednesday.
Kobayashi vanished last month in Los Angeles. She missed her connecting flight and planned to explore the city the next day. But subsequent text messages to her family — and an inability to then reach her — alarmed them so much that they later reported her missing.
Other details about her disappearance, as well as where and how she was found, were not immediately available Wednesday, but police previously said she was “voluntarily missing” and had willingly crossed the border into Mexico.
“We are happy to learn that Hannah has been found safe,” the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said in a statement. “Now that we have this new information, this has become a private matter and we will wrap up our investigation.”
Kobayashi’s mother and sister, in a statement through their lawyer, were the first to announce Wednesday that she had been found safe.
“We are incredibly relieved and grateful,” Brandi Yee and Sydni Kobayashi wrote.
Det. Douglas Oldfield of the Los Angeles Police says that Hannah Kobayashi, the American woman not seen in nearly a month, was unaccompanied and did not appear in distress in Nov. 12 surveillance footage at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“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. We want to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and concern have meant the world to us.”
Kobayashi, a budding photographer from Maui, was heading to New York City on Nov. 8 for a new job and to visit relatives when she missed a connecting flight during a stop at Los Angeles International Airport. She told her family she was sleeping at the airport that night and texted them the next day to say she was sightseeing in Los Angeles.
Her family reported her missing to law enforcement on Nov. 11 after relatives received “strange and cryptic, just alarming” text messages, according to her aunt Larie Pidgeon.
“Once the family started pressing, she went dark,” Pidgeon told The Associated Press late last month. After the texts on Nov. 11, her phone “just went dead,” Pidgeon said.
Family members, friends and local volunteers searched for Hannah in Los Angeles. Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, was among those who flew in from Hawaii to help in the search. He was found dead on Nov. 24 in a parking lot near L.A. International Airport, according to the county medical examiner. Kobayashi’s family confirmed the death in a statement the same day, saying they had “endured a devastating tragedy” and that he died by suicide.
Police said Hannah Kobayashi walked into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing roughly 200 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles on Nov. 12, the day after her family reported her missing. Authorities made the announcement after reviewing security video from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Kobayashi disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell previously said.
