Almost a month after 30-year-old Hawaiian Hannah Kobayashi, an aspiring photographer, was reported missing after being last seen at Los Angeles International Airport, investigators are claiming she intentionally missed her flight to New York City and may have disappeared voluntarily.
Hannah was traveling from her home on Maui to New York to visit an aunt and for a photography opportunity, according to various media interviews with her family. She allegedly missed two connecting flights out of Los Angeles on Nov. 8 and Nov. 11.
At a news conference on Monday, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that the LAPD "reviewed video surveillance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which clearly shows Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico. She was alone with her luggage and appeared unharmed."
The LAPD also said Hannah walked alone to Mexico through the tunnel at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to the footage they watched. McDonnell also added that Hannah’s missing persons case will remain active until her safety is confirmed, but the LAPD will not be investigating in Mexico.
The Associated Press reported that a post on Monday from the “Help Us Find Hannah” Facebook group — which has over 25,000 members but is a private page — said the family would be shutting down the group and would not be responding to any messages about the case. It is not clear when this post was shared relative to the LAPD conference.
McDonnell said at a police commission meeting on Nov. 26 that Hannah "missed her connecting flight from LAX to New York, which the investigation determined was intentional." The LAPD did not immediately respond to Yahoo News' request for comment.
Hannah's sister Sydni Kobayashi denied the theory "that Hannah intentionally missed her flight."
Hannah’s family has told several news outlets that Hannah has not communicated with them since Nov. 11.
What we know about the search for Hannah Kobayashi
It is not clear why Hannah first missed her connecting flight from Maui to New York City at LAX on Nov. 8.
The family said they had seen security footage of Hannah leaving the airport on Nov. 8 and then again at the Grove shopping center on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, which is about 12 miles north of the airport. On Nov. 11, Hannah posted on her public Instagram account about attending a Nike event at the Grove and was even spotted on a stranger's YouTube video about the event that was filmed on Nov. 10.
Hannah then returned to LAX on Nov. 11 but did not board a flight. That was the last time anyone received messages from Hannah’s cellphone number.
On Nov. 15, the LAPD missing persons unit made a poster describing Hannah and stating that she was last seen at LAX on Nov. 11. The family also filed a report with the FBI.
Why did Hannah have a trip to New York?
In an interview with NewsNation on Nov. 23, Hannah's aunt Larie Pidgeon said that Hannah had sent her mom a detailed itinerary for her stay in New York, including places where she wanted to eat, museums she wanted to visit and a photography assignment "that had been on her bucket list forever" as a career opportunity. Pidgeon added that Hannah allegedly paid "a couple thousand dollars" for a hotel reservation in New York as well.
Hannah's sister Sydni told CNN that Hannah and her then-boyfriend had booked the flights to New York together and also made plans to visit an aunt in upstate New York. They broke up after booking the flights and agreed to go ahead with the trip separately.
The ex-boyfriend, who has not been publicly named, successfully boarded the Nov. 8 connecting flight to New York and has been “extremely responsive and cooperative with the investigation,” according to Hannah’s family.
Hannah’s family tries to piece together what happened in Los Angeles
Pidgeon told USA Today that on Nov. 11, the family "started getting texts" from Hannah's number that said she "didn't feel safe, that someone was trying to steal her funds, that someone was trying to take her identity." Pidgeon added that the messages sent to family and friends included "weird things, calling us babe, things that weren't quite the normal way that she speaks."
"She texted [a friend] that she was scared and that she couldn't come back home or something," Sydni told HawaiiNewsNow. "It was just really weird texts. … It doesn't sound like her — like there's just something off about it. So I wasn't too sure. I don't know if it's her or if someone else was texting."
One of her last texts allegedly said, "I just finished a very intense spiritual awakening. I'm heading back to the airport to get to NYC. I might need some help getting there."
In addition to texts, the family also didn’t recognize the names of two people Hannah sent money to over Venmo on Nov. 10 — transactions that Yahoo News was able to verify since Hannah’s Venmo account is public.
The family also says there is security camera footage showing Hannah and an unknown stranger at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, allegedly on Nov. 11.
"It has been confirmed that she did leave the airport on 11/11 in the evening and that she boarded the Metro," Pidgeon told CBS News. "She was not alone. She was with an unidentified person. That causes us extreme alarm because that correlates with the timeline of her going missing. So, our focus now is on the Pico Metro station."
Yahoo News has reached out to several of the family members.
"If you see Hannah, please call 911 immediately," reads a statement from the family shared on Facebook. "Please obtain a photograph if possible. Your prompt action is crucial. If you're able to safely keep eyes on her until law enforcement arrives, please do so."
What happened to her dad, Ryan?
After spending two weeks helping search for his daughter, Ryan was found dead on Nov. 24, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The county coroner's office confirmed Monday that he died by suicide.
The Kobayashi family said in a statement that Kobayashi "tragically took his own life" after "tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days."
“The family of Hannah Kobayashi is urgently pleading with the public to maintain focus on the search for her,” the statement continued. “Hannah IS still actively missing and is believed to be in imminent danger.”
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