A woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago to ‘step away from modern connectivity’ has finally been spotted in Mexico with her luggage.
Hannah Kobayashi, from Hawaii, was reported missing by her family last month, sparking an international search.
Conspiracy theories about the disappearance of the 30-year-old have been running wild on social media, pointing at ‘strange’ messages she had sent to her family.
Other hypothesis focused on false CCTV from LA’s Venice Beach, where it was claimed that she was spotted.
Investigators now say that security footage from the border near Tijuana, about 145 miles from LAX, shows Hannah alive between November 12 and 13, about a day after she disappeared.
In the video, she appeared unharmed as she walked alone into a tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing about 125 miles southwest of LA around noon on November 12.
In a news conference, officials described Hannah as a ‘voluntarily missing person’.
Police chief Jim McDonnell said there is no evidence she was trafficked or was otherwise a victim of a crime.
‘We have basically done everything we can do at this point. She has left the country and in another nation now,’ he said, adding that if she returns to the US, law enforcement will be notified.
McDonnell said she has a right to her privacy, but urged her to reach out to her family or law enforcement.
He said that a ‘simple message’ could reassure those who care about her,’ adding: ‘My ask would be to anybody considering doing this, think about the people you’re leaving behind, your loved ones who are going to be worried sick about you.’
November 8: Hannah misses her connecting flight from LA to New York
November 9: She texts her family to say she was sightseeing in LA
November 10: Hannah is seen at an event in a Nike store in The Grove
November 11: Her family receives ‘strange and cryptic, just alarming’ text from her phone
November 11: Hannah is reported missing by her family
November 12: Surveillance footage shows her walking alone into a tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing
November 12: She crosses the US border with Mexico
November 15: LA’s Missing Persons Unit takes over the case
November 24: Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, is found dead at a building near LAX, one of the last places Hannah was spotted
November 25 – It is revealed Ryan Kobayashi took his own life
November 26: Hannah’s missed connection to New York is found to be ‘intentional’
December 1: Police from LA’s Missing Persons Unit travel to the border
December 2: Officials described Hannah as a ‘voluntarily missing person’
The missing person case will remain active until her safety is confirmed by police.
Efforts to trace Hannah made international headlines after her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found dead in a car park near LA International Airport a week ago.
The 58-year took his own life after rushing to California and spending 13 days looking for his daughter, without any success.
Her sister, Sydni Kobayashi, has disputed police statement that Hannah had missed her connecting flight intentionally.
Police said on Monday that after Hannah was seen in various locations around LA, she requested that her luggage, which had been checked to New York, be sent back to LAX.
She then returned to the airport to retrieve it on November 11 and did not have her phone when she left again, it was claimed.
Police also identified and questioned a man that she was seen with on the metro. He was ‘cooperative’ and said he met her at LAX, police said.
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