Hannah Kobayashi — the 30-year-old Hawaiian woman who went missing earlier this month after failing to board her connecting flight to New York — has been declared a “voluntary missing person,” according to the LAPD. During a press conference on Monday, Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell said that his team had reviewed surveillance footage of Kobayashi provided by Border Patrol and no longer suspected foul play in her disappearance. “The footage clearly shows 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico,” police said, per the Los Angeles Times. “She was alone, with her luggage.”
Since her disappearance, Kobayashi’s family members have shared suspicions that she had been abducted or influenced by bad actors, pointing to “alarming” text messages they received from her shortly before her phone went dark. But police now believe that Kobayashi went off the grid of her own volition. On November 12 — four days after she arrived in Los Angeles by way of Maui — McDonnell said Kobayashi was seen using cash and her passport to buy a bus ticket to the San Ysidro border crossing, where she later crossed into Mexico. While Kobayashi’s family have said they believe she did not intentionally miss her connecting flight from LAX to New York, McDonnell says video evidence shows otherwise, placing Hannah “unharmed” at LAX after deplaning her flight from Maui on November 8. “For unknown reasons, she decided not to board her prescheduled flight to New York,” he said, adding that police have no reason to believe that Kobayashi was trafficked or involved in criminal activity. To explain Kobayashi’s erratic phone usage, McDonnell referred to her old social-media posts, in which the 30-year-old “expressed the desire to step away from modern connectivity.”
The police chief confirmed that the LAPD would not continue its investigation into Mexico, though the missing-persons case will remain active until Kobayashi’s safety has been verified, and the department will be notified if and when she reenters the U.S. In the meantime, McDonnell has urged Kobayashi to contact her family, investigators, or the U.S. Embassy in Mexico to confirm her well-being. “She has a right to her privacy, and we respect her choices,” he said. “But we also understand the concern loved ones feel for her; a simple message could reassure those she cares about.”
Last week, after searching across Los Angeles for his daughter, Kobayashi’s father, Ryan, was found dead of an apparent suicide in a parking lot near LAX. Despite their compounded grief, family members remain hopeful that Kobayashi will return home. “We are deeply grateful for the urgency and dedication law enforcement has shown in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,” the family said in a statement following Monday’s conference. “The search is far from over, and we are committed to doing everything possible to bring her home safely. We want answers and a resolution that ensures Hannah’s safety and urge law enforcement and the public to stay focused on finding her and to avoid speculative conclusions.”
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