Hanna Kobayashi’s family said they had found and contacted her, who had been missing since early November.
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, the family said: “We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe and sound. The past month has been an unimaginable challenge for our family. We ask for your privacy as we take time to heal and process everything we have been through.”
Details about Kobayashi’s whereabouts were not released, and his family did not share information about why he might have disappeared. Earlier this month, Los Angeles police reclassified Kobayashi as a voluntarily disappeared person after he was seen on surveillance video crossing the border alone into Mexico.
The family’s statement read: “We would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and concern meant so much to us.” The statement included Kobayashi’s mother, Brandi.・Signed by Mr. Yi and his younger sisters, Sidoni and Kobayashi.
Kobayashi went missing in November while planning a trip from her home in Hawaii to New York to visit her aunt. However, after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport for a layover, Kobayashi did not board the connecting flight to New York. Surveillance cameras instead captured her leaving the airport and taking the subway to downtown Los Angeles.
Over the next few days, Kobayashi was seen at various locations, including a shopping mall and a Nike event. Above. On Nov. 11, she was seen talking to a ticket agent at LAX, then boarding the subway, and then exiting the Pico station with an unknown person. The next morning, surveillance cameras captured Kobayashi at the Greyhound Bus Terminal at Union Station. She was seen entering Mexico several hours later through a tunnel at the San Ysidro border crossing.
Kobayashi crossed the border shortly after her family and friends received her last communication. On November 11, Kobayashi’s mother sent an email asking if he had arrived in New York, to which Kobayashi replied no. Kobayashi also sent messages to friends saying she didn’t feel safe and feared someone was trying to steal her identity. Attempts to contact Kobayashi afterward were unsuccessful because his phone was disconnected (police later announced that they believed Kobayashi did not take the cell phone with him to Mexico).
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Despite these cryptic texts, police said their investigation yielded no evidence that Kobayashi was the victim of criminal activity or that she was being trafficked. In announcing the reclassification of her case earlier this month, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said: “She has a right to privacy and we respect her choices, but if her loved ones do not I understand the concerns you have about this,” he said. A simple message may reassure her loved ones. ”
During the search for Kobayashi, her father, Ryan Kobayashi, died in an apparent suicide. Ryan flew to Los Angeles to help search for her daughter, but her body was eventually found in a parking lot near Los Angeles International Airport. The Los Angeles County coroner said he died of blunt force trauma.
