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In the same week last month, two women were reported missing by their families to the Los Angeles Police Department. Their cases garnered attention, quickly making national headlines.
Volunteers helped look for the women while their families raised money with crowdfunding online to aid their search efforts.
Then, came a shocking update from the police: There was no evidence their loved ones had been abducted. They were instead deemed “voluntarily missing” or not missing at all.
In both instances, police said they started their investigation the way a typical missing person’s case would: determining if the person is actually missing or just doesn’t want to be found.
First, “Gossip Girl” actress Chanel Maya Banks was reported missing by her family on Nov. 8, Within days, Banks revealed she was safe in Texas, where she verified her identity with local authorities and gave a media interview. She was later removed from California’s registry of missing persons.
At the same time, a cousin of Banks was calling news conferences and telling the media that the police claim that Banks was in Texas was “fake news,” insisting she was still missing. Banks later told The Times that she went on the trip to distance from her family.
In the second case, 30-year-old Maui resident Hannah Kobayashi was reported missing by her family after she missed her connecting flight to New York at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8. Kobayashi communicated with her family via text until Nov. 11 , when her family said Kobayashi was seen leaving LAX and ended up at the Pico Metro station downtown with an unknown person.
LAPD eventually concluded that Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight and entered Mexico on Nov. 12 alone and of her own accord. Officials said they wouldn’t take their investigation into Mexico but would be notified if she reenters the country. As of Wednesday, she was still listed as missing.
“To date, the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that Kobayashi is being trafficked or is the victim of foul play,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said during a Monday conference. “She is also not a suspect in any criminal activity.”
Kobayashi’s family pushed back on the LAPD’s assertion that she is voluntarily missing and intentionally missed her flight. They urged police and the public to continue their search.
“The ‘narrative’ about Hannah being spread all over the internet, that is not the Hannah we know and love,” a family statement loved read. “We do not believe Hannah would willingly, in her right mind, intentionally cause her ones this Unimaginable pain.”
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, who oversaw both Banks’ and Kobayashi’s investigations, told The Times when someone is reported missing, detectives first try to determine if the person is actually missing or voluntarily broke contact.
If someone is in danger, has been subjected to violence by identified suspects or is a child or a senior with diminished capacity, their cases could be treated with more urgency, Hamilton said.
“A mature adult with no mental health issues or substance abuse issues or other complicating issues is not going to be seen as an endangered missing,” he added.
It’s “not uncommon” that an adult would be reported as missing by family members, only for it to be later revealed that they had voluntarily cut off contact with friends, family or acquaintances, according to Hamilton.
In those cases, he said, detectives verify the identity of the person in question and get their assurance that everything is OK. They then communicate that message back to the original person who reported them missing.
In Banks’ case, he said, she explained to authorities why she traveled to Texas and made it “crystal clear” that she didn’t want to continue to be contacted by family members or law enforcement.
“I think part of the issue with these two cases is that there was a lot of information that was not vetted or verified,” Hamilton said. “We don’t know who put it out there and that can be distressed to an investigation. ”
For instance, he explained, if someone posted online that a woman is definitely being trafficked and she was later seen out in public with a man, others might assume that he was the one who trafficked her.
“They might take some action against that male in the public sphere. Isn’t that pretty dangerous?” he said.
In Kobayashi’s case, Hamilton pushed back at the suggestion from relatives that the case wasn’t a priority, saying that the department spent “inordinate amount of resources” out of concern she was in danger.
“They’re saying she’s of sound mind and she doesn’t have mental health problems, so she can make her own decisions,” Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni, told The Times in an interview last week. “It’s not considered high-risk by the LAPD.”
McDonnell said at a press conference Monday that Kobayashi was recorded on video surveillance using cash and her passport to buy a bus ticket to Union Station. She then reached the San Ysidro border crossing, where she entered Mexico alone and with her luggage.
“You have someone moving independently for four days without duress,” Hamilton said. “One of the main issues with identifying someone as voluntarily missing is that people get to live their lives and if we observe through various means that they are not being coerced or under duress or subject to physical force, we can’t just continue to investigate people wantonly beyond that.”
When it comes to missing persons cases, Hamilton’s advice is that when you see someone who you think was reported missing, notify LAPD or the appropriate jurisdiction so detectives can complete the investigation, speak to the person who was reported missing and verify what occurred.
“What we don’t want is people to take unvetted information and act on it and have a tragedy.”
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