After a massive and lengthy search for a 30-year-old woman from Maui who went missing in Los Angeles last month, raising concerns of human trafficking and criminal activity, investigators said Monday that they were able to locate her as she entered Mexico. He was spotted and was found unharmed, so an investigation is currently underway. “Voluntarily disappeared person.”
Hannah Kobayashi traveled from Maui to Los Angeles on November 8th.
There, investigators said she intentionally missed a connecting flight to New York where she was scheduled to visit her aunt.
The Maui native was seen at The Grove the next day attending a LeBron James event, and her family said they received related emails from her.
She was then seen with an unknown person at the Pico subway station near the Crypto.com Arena around 10pm on November 11th.
As the weeks passed and the search intensified, more family members headed to Los Angeles to look for Hannah, and they publicly stated that they believed Hannah may have been harmed by another person.
But police said Kobayashi was seen on surveillance cameras at Los Angeles Airport on Nov. 11 and that they had recovered his luggage, which had originally been checked in in New York.
Hannah Kobayashi is seen in a Los Angeles surveillance photo obtained by her family. (viewer image)
“The investigation further revealed that Kobayashi intentionally left LAX with the luggage and traveled to Union Station,” an LAPD news release said. “While at Union Station, she used her passport to purchase a bus ticket to a destination near the Mexican border.”
Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 1 and viewed surveillance footage of a 30-year-old man who entered Mexico from San Ysidro on Nov. 12.
Where is Hanna Kobayashi? what we know
While she was in Mexico, a search continued in Los Angeles. Things took a tragic turn on November 24 when her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was found dead in a parking lot near Los Angeles International Airport, where the search for the family centered.
The Los Angeles Police Department said the man died by suicide.
Ryan spoke with KTLA days before her death in hopes of being able to contact her daughter.
“I miss her,” he said. “I just want her to know about it and reach out to her, whatever.”
At a news conference Monday, detectives said that before she left Maui, she expressed a desire to be away from modern internet connections, adding that it remains unclear whether she still had a cell phone.
Additionally, authorities stated that Ms. Kobayashi is not a suspect in any criminal activity and that her classification as a voluntarily disappeared person is based on respect for her privacy concerns and to ensure that investigative efforts are conducted within legal and ethical standards. He said it reflects the balance between the two.
“Our top priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of Mr. Kobayashi,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference. “We ask Ms. Kobayashi to contact her family, law enforcement, or U.S. Embassy officials to let them know she is safe. She has a right to privacy and we respect her choices. But I also understand the concerns her loved ones are feeling. A simple message may reassure those who care about her.”
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