Hannah Kobayashi was declared a “voluntary missing person” after a video emerged of her crossing the U.S. border into Mexico on foot several weeks ago.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced the reclassification and development at a news conference on Monday, Dec. 2 (via the Los Angeles Times). “We reviewed video surveillance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which clearly shows Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico. She was alone with her luggage and appeared unharmed,” said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.
While the LAPD will not continue to search for Kobayashi in Mexico, authorities will be notified if she reenters the United States. McDonnell asked anyone with relevant information about Kobayashi’s whereabouts to come forward and encouraged Kobayashi to contact her family or someone at the U.S. embassy in Mexico.
“She has a right to her privacy, and we respect her choices, but we also understand the concern loved ones feel for her,” he said. “A simple message could reassure those she cares about.”
Kobayashi has been missing since early November. She was supposed to travel from her home in Hawaii to New York to visit her aunt, but after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, Kobayashi did not board her connecting flight to New York City. Surveillance cameras instead caught Kobayashi leaving the airport and riding the metro to downtown Los Angeles.
In the days after her missed connection, Kobayashi was spotted at several different locations, including a shopping mall and a Nike event. On Nov. 11, she was seen talking to a ticketing agent at LAX, after which she reportedly got on the metro and was eventually seen leaving Pico station with an unknown person.
The following morning, Nov. 12, surveillance cameras caught Kobayashi at the Greyhound bus terminal at Union Station. She was seen entering Mexico a few hours later via the tunnel at the San Ysidro border crossing.
Notably, Kobayashi crossed the border not long after family and friends received their last known communications from her. On Nov. 11, Kobayashi’s mother texted her to ask if she’d made it to New York, and Kobayashi replied no. Kobayashi also sent messages to friends saying she did not feel safe and thought someone was trying to steal her identity.
Subsequent efforts to reach Kobayashi failed as her phone was shut off. (Police also believe she left her phone in L.A. and did not take it with her to Mexico.) And despite the cryptic texts, police said their investigation so far has not turned up any evidence that Kobayashi is the victim of any foul play or that she is being trafficked.
Amidst the ongoing search for her, Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, died from an apparent suicide. Ryan had flown to Los Angeles to help look for his daughter and was eventually found dead in a parking lot near LAX. The Los Angeles County medical examiner said he died from blunt force traumatic injuries.
