Three weeks after Hawaiian photographer Hannah Kobayashi vanished on her strategy to a “bucket list” trip within the Large Apple, authorities introduced she fled to Mexico to “disconnect” from the fashionable world — however her determined household insists the search is much from over.
The 30-year-old brunette magnificence from Maui was reported lacking by her household on Nov. 11 after she missed a connecting flight at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport a couple of days earlier after which went darkish.
Her disappearance shortly made nationwide headlines as her involved family stated they acquired “strange and cryptic” textual content messages about somebody stealing her identification simply earlier than she went lacking.
The case then took one other curious flip Monday when Los Angeles police declared Kobayashi a “voluntary missing person” and stated she willfully crossed into Mexico to “step away from modern connectivity.”
“We’ve basically done everything we can do at this point,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell stated at a Monday night time press convention, citing US Customs and Border Safety surveillance footage displaying Kobayashi crossing the border Nov. 12.
“She’s left the country and in another nation now.”
The police chief added that there was no proof the budding snapper was being trafficked or was in any other case a sufferer of a criminal offense.
Lt. Douglas Oldfield, who works within the division’s Lacking Individuals Unit, stated Kobayashi’s social media exercise additionally led them to consider she “wanted to disconnect” from the fashionable world.
“By looking at her past social media, we then saw indications that there were some desires or posts that would be consistent in somebody who would have the desire to disconnect from their phone,” Oldfield stated on the press convention.
However the LAPD’s conclusion was no comfort to her distraught household — who has not solely misplaced Hannah but additionally her dad, Ryan Kobayashi, who died by an obvious suicide close to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport lower than two weeks after his daughter disappeared.
On Tuesday morning, the household insisted the search is “far from over” regardless of the declaration that she’s thought of voluntarily lacking.
“We are deeply grateful for the urgency and dedication law enforcement has shown in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,” the household stated in a press release.
“Our family remains hopeful that Hannah is safe, and urges everyone to continue the search,” it continued. “The search is far from over, and we are committed to doing everything possible to bring her home safely.”
The wild twist is simply the newest head-scratching flip in Kobayashi’s disappearance, which started when she flew from Hawaii to LAX on Nov. 8.
The 30-year-old was imagined to hop on a connecting flight to New York, the place her family and a brand new job awaited. However the Maui native by no means boarded the airplane.
She’d informed her household that she’d sleep at LAX that night time, and so they assumed she was on standby for the subsequent airplane out, in response to her aunt, Larie Pidgeon.
However the subsequent day, Kobayashi texted to say she was wandering across the Metropolis of Angels, taking in sights like The Grove shopping center and downtown LA.
That’s when issues went downhill.
On Nov. 11, she started texting the “alarming” messages to family and friends.
She claimed she’d been “intercepted” on a metro prepare, and appeared to consider somebody was making an attempt to steal her identification, her aunt stated.
“Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f—k since Friday,” one textual content to a buddy stated.
Others stated, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds … For someone I thought I loved.”
Kobayashi additionally texted her aunt in New York, saying she’d “just finished a very intense spiritual awakening” — and made bizarre Venmo funds to strangers, considered one of which appeared to be for a tarot card studying.
“Once the family started pressing, she went dark,” Pidgeon informed The Related Press, including that her niece’s cellphone “just went dead” after her disappearance.
After popping up in numerous components of the town, cops stated she requested that her baggage — which had been checked to New York — be hauled again to the West Coast.
She grabbed it from the airport on Nov. 11, police stated, and didn’t have her cellphone along with her when she walked out.
Her household reported her lacking that day, and her dad flew to Los Angeles to assist household, pals and volunteers parse by means of the town of their quest to search out the lacking lady.
In the meantime, wild conspiracy theories erupted throughout the web, with some claiming she was brainwashed by a cult, blackmailed by African hackers, fleeing an abusive father or had been kidnapped by indignant mobsters to whom her dad owed cash.
The pressure seemed to be greater than her heartbroken dad might bear.
On the morning of Nov. 22, police say the 58-year-old jumped from an LAX parking storage whereas looking for his little lady.
Cops dominated his loss of life a suicide, with the trigger being blunt pressure trauma.
“It’s such bulls—t!” Pidgeon informed The Submit. “If Ryan is looking at all this s–t, imagine that weighing on him?”
“He broke,” she continued. “He died of a broken heart. We were tirelessly searching, and Ryan was a big, giant teddy bear. He’s sensitive. Imagine looking in places like Skid Row, picturing his daughter being sex-trafficked, not getting sleep. He just broke.”
At a Monday night time press convention, the LAPD chief stated police reviewed surveillance footage that “clearly showed Koboyashi crossing the United States border on foot, into Mexico” close to Tijuana at about 12:15 p.m. on Nov 12.
“She was alone, with her luggage, and appeared unharmed,” McDonnell stated. “At this time, Koboyashi’s case has been classified as a voluntary missing person.”
The police chief insisted there was no proof of “any criminal activity” and added that earlier than leaving Maui, Koboyashi had stated she needed to “step away from modern connectivity.”
“Our priority is ensuring Ms. Koboyashi’s safety and well-being, and we urge Ms. Koboyashi to contact her family, law enforcement or personnel at the US embassy to let us know that she is safe,” he stated.
“She has a right to her privacy,” McDonnell continued. “And we respect her choices. But we also understand the concern her loved ones feel for her. A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”
There’s additionally the matter of the GoFundMe organized by her household — which had raised practically $47,000 as of Tuesday to assist convey Koboyashi residence.
In a Tuesday electronic mail, a GoFundMe spokesperson stated the fundraiser “is verified and remains within GoFundMe’s Terms of Service at this time,” regardless that the case’s circumstances have modified drastically.
“If any donor would like to submit a claim to request a refund, we will honor it for them,” the rep stated.
The household, nevertheless, stated they’ve been left with extra questions than solutions.
“I want to thank the LAPD for their hard work and the resources they have dedicated to this search,” Pidgeon informed The Submit. “I do know they’ve labored tirelessly, and their efforts have introduced us to this new piece of the puzzle.
“But I also want to be clear — this search is not over,” she continued.
“Knowing Hannah crossed the border does not provide the answers I need, nor does it ease the heartbreak I feel.”
With Submit wires
