Hannah Kobayashi, the missing Hawaii woman whose disappearance prompted a massive search, has been found safe, the Los Angeles Police Department said Wednesday.
Kobayashi vanished last month in Los Angeles, and her disappearance prompted a massive search and a missing persons investigation. It was not immediately clear where she was found, but police previously said she had voluntarily crossed the border into Mexico.
“We are happy to learn that Hannah has been found safe,” the LAPD said in a statement. “Now that we have this new information, this has become a private matter and we will wrap up our investigation.”
Det. Douglas Oldfield of the Los Angeles Police says that Hannah Kobayashi, the American woman not seen in nearly a month, was unaccompanied and did not appear in distress in Nov. 12 surveillance footage at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kobayashi, a budding photographer from Maui, was heading to New York City on Nov. 8 for a new job and to visit relatives when she missed a connecting flight during a stop at Los Angeles International Airport. She told her family she was sleeping at the airport that night and texted them the next day to say she was sightseeing in Los Angeles.
Her family reported her missing to law enforcement on Nov. 11 after relatives received “strange and cryptic, just alarming” text messages, according to her aunt Larie Pidgeon.
“Once the family started pressing, she went dark,” Pidgeon told The Associated Press late last month. After the texts on Nov. 11, her phone “just went dead,” Pidgeon said.
Family members, friends and local volunteers searched for Hannah in Los Angeles. Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, was among those who flew in from Hawaii to help in the search. He was found dead on Nov. 24 in a parking lot near LA International Airport, according to the county medical examiner.
Police said Hannah Kobayashi walked into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing roughly 200 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles on Nov. 12, the day after her family reported her missing. Authorities made the announcement after reviewing security video from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Kobayashi disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell previously said.
