Hannah Kobayashi, missing Hawaii woman, 31, found safe amid concerns she’d been abducted and Green card scam before reaching out to her family to say she was safe. Statement comes a week after Los Angeles police saying she had voluntarily gone to Mexico and had wanted to be left alone.
Hannah Kobayashi, the missing 31 year old Hawaii woman whose whereabouts stoked national attention has been found safe and is back in touch with her family, loved ones have revealed.
The woman’s return to the ‘fold’ one month after her family reported her missing comes amid many unanswered questions as the family now plead for their ‘privacy.’
Hannah Kobayashi, contacted her relatives Wednesday to tell them she is fine, according to a statement shared with local media.
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‘We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,’ the family of the 30-year-old from Hawaii said in an attorney-issued statement posted on X.
‘This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through.’
‘We want to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and concern have meant the world to us.’
The announcement came a week after Kobayashi was spotted on camera crossing the border into Mexico, apparently by her own free will.
Kobayashi vanished at LAX November 8 while traveling from her home in Hawaii to NYC for a ‘bucket list’ trip.
Before her disappearance, Kobayashi had sent a flurry of bizarre text messages to friends and family talking about a ‘spiritual awakening’ and being ‘tricked.’
Soon after here phone went dead and she was not heard from after November 12. Her last appearance caught on surveillance included her being in the company of an unknown man.
A father’s suicide and a change of plan to go to Mexico instead
Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, 58, flew to Los Angeles to help the search for her and ended up killing himself. Leading up to the father’s suicide death, the parent stated that he had a strained relationship with Hannah and that the father and daughter were estranged.
Earlier this month, the LAPD reported that Kobayashi had crossed voluntarily into Mexico.
Her family claimed they had not seen the surveillance footage that shows her walking across the border into Mexico until December 2.
Investigators say Kobayashi ‘knowingly departed’ LAX airport, before using her passport and cash to buy a bus ticket to the US-Mexico border. She was later caught on surveillance footage crossing into Tijuana on foot between November 12 and 13.
Police closed the probe into her whereabouts after finding that she was ‘voluntarily missing.’
‘She’s an adult and she can choose to be missing,’ a senior Los Angeles law enforcement official told NBCLA.
Why had Hannah declined to reach out to family?
A review of her social media accounts led investigators to believe ‘there were some desires or posts that would be consistent in somebody who would have the desire to disconnect from their phone,’ said one of the officials, Lt. Douglas Oldfield of LAPD’s Missing Persons Unit.
But her family continued contradicting police in public statements, saying they still did not know whether Kobayashi was safe.
Family members — including Kobayashi’s aunt, Larie Pidgeon — speculated that she had been kidnapped and possibly trafficked.
Meanwhile, internet sleuths theorized about a psychotic break, alleged cult involvement and a conspiracy involving Kobayashi’s ex-boyfriend, whom she had traveled with to Los Angeles.
Kobayashi’s relatives have faced backlash after police revealed she was not missing, as they had raised money for the search.
The family said going to Mexico was uncharacteristic for Kobayashi and they were still trying to get in contact with her.
It remained unclear why Hannah changed her plans and instead of going on to NYC, where her aunt had been expecting her, continued on to Mexico.
Equally telling was all the while, even after her father’s death, and the national attention her case curried, Hannah, continued to decline reaching out to her family. her whereabouts an ongoing mystery to loved ones.
The family said they were exploring the possibility that Hannah may have been caught up in a green card marriage scam in the lead up to her disappearance.
Last week, sources told LA Mag she had been apparently scammed out of the proceeds of a green card visa scheme.
The outlet said that Kobayashi and her then partner landed in LAX with plans to board their connecting flight, with her legal husband and his partner also onboard.
Kobayashi’s family said last week that they were investigating whether she may have been part of a green card marriage scam. The acknowledgement came after a report in Los Angeles Magazine that said she may have been involved in a possible immigration scam, but a lawyer for the family said they had not been able to verify information about a possible ‘secret marriage’ and asked the public to avoid jumping to conclusions.
It remained unclear if authorities would now be investigating the alleged fake Green Card marriage and whether the alleged ‘immigration scam’ may have led to Hannah intentionally missing her flight on to NYC and instead going to Mexico.
