Hannah Kobayashi Is ‘Still Processing’ Her Disappearance
Earlier this month, the family of Hannah Kobayashi announced that the 30-year-old photographer had been “found safe” roughly four weeks after she broke all contact with family and friends. On Monday, Kobayashi — who made headlines after she was reported missing in November — confirmed in a statement to People that she is now back in the United States and was “unaware of everything that was happening in the media” while she was gone.
In November, Kobayashi’s family told reporters they received concerning texts from her in the days before she was scheduled to fly from Maui to New York to see her aunt. Kobayashi left Maui but failed to board her connecting flight, with surveillance footage showing her accompanied by an unidentified man in downtown Los Angeles. In the weeks after her disappearance, which spurred an extensive LAPD search and a GoFundMe, Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, who had traveled to L.A. to help look for his daughter, was found dead in a parking lot near LAX in an apparent suicide. Days later, the LAPD declared Hannah a “voluntary missing person” after reviewing surveillance footage that showed her walking across the border to Mexico with her luggage, alone. “We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found,” her mother and sister told People after police confirmed she was safe.
On Monday, a member of the LAPD missing-persons unit confirmed to People that Hannah Kobayashi had crossed back into the States and that her case is now closed. The officer also told the outlet that Kobayashi seemed to be in good health and “did not appear to be under any duress,” adding that she spoke to Customs and Border Protection and “presented herself for entry into the U.S.”
In Kobayashi’s statement to People, which was provided to the outlet by her aunt, the photographer confirmed she had crossed the border back to the U.S. and said her “focus is now on my healing, my peace, and my creativity.” She added that she was “deeply grateful” to her family “and everyone who has shown me kindness and compassion” at this time. “I am still processing it all,” Kobayashi said. “I kindly ask for respect for myself, my family, and my loved ones as I navigate through this challenging time.”
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