What Happened to Hannah Kobayashi? What We Know About the Hawaii Woman Declared a 'Voluntary Missing Person' After Crossing Mexico Border

Mar. 15, 2025

Hannah Kobayashi.Photo:Courtesy of Larie Pidgeon

Courtesy of Larie Pidgeon

Hannah Kobayashiwas on a trip to New York City to explore the city’s art scene as an aspiring photographer — but she never made it to the Big Apple.

The Hawaii woman, 30, landed at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Nov. 8, where she was scheduled to take a connecting flight to N.Y.C. However, Hannah never made it onto the plane, Hannah’s family told Fox affiliateKHON.

A little over a month later,Hannah was foundon Dec. 11. “We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,” her sister and mother, Sydni Kobayashi and Brandi Yee, said in a statement to PEOPLE through their attorney, Sara Azari. Four days later, police confirmed Hannahcrossed the border backinto the U.S. and “did not appear to be under any distress.”

“My focus now is on my healing, my peace and my creativity. I am deeply grateful to my family and everyone who has shown me kindness and compassion during this time,” Kobayashi said in a statement through her lawyer.

Prior to finding her, however, Hannah’s phone last pinned her location at LAX on Nov. 11, which was also the final time anyone from her family heard from her. However,Hannah’s communication was out of characterfor her, her aunt, Larie Pidgeon, wrote on Facebook three days later.

“Hannah’s last message to us was alarming — she mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” Pidgeon said. “She hasn’t been heard from since, and we are gravely concerned for her safety.”

Two weeks later, Hannah’s father died. Ryan Kobayashi wasfound dead in a parking loton Nov. 24, with the L.A. County medical examiner later confirming hiscause of death was suicide.

On Dec. 2, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters that surveillance footage from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows Hannah crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Nov. 12, alone and with her luggage. Now, police have determined her to be a “voluntary missing person.”

So what happened to Hannah Kobayashi? Here’s everything we know so far about the seeming disappearance of the Hawaii native — and how she was found.

Who is Hannah Kobayashi?

Missing person Hannah Kobayashi was last seen at LAX Airport on November 8th, 2024.LAPD

LAPD

Hannah is a 30-year-old woman from Hawaii who lost contact with her family days after missing her scheduled Nov. 8 connecting flight to N.Y.C. Her aunt described her as “so special and kind” during a rally outside Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 21, perKTLA.

“She’s a beautiful girl inside and outside,” Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, said at the event.

Hannah was heading to N.Y.C. for a concert and to enjoy the city’s art scene as an aspiring photographer herself,NBC Newsreported.

“Hannah loved to travel. She loved photography, art, music. I wasn’t too close with her … growing up. We haven’t had contact for a while,” Ryan toldCNN. “I’m just trying to make up. I’m trying to get her back. That’s my main focus.”

What happened to Hannah Kobayashi?

Hannah Kobayashi.LAPD

On Nov. 8, Hannah flew from Maui, Hawaii, to Los Angeles, where she had a layover before a connecting flight to N.Y.C. However, she never made the second flight.

“So I reached out to her and I’m like, ‘Hey, are you in New York yet?’ And she’s like, ‘Not yet.’ And it was weird because the flight that she was supposed to go on had already flown,” Yee, Hannah’s mother, told KHON.

Hannah’s sister, Sydni, toldCNNthat Hannah was struggling to rebook her flight and had left LAX. On Nov. 9, she was seen at a Taschen bookstore at The Grove shopping center in L.A. and sent a Venmo payment to two people whose names the family didn’t recognize.

That evening, she went back to LAX and called her other aunt, Geordan Montalvo, to tell her she was still trying to get on a flight to New York. “She was like, ‘‘This is a nightmare. I don’t understand what’s going on with these airlines, I’m trying to get to you,’ ” Pidgeon told PEOPLE.

The following day, Hannah was spotted attending the LeBron XXII Trial Experience, which was held at the Nike store at The Grove, in a YouTubevideoposted on Nov. 10.

The last time Hannah’s family heard from her was on Nov. 11, when her location showed her back at LAX. Pidgeon toldHawaii News Nowthat Montalvo also tried to contact her.

“Her phone pinged at LAX at 4 p.m. and then after that, Geordan kept trying to talk to her, and then it went dark. Her phone went dead, and her communication cut off completely,” she said.

Previously, Hannah had texted a friend after she failed to board the plane, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.”

“She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn’t come back home or something,” Sydni toldHawaii News Now. “It was just really weird texts … it doesn’t sound like her, like there’s just something off about it. So I wasn’t too sure. I don’t know if it’s her or if someone else was texting.”

Sydni elaborated to CNN that the texts used language that Hannah didn’t normally employ, like “hun,” “love” and “babe,” causing her to think it may not have been her sister who was sending them.

“She doesn’t use the word ‘hun.’ ‘Love’ and ‘babe,’ but never ‘hun.’ Even her close friends have said the same,” she said.

A ticketing agent told the family that they spoke with Hannah earlier on Nov. 11, sharing that she was trying to buy a ticket either back to Maui or to New York, Pidgeon told PEOPLE.

However, police confirmed thatHannah later left the airport on Nov. 11"with an unidentified person” and took the train, Pidgeon toldKGMB/KHNL. “We haven’t heard about [it],” Pidgeon told the outlet. “She knows no one in L.A. Our entire family knows no one in L.A.”

Pidgeon also added that Hannah did not look well in the surveillance video showing her leaving with the stranger. The pair were later seen getting off the train at Pico Station, an area the family later looked through after coming to L.A. to help with the search for Hannah.

“It wasn’t a good neighborhood,” Pidgeon told PEOPLE. “And the officers that were there and people that we spoke with, they were like, you don’t come here after dark.”

However, on Dec. 2, police confirmed that Hannah did not go missing, but was instead a “voluntary missing person” after seeing video surveillance of her crossing into Mexico on foot around noon local time on Nov. 12.

“We are deeply grateful for the urgency and dedication law enforcement has shown in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,” they said.

A week later, Hannah was found. She crossed the border back into the U.S. on Dec. 15, writing in a statement that she was"unaware" of the media coveragesurrounding her disappearance while she was gone.

“I was unaware of everything that was happening in the media while I was away, and I am still processing it all. I kindly ask for respect for myself, my family, and my loved ones as I navigate through this challenging time. Thank you for your understanding,” she said.

What did the police say about her seeming disappearance?

Hannah Kobayashi.Courtesy of Larie Pidgeon

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE on Nov. 15 that a missing persons report had been filed for Hannah. Five days later, they confirmed that an investigation was “ongoing” and that “there is no further information at this time.”

Hannah’s family, who have been helping with the ongoing search, have expressed concern that she might have been abducted or trafficked. Police have not publicly accused anyone of wrongdoing in Hannah’s case.

LAPD Chief McDonnell announced at a Nov. 26Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meetingthat police determined that Hannahintentionally did not board her connecting flightto N.Y.C.

However, four days later, her mother and sister addressed the investigation in a statement on Facebook, writing that “it does not appear that Hannah intentionally missed her flight," and that the police did not inform the family of their “alleged findings.”

“These alleged findings have yet to be relayed to my mother and I directly from the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department or any detective involved in Hannah’s case,” Hannah’s sister wrote.

After confirming that Hannah voluntarily left the country, police confirmed the investigation found no evidence that Kobayashi “is being trafficked or is the victim of foul play,” McDonnell said.

While the investigation will not continue in Mexico, McDonnell confirmed that if Hannah returns to the U.S., law enforcement will be informed.

McDonnell added that investigators found that Hannah “expressed the desire to step away from modern connectivity” before she left for N.Y.C., but there was “no indication that there would be anything to cause this to happen.”

What happened to Hannah Kobayashi’s dad?

Ryan Kobayashi, father of missing woman Hannah Kobayashi.ABC 7

ABC 7

“He died of a broken heart,” Pidgeon, his former sister-in-law, told PEOPLE. “We’ve been searching tirelessly. I think it just became so overwhelming for him driving the streets, going to Skid Row and seeing where his daughter could possibly have ended up."

The family also stressed that they didn’t believe any rumors that Ryan had something to do with Hannah’s death or was lured to his death, Pidgeon told PEOPLE.

“He wanted to do everything he could,” she said. “He showed up when it mattered the most.”

source: people.com