Missing woman from Hawaii Hannah Kobayashi’s family will continue to search for the 30-year-old despite police claims that the woman, who has not been heard from by family or friends for 21 days, crossed the border into Mexico of her own accord.
On Monday, Jim McDonnell, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Surveillance footage and other evidence show that Kobayashi entered Mexico on foot, alone and with luggage, at the San Ysidro port of entry on November 12.
Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashi’s aunt, who has acted as the family’s spokesperson during their three-week search, said her “concerns for Hannah have not diminished.”
“Hannah never mentioned plans to travel to Mexico, and no one in her life knew she was planning to go there,” she wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “What worries me even more is her complete disconnect from her phone, her social media and her world – this is not who she is.”
HANNAH KOBAYASHI LISTED AS ‘VOLUNTARY MISSING PERSON’ AFTER VIDEO SHOWS HER BRIDGE TO MEXICO: POLICE
Hannah Kobayashi’s family is looking for her after she failed to board a flight from Los Angeles to New York. (Larie Pidgeon)
“I can’t shake the last messages she sent to friends and family, which I’ve replayed in my head a thousand times,” she continued. “I’ve tried to understand it, but I still can’t.”
There was no evidence she “was trafficked or the victim of foul play,” McDonnell said.
“We urge Ms. Kobayashi to contact her family, law enforcement authorities or U.S. Embassy staff to let us know you are safe,” he said. “She is entitled to her privacy and we respect her choices, but we also understand the situation care for her loved ones feel for her. A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”
Hannah Kobayashi’s family became concerned after she stopped answering calls and text messages. (Hannah Kobayashi via Instagram)
Kobayashi was scheduled to take a connecting flight to New York on November 8, with a 42-minute layover at 11 a.m., but did not board a flight despite having a detailed itinerary and a booked hotel room in New York City. Her family still doesn’t know why.
Earlier this week, McDonnell said investigators determined Kobayashi had “intentionally” missed her flight. a claim her family disputed.
Images of the LA Union Station obtained by Fox 11 shows Kobayashi pulling a pink suitcase and wearing a tracksuit as he buys a bus ticket to the southern border on November 11.
Larie Pidgeon, Kobayashi’s aunt, described her niece, pictured, as an outgoing person who makes those around her laugh, and said she is involved in fire spinning, DJing and charity work. (Larie Pidgeon)
Previously, Pidgeon told Fox News Digital that friends and family had received it a flood of bizarre text messages from Kobayashi after her missed flight that didn’t match her usual cadence. She texted a friend that she was “tricked into giving away pretty much all my money” and that she was “tricked into someone I thought I loved.”
“She (wrote that she) had a spiritual awakening, that she was worried about the matrix. It was just the most bizarre text messages,” Pidgeon previously said. “And it was like, ‘Hello, I can’t wait to see you. I love you. Everything is great.'”
Pidgeon said that while the LAPD considers the case closed, her family’s search is “far from over,” telling Fox News Digital that they are trying to “formulate a plan that is safe and effective” to contact her to take in Mexico.
CRYPTIC TEXT MESSAGES FROM HAWAII WOMAN CAUSE CONCERN AFTER DISAPPEARANCE
Kobayashi, 30, was on his way to New York City to visit family. (Hannah Kobayashi via Instagram)
“I will not stop until I can personally confirm that she is safe and making these decisions of her own accord, (and)… until I know my niece is safe… and in good mental condition,” she said . wrote, adding that the family has hired a private investigator to help.
While thanking police for their “hard work and resources they have devoted tirelessly to this search,” the missing woman’s aunt also said the family was not informed of the new developments.
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“I want to be completely transparent: I was only made aware of this development just hours before their press conference,” she said. “I have not seen the footage myself, but I trust the LAPD did their due diligence to confirm it was her.”
Pidgeon and Kobayashi’s father, Ryan Kobayashi — who was found dead of an apparent suicide after jumping from a parking garage on Nov. 24, characterized by Pidgeon as “(dying) of a broken heart” — previously told Fox News Digital that LAPD detectives did not contact her until November 22, eleven days after her family reported her missing.
The LAPD could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kobayashi’s family said anyone with information is asked to call the RAD Movement hotline at 619-904-0840.
