After a month-long search for 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi, the family’s lawyer took her to X on behalf of Kobayashi’s family, stating they had found her and that she was safe. This comes after the frantic search for Kobayashi’s disappearance when she missed a connecting flight to New York on November 8th, the Los Angeles Times reported on a timeline of the case. Although Kobayashi has returned home safely with no foul play, the events before and after her disappearance raised cause for concern.
When Kobayashi was initially reported missing, her family couldn’t understand what went wrong. From Hawaii to Los Angeles, Ryan Kobayashi, Hannah’s father, took the journey hoping to find his daughter. After a while in Los Angeles on November 24th, authorities discover a body near LAX. It was revealed that that body was Ryan Kobayashi’s. An attempt to find his missing daughter came to a greater tragedy no family should face. His death was labeled as an apparent suicide, and his family released a statement, “After tirelessly searching throughout Los Angeles for 13 days, Hannah’s father, Ryan Kobayashi, tragically took his own life. This loss has compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably.” People were shocked to hear the news just days before he appeared on KTLA News to spread the word and talk about Hannah Kobayashi. As the search continued, friends and family recalled a time before her disappearance when something seemed strange about Kobayashi.
Before her disappearance, Kobayashi sent an array of texts to her close ones, talking about a “spiritual awakening” and being “tricked.” It was never clear why she spoke like this, but it was strange enough that people suspected this could be a part of her disappearance. Another case of weird behavior comes from hours before her last sighting she was accompanied by a man, the New York Post reports. And as the people on the internet do best, speculate, they suggest this could be a psychotic break she’s going through and is involved with a cult, and she traveled with her ex-boyfriend to Los Angeles. But that was quickly debunked as it was discovered after she allegedly intentionally missed her connecting flight on purpose to travel to Mexico voluntarily. As the case progressed, Kobayashi’s travel pattern became so unusual that no one could understand what was happening to her.
The Los Angeles Times came up with an extensive timeline of this mystery. The information collected shows that her behavior was strange as soon as Kobayashi landed at LAX. November 8th, the day when things seemed off, relatives received cryptic messages suggesting that someone was trying to steal her money and identity. On November 12th, she was seen on surveillance video entering Mexico through the San Ysidro border; however, LAPD didn’t get ahold of this footage until December 2nd. Fast forward to December 3rd, LAPD doesn’t suspect any evidence of criminal activity. They then classified her as a “voluntary missing person.” Finally, December 11th arrives, and Kobayashi is reported to have been found. During her time gone, her family was worried she had been kidnapped and become part of a human trafficking scheme when all along she was “fine” and not in any danger.
It’s still unclear how Kobayashi was found and why she disappeared. The Kobayashi family is taking their time to process the events of this long, worrisome month. What made this case so intriguing was all the suspicious activity and the unanswered questions everyone involved had. Where did she go? Why didn’t she say anything? Now she is finally safe with her family, and the search for Hannah ends, but the questions continue.
