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Hannah Kobayashi timeline: Missing woman found in Mexico, family says

James Powel   Paste BN
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Editor’s note: This article discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

LOS ANGELES − The family of Hannah Kobayashi announced Wednesday that she had been found in Mexico in a statement published by their lawyer on X.

Kobayashi had been presumed missing in Los Angeles in November after missing a flight from Hawaii to New York City at Los Angeles International Airport, prompting a large search for the 30-year-old.

Kobayashi stopped contacting her family on Nov. 11 after a string of out of character text messages that included mentions of not feeling safe and of someone attempting to steal her identity and money.

The Los Angeles Police Department classified Kobayashi as a voluntary missing person after saying it reviewed video footage from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that showed Kobayashi crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on foot in San Ysidro.

“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,” the statement, attributed to her mother Brandi Yee and sister Sydni Kobayashi, said. “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.”

During the search Kobayashi's father, Ryan Kobayashi, 58, died by suicide near LAX.

Paste BN has reached out to the law firm that issued the statement but did not receive an immediate response.

Timeline: Missing person Hannah Kobayashi

  • Nov. 8: Kobayashi misses a connecting flight from Maui to New York City at Los Angeles International Airport. She's seen on airport security cameras and leaves the airport wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, tie-dye leggings and a dark green backpack.
  • Nov. 9: Kobayashi is seen by employees at the Taschen bookstore at The Grove shopping center in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles around noon.
  • Nov. 10: Kobayashi is again seen at The Grove, this time on video at a Nike event around 3:40 p.m. She posts a photo from the event to her Instagram the same day.
  • Nov. 11:
    • Kobayashi returns to LAX where she picks up her luggage, according to the LAPD. Her phone, which has an Audrey Hepburn case, was last pinged at LAX but has not been found.
    • Pidgeon previously told Paste BN that Kobayashi spoke to an American Airlines ticketing agent between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
    • Kobayashi uses her passport to purchase a bus ticket for a destination near the California-Mexico border, according to the LAPD.
    • Kobayashi is then seen on surveillance cameras near the Pico Metro station in downtown Los Angeles around 10 p.m. The family said in a previous statement that "it is evident that Hannah does not appear to be in good condition and she is not alone." LAPD investigated the person who appeared on camera with Kobayashi and "gave a full disclosure of the entire sequence of events," according to Alan Hamilton, the chief of detectives for the LAPD.
  • Nov. 12:
    • Kobayashi is seen crossing the U.S.-Mexico border near San Ysidro, according to the LAPD. The department, which later reviewed video provided by Customs and Border Protection, said that Kobayashi was alone.
    • The family files a missing person's report with the LAPD and begins a volunteer search in Los Angeles.
  • Nov, 24: Ryan Kobayashi is found dead around 4 a.m. at an address adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport. Kobayashi's family issued a statement through The Rad Movement the same day stating that the death was a suicide.
  • Nov. 26: LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says in a Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meeting that investigators determined Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight − a claim the family disputes.
  • Dec. 2: LAPD announces that it has reclassified the case as a voluntary missing person a day after reviewing the CBP video of Kobayashi crossing the border.
  • Dec. 11: Lawyers for the Kobayashi family release a statement on X saying that she has been found in Mexico.
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