The Los Angeles police said this week that they were ending their search for a Hawaii woman whose family had reported that she was missing, after determining that she had traveled alone to Mexico.
The search for the woman, Hannah Kobayashi, 30, had drawn national attention and led to rampant speculation on social media after she flew from Maui to Los Angeles on Nov. 8 but did not board her connecting flight to New York and stopped contacting her family.
On Monday, the Los Angeles police said that video footage showed that, on Nov. 12, Ms. Kobayashi walked alone, with her luggage, across the United States-Mexico border. The police said that there was no evidence of any crime or foul play and that they were classifying her as a “voluntary missing person.”
On Wednesday, Ms. Kobayashi’s family said in a statement issued by a lawyer that they remained concerned about her and that learning she may be in Mexico “has only heightened our fears.”
“The search is far from over, and our family is committed to doing everything possible to bring her home,” the statement said.
Here is what to know about the search for Ms. Kobayashi.
She did not board a connecting flight to New York.
Ms. Kobayashi flew from Maui to Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 8 and decided for unknown reasons not to board her connecting flight to Kennedy International Airport in New York, the police said.
Before she left Maui, Ms. Kobayashi had expressed a desire to “step away from modern connectivity,” Jim McDonnell, the Los Angeles police chief, said at a news conference. Her social media posts suggested she had wanted to “disconnect from her phone,” Lt. Douglas Oldfield of the Los Angeles Police said at the news conference.
Ms. Kobayashi left the Los Angeles airport without her phone, the police said. From Nov. 8 to Nov. 11, she was seen at “various locations” in Los Angeles, the police said — among them a bookstore and a Nike store at the Grove, an upscale shopping center, her family said.
Her family said she sent disturbing text messages.
An aunt, Larie Pidgeon, told KTLA-TV that Ms. Kobayashi had sent alarming text messages before she stopped contacting her family.
“She mentioned feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity,” Ms. Pidgeon said. “Strange, cryptic messages — things about the matrix, it was so unlike her. And then all of a sudden, no more communication.”
On Nov. 15, the Los Angeles Police released a missing person flier asking for information about Ms. Kobayashi. Family members, including her father, Ryan Kobayashi, joined the search for her in Los Angeles.
On Nov. 24, Mr. Kobayashi’s body was found near Los Angeles International Airport, the police said. NBC Los Angeles, citing the police, said he had jumped from a parking structure.
She walked alone into Mexico on Nov. 12.
At the news conference on Monday, the police said that they had used witness interviews and surveillance video to piece together some of Ms. Kobayashi’s movements in Los Angeles and had determined that she had gone to Mexico.
Although she had checked a bag through to New York, she requested that it be sent back to her at the Los Angeles airport, where surveillance video showed her picking it up from a baggage carousel on Nov. 11, the police said.
Ms. Kobayashi then took public transportation to Union Station in Los Angeles, traveling with a man she had met at the airport. The police have not identified the man, but said he had been interviewed by investigators, with his lawyer present. The police said investigators were able to corroborate his account.
At Union Station, Ms. Kobayashi used her passport and cash to buy a bus ticket to the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, the police said. Video footage from U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed her walking alone across the border into Mexico on Nov. 12, the police said.
“To date, the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that Kobayashi is being trafficked or is the victim of foul play,” Chief McDonnell said. “She is also not a suspect in any criminal activity.”
The police urged her to contact her family.
Chief McDonnell said the police would not search for her in Mexico but were asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact law enforcement. He said that law enforcement would be notified if Ms. Kobayashi returned to the United States. He urged Ms. Kobayashi to contact her family or the authorities.
“She has a right to privacy and we respect her choices, but we also understand the concern her loved ones feel for her,” Chief McDonnell said. “A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”
Ms. Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni Kobayashi, told NBC News that the family was “very shocked” and “frustrated” to learn that she had traveled to Mexico.
“She’s gone to different places, but she’s always checked in,” Sydni Kobayashi said. “She always lets us know what’s going on.”
Sara Azari, a lawyer for Ms. Kobayashi’s family, told NBC News that she was planning on “deploying colleagues” to Mexico to continue the search. “The family is concerned about her well-being, so at least she needs to be located,” Ms. Azari said.
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