HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – More than a month after Hannah Kobayashi left Hawaii, prompting an intense search in a case that has captured national headlines, the 30-year-old has been found safe, her family announced Wednesday.
An attorney issued the statement on behalf of Kobayashi’s family:
“We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe. 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. 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.”
On Thursday morning, Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni Kobayashi, said in a public Facebook post that she spoke with Hannah over the phone. She said Hannah was with their aunt, Larie Pidgeon.
Pidgeon separated herself from the family’s search last week and said she was traveling to Mexico to look for Hannah.
Sydni Kobayashi wrote, “At this time, my mother and I have not physically seen Hannah. We do not have actual proof of where she is, other than that she is somewhere in Mexico. We have only spoken to her over the phone, and she was allegedly found safe with Larie, but at this time, she does not wish to return to us.
“As you can imagine, we are all extremely relieved and glad that my sister is alive and seemingly okay, but we also have mixed and overwhelming feelings of exhaustion, devastation, and betrayal.”
On Nov. 8, Kobayashi caught a flight from Maui to Los Angeles with plans to go to New York City to visit her aunt, but she failed to get on the connecting flight.
Authorities later determined she intentionally missed the flight.
Over the course of the next several days, bizarre text messages and unusual financial transactions raised concerns among family members, triggering a massive search with sudden, tragic twists, including the death of her father.
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The Los Angeles Police Department had classified her disappearance as a voluntary missing person case after obtaining surveillance video of Kobayashi crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Nov. 12.
There was also speculation that Kobayashi may have been involved in a marriage scam after several clues surfaced, like photos, immigration documents and a strange text message that read, “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.”
TIMELINE OF HANNAH KOBAYASHI’S DISAPPEARANCE:
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