Shocking CCTV footage shows Hana Kobayashi buying a bus ticket to the southern border the day before police say she crossed through a tunnel into Mexico.
The footage shows Kobayashi wearing a tracksuit and purchasing a ticket with cash at Los Angeles Union Station on November 11, as obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles. She also appears to have her passport and luggage with her at the ticket counter.
Kobayashi is believed to have then arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing on Nov. 12, where she entered Mexico, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said during a news conference Monday.
The photo comes as the aspiring photographer's disappearance took a bizarre turn after LAPD declared the 30-year-old a “voluntary missing person” and said she deliberately crossed the border into Mexico to “get away from modern contact.”
Investigators reviewed various surveillance footage and interviewed several witnesses who confirmed Kobayashi's movements from when she landed in the Golden State on Nov. 8 until she was last seen crossing the border into Mexico on Nov. 12, McDonnell said.
“We've done everything we can do at this point,” McDonnell said, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance footage showing Kobayashi crossing the border on November 12.
“I left the country and in another country now.”
McDonnell said the LAPD's investigation would not continue in Mexico, but she urged the public to come forward with any reliable information about her whereabouts.
Kobayashi disappeared on November 8 after boarding a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles, a connecting flight that would eventually take her to New York, where she planned to visit relatives.
After arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, she sent cryptic text messages to friends shortly before her disappearance, including one saying she was experiencing a “very intense spiritual awakening” and another claiming that “deep hackers wiped my identity, stole all my money.”
However, McDonnell said investigators found “video evidence that clearly shows Hannah at Los Angeles International Airport, apparently unharmed after arriving from Maui on November 8 of this year.”
“For unknown reasons, she has decided not to board her previously scheduled flight to New York,” he added.
McDonnell revealed that his department's investigations found no evidence that Kobayashi was smuggled or involved in any criminal activity.
“She has a right to her privacy,” McDonnell continued. “We respect her choices. But we also understand the concern her loved ones feel for her. A simple message can reassure those who care.
Lt. Douglas Oldfield, who works in the department's missing persons unit, said Kobayashi's social media activity also led them to believe she “wanted to disconnect” from the modern world.
“By looking at her previous social media, we then saw indications that there were some desires or posts that might be consistent with someone having a desire to disconnect from their phone,” Oldfield said at the press conference.
Oldfield also shared that the video showed her in San Ysidro and entering Mexico through the border crossing tunnel in Baja California.
Baja is a tourist destination for surfers, solo travelers, and psychedelic havens, but it has been a gateway to organized crime, violence, drugs, kidnapping, and murder, especially in Tijuana, Mexico's largest border city and into which Kobayashi crossed.
However, Kobayashi's family insisted the search was “far from over” despite announcing that she had been voluntarily declared missing on Tuesday.
“We are extremely grateful for the urgency and dedication shown by law enforcement in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,” the family said in a statement.
He added: “Our family remains hopeful that Hannah is safe and urges everyone to continue searching.”
Her family believes the search for their loved one is “far from over” and they are “committed to doing everything we can to bring her home safely.”
The Kobayashi family faces another tragedy with the disappearance of the 30-year-old.
Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was among several family members who traveled to Los Angeles to help with the search.
He was found dead in a parking lot near Los Angeles Airport on November 24, with officials ruling the death a suicide.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
