What is the case of Hannah Kobayashi, the 'voluntary missing' Hawaii woman?
File photo (Instagram/ @midorieve)
A Hawaii woman named Hannah Kobayashi went missing mysteriously from the Los Angeles International Airport on November 8. Now, there is a twist in the story.
Los Angeles police declared Kobayashi a voluntary missing person on December 2. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a news conference, "As the family is aware, late yesterday after travelling to the US-Mexico border we reviewed video surveillance from US Customs and Border Protection which clearly shows Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico."
“She was alone, with her luggage, and appeared unharmed," he further added.
What exactly the case is?
The 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi landed at Los Angeles International Airport on November 8 and was expected to catch a connecting flight to New York. Somehow, she missed that connecting flight, so she requested that her luggage be retrieved in LA,rather than sent to New York.
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From November 8 to 11, various surveillance footage showed her at multiple locations across LA. On November 11, she was seen retrieving her luggage from the airport. That was the last time she was seen. Just after that, her communication with her family was disrupted. On top of that, her family members started receiving strange and unusual text messages from her number.
In texts, she was reported saying she had been "tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds" to "someone I thought I loved". Then her phone went dead.
In mid-November, authorities announced she was seen crossing the US-Mexico border on foot. This led to a more intense investigation into her case.
Her father's suicide
On November 24, Kobayashi's father, who flew all the way to LA in search of his daughter, was found dead near the parking area of the airport.
Authorities announced he committed suicide.
The turning point
The death of Kobayashi's father turned the case into a global discussion with everyone having just one question - what is the reason that Kobayashi did what she did?
Even her father's death could not make her come to her family or reach the authorities. The authorities claimed that she did everything on purpose and with a plan.
Public response
Many non-profit organisations have also come forward to join the search operation of Kobayashi and in support of her family.
(With inputs from agencies)
