Shocking surveillance footage has emerged that captures Hannah Kobayashi at Union Station buying a bus ticket to the southern border just one day before authorities claimed she crossed into Mexico through a tunnel. The video, obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles, shows Kobayashi wearing a sweatsuit and paying for the ticket in cash at LA Union Station on November 11.
The footage shows her standing at a counter in sweats with her passport and luggage at the ticket counter. Hannah was later spotted in border footage near Tijuana on November 12 and 13, 11 days before her father tragically took his own life. Her whereabout in Mexico is presently unclear.
Fled to Mexico by Bus
Police suspect that Kobayashi "intentionally" missed her connecting flight to New York City from Los Angeles International Airport on November 8, and are treating her disappearance as "voluntary."
They insisted that there is no indication of human trafficking or foul play, suggesting that she appeared to be seeking a simpler life.
According to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell, Kobayashi is believed to have arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing on November 12, where she crossed into Mexico.
"The investigators noted that before departing Maui, Kobayashi expressed a desire to step away from modern connectivity," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Monday.
"We've basically done everything we can do at this point," McDonnell said, citing US Customs and Border Protection surveillance footage showing Kobayashi crossing the border Nov. 12.
"She's left the country and in another nation now."
Los Angeles police said that they will not continue investigating Kobayashi's case, but they will be alerted if she returns to the U.S. They also urged her to get in touch with the police or the American Embassy in Mexico to "confirm her well-being."
Kobayashi vanished on November 8 after arriving in Los Angeles on a flight from Hawaii, with a connecting flight intended to take her to New York, where she was planning to visit family.
Before she disappeared, Kobayashi had sent a text to a friend mentioning a "spiritual awakening" and was later spotted with an unidentified man on November 11.
The Kobayashi family has consistently said that she did not appear to be acting like herself, with her sister, Sydni, even suggesting that Hannah's messages "felt as though someone else was controlling her."
However, at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting on November 26, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that the investigation concluded Hannah's missed connection was "intentional."
In Pursuit of a Simpler Life
The 30-year-old vanished in downtown Los Angeles after failing to board her connecting flight from Maui to New York on November 8. "On November 15, our missing persons unit assumed investigative responsibility," he said.
"Detectives have been diligently reviewing video surveillance and employing various investigative techniques to locate Hannah, while her family has continued their personal search efforts."
McDonnell also said that the LAPD remains "committed to locating Hannah and supporting the family as they navigate their way through this tragedy," especially after her father Ryan's suicide.
However, Kobayashi's family contends that the police chief never informed them of any evidence suggesting she "intentionally" missed her flight. Sydni implied that no such evidence exists.
In a statement on social media, Sydni revealed that the family only became aware of the alleged findings from the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting after several citizens sent them videos of the meeting, according to PEOPLE.
"These alleged findings have yet to be relayed to my mother and I directly from the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department or any detective involved in Hannah's case."
Sydni and her mother, Brandi Yee, also claimed that some of the information McDonnell provided about the case during the meeting was incorrect.
Kobayashi was caught on surveillance footage at LAX just before 10 p.m. on November 8, disembarking from a plane.
The aspiring photographer was seen wearing a black hoodie and colorful sweatpants, walking through the airport with headphones on.
Her ex-boyfriend, who had booked flights for both of them before their breakup, was also on that same flight. Kobayashi was scheduled to catch a connecting flight at 11 p.m., but she never boarded, while her ex continued on to New York.
He is now helping the police with their investigation.
The next day, Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between noon and 3 p.m., spending a significant amount of time at Taschen Books, where she stopped to charge her phone.
At 2:43 p.m., she sent a photo to her aunt before returning to the airport, where she is believed to have stayed overnight.
In a YouTube video taken outside an event in Los Angeles on November 10, Hannah was seen wearing the same outfit. She had attended a Nike event featuring LeBron James in LA around 3:30 p.m., where she was dressed in the same dark hoodie and headphones she had on at the airport. Kobayashi also posted a photo from the event on her Instagram, captioning it with an eye emoji.
Later that day, around 5 p.m., she was seen speaking with a ticketing agent at LAX. That same day, her family filed a missing-persons report due to what they described as unusual communication from Kobayashi.
The family explained that Kobayashi had sent some cryptic text messages and Venmo payments to unfamiliar people before and after her disappearance.
One payment, sent at 6:25 p.m. on November 9, was made to someone named Veronica Almendarez for an undisclosed amount, with the description only showing a bow and arrow emoji.
Another payment was sent less than an hour later to a person named Jonathan Taylor, also for an unknown amount, with the description simply stating: "Reading."
