Related Post
Hannah Kobayashi, a Hawaii woman whose disappearance launched a widespread search, has released a statement days after being found safe.
“I was unaware of everything that was happening in the media while I was away, and I am still processing it all,” the 30-year-old said in a statement to NBC News.
In the statement – issued in a letter through her aunt Larie Pidgeon – Ms Kobayashi also said she returned to the US from Mexico on Sunday.
Ms Kobayashi’s family reported her missing on 13 November, later reporting on 11 December that she had been found. During the search effort, her father travelled to Los Angeles and was found dead in what authorities declared a suicide.
“My focus now is on my healing, my peace and my creativity,” Ms Kobayashi’s statement to NBC said.
“I am deeply grateful to my family and everyone who has shown me kindness and compassion during this time.”
In their own statement last week, Ms Kobayashi’s family did not say where or how she was found.
Her vanishing had spawned conspiracies theories, after she arrived in Los Angeles from Maui on 8 November but never boarded her connection flight to New York to visit her aunt.
Surveillance camera footage showed her leaving the airport and at various locations around Los Angeles with an unidentified man, who was later questioned by law enforcement.
Ms Kobayashi’s family had expressed concern that she was the victim of human trafficking, but police investigated and said there was no evidence of foul play.
After days of an extensive search operation, the Los Angeles Police Department reclassified her as a voluntary missing person.
Police said surveillance footage showed she crossed the border into Mexico independently and they were halting the search for her.
During her time in Los Angeles, Ms Kobayashi’s family members said they received unusual text messages from her phone before all communication ceased.
She also sent messages to friends expressing fears for her safety and concerns that someone was attempting to steal her identity.
On 24 November, after relatives gathered in LA, her father Ryan, 58, was found dead near Los Angeles International Airport.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be suicide.
The incident was not directly addressed by Ms Kobayashi’s statement, as reported by NBC on Monday.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can visit the BBC’s Action Line pages, or contact Samaritans, in the UK.
If you’re in the US, call 988, or contact Lifeline.
