Chilling surveillance footage shows Hannah Kobayashi buying a bus ticket to the southern border the day before police say she crossed the tunnel into Mexico.
The footage shows Kobayashi wearing a sweatsuit and buying a ticket with cash at LA Union Station on November 11, according to reports obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles. He also appeared to have his passport and luggage with him at the ticket counter.
Kobayashi is believed to have reached the San Ysidro border crossing on Nov. 12, where he entered Mexico, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said during a news conference Friday.
The image comes as the missing photographer became curious after Los Angeles police declared the 30-year-old a “voluntarily missing person” and said he deliberately crossed into Mexico to “get away from modern connectivity.”
McDonnell said investigators reviewed various lengths of surveillance and interviewed several witnesses, who confirmed Kobayashi’s movements from when he landed in the Golden State on November 8 to when he was last seen crossing into Mexico on November 12.
“We’ve basically done everything we can at this point,” McDonnell said, citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance footage showing Kobayashi crossing the border Nov. 12.
“He has left the country and is in another country now.”
McDonnell said the LAPD investigation will not continue into Mexico, but urged the public to come forward with credible information about him.
Kobayashi disappeared on November 8 after catching a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles, with a connecting flight that would eventually take him to New York, where he planned to visit relatives.
After she landed at LAX, she sent cryptic text messages to friends shortly before she disappeared, including one who said she had a “very powerful spiritual awakening” and another who claimed “deep hackers wiped my identity, stole all my funds.”
However, McDonnell said that investigators found “video evidence clearly showing Hannah at LAX, apparently unharmed after arriving from Maui on November 8 of this year.”
“For unknown reasons, he decided not to board his scheduled flight to New York,” he said.
McDonnell said his department’s investigation found no evidence that Kobayashi was trafficked or involved in criminal activity.
“She has a right to her privacy,” McDonnell said. “And we respect his choice. But we also understand the anxiety that his loved ones feel for him. A simple message can reassure those who care about him.
Lt. Douglas Oldfield, who works in the department’s Missing Persons Unit, said Kobayashi’s social media activity also led him to believe he “wanted to disconnect” from the modern world.
“By looking at past social media, we then saw indications that there were some wishes or posts that would be consistent with people wanting to hang up,” Oldfield said at a press conference.
Oldfield also pointed out that the video shows him in San Ysidro and entering Mexico through a border crossing tunnel in Baja California.
Baja is a tourist destination for surfers, solo travelers, and psychedelic retreats, but it has become a gateway to organized crime, violence, drugs, kidnappings, and murders, especially in Tijuana, Mexico’s largest border city that Kobayashi passes through.
However, Kobayashi’s family insisted that the search was “far from over” despite a declaration that he was considered voluntarily missing on Tuesday.
“We are deeply grateful for the urgency and dedication law enforcement has shown in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,” the family said in a statement.
“Our family remains hopeful that Hannah is safe, and urges everyone to continue searching.”
The family believes the search for their loved one is “far from over”, and they are “committed to doing everything to bring them home safely.”
The Kobayashi family has been struggling with yet another tragedy along with the 30-year-old’s disappearance.
Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was among several family members who traveled to Los Angeles to help in the search.
He was found dead in a parking lot near LAX on November 24, with officials ruling the death a suicide.
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
