The sister of 30-year-old Hannah Kobayashi mentioned Tuesday the police conclusion that she is a “voluntary lacking individual” shouldn’t be passable.
Appearing with household lawyer Sara Azari on NBC News NOW’s “Top Story With Tom Llamas,” Sydni Kobayashi mentioned family ought to have been proven the video that Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell mentioned exhibits Hannah crossing into Mexico alone at a pedestrian port of entry in San Diego on Nov. 12.
McDonnell mentioned that there’s not rather more the division can do and that it has labeled the case as one in all a voluntary detachment with no foul play suspected.
“We’re simply as confused and simply as pissed off greater than something now,” Sydni Kobayashi mentioned.
Azari agreed, questioning how police might come to such a conclusion with out involving these closest to Hannah, who disappeared after she landed at Los Angeles International Airport from Honolulu on Nov. 8 and missed a connecting flight to her closing vacation spot, New York City.
“They simply reached this conclusion … with out displaying them any footage,” Azari mentioned, referring to relations. “It takes much more digging and investigation to have the ability to say it is voluntary.”
Sydni Kobayashi mentioned she fears Hannah, who’s from Maui, stands out as the sufferer of human trafficking, which McDonnell mentioned Monday isn’t suspected. She mentioned she will be able to’t see how Hannah can stay out of contact practically a month after she left Hawaii.
“She all the time saved near me greater than anybody in our lives,” she mentioned.
Los Angeles police didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday night time.
Azari mentioned the household would deploy supporters to search for Hannah in Mexico. Authorities mentioned investigators are more likely to be alerted if Hannah returns to the U.S. by way of an official U.S.-Mexico crossing or port.
In the meantime, her sister urged her to achieve out.
“I can not stress sufficient how liked you might be, how supported you might be,” she mentioned. “We’re actually nervous about you. No matter what state of affairs you are in, you all the time have a house to return to.”
A collective assertion from Hannah’s household on Tuesday was much less mistrusting, because it expressed gratitude to police and mentioned the search will proceed, if solely to make sure she’s protected.
“The search is way from over, and we’re dedicated to doing all the pieces potential to convey her residence safely,” the assertion mentioned.
McDonnell mentioned Monday at a information convention that he noticed the necessity for family to speak with Hannah, and he urged her to achieve out.
“She has a proper to her privateness, and we respect her selections, however we additionally perceive the priority her family members really feel for her,” he mentioned. “A easy message might reassure those that care about her.”
After she missed her connecting flight, Hannah spent the subsequent few days sightseeing in Los Angeles, sending texts {that a} member of the family described as “alarming” and being seen on safety video with an unknown man, in response to a household timeline on Facebook and different statements made by family.
“Hannah’s final message to us was alarming — she talked about feeling scared, and that somebody may be attempting to steal her cash and identification,” aunt Larie Pidgeon mentioned on Facebook final month.
McDonnell mentioned at Monday’s information convention that household reported her lacking Nov. 13 and that police took over the case two days later.
On the morning of Nov. 12, police mentioned, Hannah was seen unaccompanied at a Greyhound bus terminal at Union Station, the downtown Los Angeles prepare depot.
At 12:13 p.m. that day, in response to police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection video confirmed Kobayashi willfully crossing into Mexico at one of many busy land ports in San Diego. She hasn’t been noticed since.
On Monday night, McDonnell introduced that Hannah was voluntarily separated from her day-to-day world and isn’t the topic of trafficking or foul play.
He additionally mentioned she had baggage that went to New York City rerouted again to Los Angeles International Airport, the place she picked it up the day earlier than she crossed into Mexico.
Lt. Douglas Oldfield of the police division’s Missing Persons Unit mentioned on the information convention that investigators who reviewed her social media concluded, however not with complete certainty, that Kobayashi “wished to disconnect.”
Relatives, together with Kobayashi’s father, Ryan, gathered in Los Angeles beginning in mid-November to direct volunteer search efforts, they mentioned.
On Nov. 24, her father died by suicide close to Los Angeles International Airport.
“I’m very sorry to the household for all that they’ve been via,” McDonnell mentioned Monday night.
Relatives and supporters paused their Facebook web page on the seek for Kobayashi, “Help Us Find Hannah,” saying in a press release Sunday that it was a channel for assaults and threats focusing on family.
Other family indicated the information that Kobayashi could also be isolating herself from her on a regular basis world hasn’t detoured their search.
“We need solutions and a decision that ensures Hannah’s security and urge legislation enforcement and the general public to remain centered on discovering her and to keep away from speculative conclusions,” the household mentioned in its assertion Tuesday.
If you or somebody you recognize is in disaster, name 988 to achieve the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can even name the community, beforehand referred to as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, textual content HOME to 741741 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/sources for extra sources.