(NewsNation) — Police have provided new details about Hannah Kobayashi‘s disappearance, revealing that the 30-year-old photographer voluntarily traveled to Mexico after spending a night with a stranger in Los Angeles, People.com reported.
Kobayashi disappeared while traveling from Hawaii to New York, missing a connecting flight in Los Angeles. Family members said they received texts that were out of character from her before her phone was turned off.
Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department told People.com Kobayashi met an unidentified man at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 11. The pair spent approximately nine hours together, walking through downtown Los Angeles and ultimately falling asleep at Union Station.
According to Lt. Doug Oldfield and Detective Omar Franco, the man said Kobayashi appeared coherent and engaged during their encounter. He also told police she discussed her life in Maui, personal matters and travel plans, including intentions to visit the Redwoods and New York, People.com reported.
Hannah Kobayashi seen crossing into Mexico
Surveillance video showed Kobayashi at LA’s Grove Market and near the stadium where the LA Lakers play. She did not appear to be alone in some of the footage, leading her family to fear she had been trafficked.
At 6:10 a.m. on Nov. 12, Kobayashi purchased a bus ticket and traveled to the Mexican border, arriving in Tijuana around noon. Her phone was left behind at LAX.
Police have classified her disappearance as voluntary and ended their active investigation, though Kobayashi remains in their missing persons system.
The family’s search for her was complicated by the suicide of her father, Ryan Kobayashi.
Hannah Kobayashi may have been green card marriage scam victim
Her mother and sister resisted, saying the police had released inaccurate information and were not updating them on developments.
They said they do not think Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight and believe she may have been a victim of a green card marriage scam after photos of what appeared to be a wedding between Kobayashi and an unknown man surfaced online.
“A Facebook user sent what looked like a Hawaiian beach wedding photo of Hannah with another man with leis around their necks wearing white, and they said that they learned off of Reddit that there was this sham marriage for money and that this is the wedding picture that’s being circulated on Reddit,” said Sara Azari, the Kobayashi family attorney, to NewsNation. “Of course, that came as a shock to Hannah’s sister.”
Los Angeles Magazine, citing unnamed sources, said Kobayashi may have been involved in a secret marriage plot for money. The magazine characterized the marriage as an immigration scheme where Hannah was tricked out of the money that she was supposed to receive.
The Argentinian man believed to be involved was on the flight from Maui to LAX on Nov. 8, and so was Kobayashi’s ex-boyfriend.
Police said they welcome any information from Kobayashi herself. “We don’t have her side of the story,” Oldfield said.
Kobayashi, who worked as a photographer and smoke shop employee in Hawaii, was originally scheduled to fly to New York from LAX on Nov. 8 but did not board the flight.
Authorities said they found no evidence of criminal activity or foul play in her disappearance.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz and Mills Hayes contributed to this report.
