Missing tourist Hannah Kobayashi found safe amid family tragedy

In a press conference, police said she entered Mexico alone on Nov. 12 and did not suspect any foul play in her disappearance and movements.

Now, Kobayashi’s family have revealed that he is safe, sharing details in an emotional media statement, the Daily Mail reports.

“We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,” the statement said.

“This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family and we kindly ask for privacy as we take time to heal and process everything we have been through.

“We want to express our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and care meant the world to us.”

After the footage from the Mexican border was made public, Los Angeles police said they believed she intentionally missed her flight to New York and made a “deliberate decision to disconnect,” despite her family’s emphatic denials that they would ever do that.

Police understood he took a train from Los Angeles to San Diego before crossing into Tijuana, Mexico, which is about 220km from Los Angeles.

“She is an adult and can choose to disappear,” a senior police official said at the time.

Law enforcement officials said Hannah initially traveled with an unknown man who they have since identified and cleared of any wrongdoing.

While her family remained upset and worried about her disappearance, law enforcement suspended their investigation after the CCTV was found.

Alarming texts sent from Hannah Kobayashi’s phone

After her disappearance, her family were concerned after she sent a series of bizarre text messages to friends that didn’t seem normal.

After contacting Hannah to ask if she had arrived in New York safely, her friends began receiving bizarre text messages from her phone.

Messages to friends on her phone said she had “been hacked” and explained that she couldn’t get to New York because she had been “developed by my identity” and couldn’t fly.

When asked by her friend how she got from Maui to Los Angeles, a reply from Hannah’s phone answered “a freaking freak.”

The messages on the missing woman’s phone continued, with one claiming she “can’t go to the po (police)” and that she had been duped into giving her funds “for someone I thought I loved”.

Texts on her phone then said she “was on the streets.”

Her phone has been switched off since November 11, with her last recorded location indicating she was at the Los Angeles airport.

The family indicated that the messages sent from her phone were not consistent with how the 30-year-old usually acts or responds.

One of her last messages to family and friends said she had experienced a “very intense spiritual awakening” and planned to get to New York, but “will need help to get there.”

She then apologized for her “craziness” and claimed she was “definitely tapped”.

Father found dead while searching for missing daughter

The Kobayashi family were dealt a second devastating blow just days after Hannah’s disappearance when her father is understood to have taken his own life while searching for his daughter.

Ryan Kobayashi, 58, was found unresponsive in a parking lot near the Los Angeles airport days after arriving in the city.

His family told the media they believe he took his own life due to a mental health emergency.

“He died of a broken heart,” says Larie Pidgeon, his former sister-in-law and Hannah’s aunt.

“I searched tirelessly,” Pidgeon said People.

“I think it became so overwhelming for him to drive through the streets and go to Skid Row and see where his daughter could have ended up.”