While the Los Angeles Police Department may have concluded that 30-year-old Maui photographer Hannah Kobayashi’s disappearance was voluntary, her family is skeptical.
On Tuesday, the LAPD determined that Kobayashi, who went missing on November 12, disappeared voluntarily when she waked into Mexico alone. They cited surveillance footage captured at the San Ysidro border crossing south of San Diego that reportedly shows Kobayashi crossing the border into Tijuana alone and on foot.
The video was captured the same day she disappeared, November 12.
Sydni Kobayashi, Hannah’s sister, appeared with her lawyer, Sara Azari, on NBC News‘ Top Story with Tom Llamas after LAPD Police Chief Jim McDonnell’s announcement.
According to the family, the LAPD said there was little more they could do for the Kobayashis.
“We’re just as confused and just as frustrated more than anything now,” Sydni said.
Azari said the LAPD reached their conclusion “without showing [Hannah’s family] any footage.”
“It takes a lot more digging and investigation to be able to say it’s voluntary,” she said.
Sydni worried that her sister might be the victim of human trafficking. McDonnell said during a press conference on Monday that police did not believe she was being trafficked.
She said Hannah and her were extremely close, and she could not believe that her sister would just walk out of her life on a whim.
Azari told NBC News that the family and volunteers willing to help would continue to search for Hannah in Mexico. if Hannah crosses back into the US legally, she will have to present a passport, which should alert officials to her presence.
Sydni begged her sister to contact her.
“I can’t stress enough how loved you are, how supported you are,” she said. “We’re really worried about you. No matter what situation you’re in, you always have a home to come to.”
McDonnell also encouraged Hannah to reach out to her family.
