Nearly a month after a woman from Hawaii went missing after arriving at LAX, the family is demanding to see the surveillance footage of her crossing the border into Mexico.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Hannah Kobayashi entered Mexico voluntarily and there are no signs of foul play.

“Now that she’s there, it feels like they’re kind of washing their hands clean of the situation,” Sydni Kobayashi, Hannah’s sister, said.

“For them to tell us that they have been keeping us informed throughout the entire time, that’s absolutely inaccurate.”

However, the family said they are upset that the LAPD has classified the case as a voluntary missing persons case  and they are asking for police to release surveillance video of Kobayashi crossing the border.

The family has since hired their own private investigator and attorney, saying that they still believe she is in danger.

The Los Angeles Police Department believes the Hawaii woman missing after arriving at LAX may have intentionally missed her flight. This video was broadcast on the NBC4 News at 5 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2024. 

Her family reported her missing to law enforcement on Nov. 11 after relatives received “strange and cryptic, just alarming” text messages after she did not board a flight to New York City at LAX. Kobayashi crossed into Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing Nov. 12, according to authorities.

On Monday evening, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters Kobayashi appeared unharmed and that authorities have found no evidence she was being trafficked or the victim of a crime. Kobayashi was declared a “voluntary missing person” after the surveillance video review.

Kobayahi’s father was among those who joined the search for her in Los Angeles. On Nov. 24, he was found dead Nov. 24 in a parking lot near LA International Airport, according to the county medical examiner. Kobayashi’s family confirmed Ryan Kobayashi’s death and said he died by suicide.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A respected war veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor is back in Hawaii.

104-year-old Ira ‘Ike’ Schab Jr. of Portland touched down in Honolulu Tuesday ahead of the 83rd commemoration the attack on Pearl Harbor. He’s one of the few remaining survivors of that day, and the only one left from the USS Dobbin.

His flight was met with a water cannon salute, and at the gate, sounds of the Navy’s U.S. Pacific Fleet Band filled the air.

“What do you remember from that day?” he was asked.

“Oh, being scared, more than anything else,” he replied. “Wondering about my brothers. Where they were.”

As a musician in the Navy band, Schab was starting a seemingly quiet day when the attack in 1941 began. He quickly sprung into action, feeding ammunition to the gunners.

All these years later, he’s back in the islands to commemorate the solemn anniversary, and the lives of those lost.

“I’m one of the very few left — and they deserve to be recognized and honored,” he added.

For many years, Ike’s family said he didn’t want to return to the islands because the memories of the attack were just too painful.

“It was an embarrassment for a long time,” Ike said about the attack. His son Karl Schab added, “In the time, it was kind of a shock the United States that we were attacked and so the embarrassment was real. And then when I was stationed here, I said, ‘Hey dad, come out and visit.’ He said, ‘No I really don’t have any desire to relive that.’”

However, several years ago during the 75th anniversary, he changed his mind after seeing how few survivors remained.

”He said, ‘As long as I’m able to make the trip, I want to make the trip for the people that can’t make the trip,’” Karl said.

He’s since returned to Pearl Harbor annually. Joining him from Portland this year are 14 of his family members and caregivers.

“It’s a real chicken-skin moment. It’s tearful, it’s so special and meaningful to be a part of that,” John Kim, president of Hawaiian Airlines’ Veterans Employee Network, said.

“It’s important for us as Americans to recognize service men and women like Ike because they helped to shape the foundation of our country and allows us to be free,” Kim added.

The cost to get him to the islands and ensure care is available around the clock is steep, and family members have set up a GoFundMe to help pay for various expenses. It has already raised more than $4,300.

As Ike reflects on the past, his service is celebrated, and the memory of his fellow sailors lives on.

“What do you want your legacy to be remembered by?” he was asked. “That I remembered them. This is a second home,” he said.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

A Hawaii woman who vanished after landing in Los Angeles three weeks ago disappeared voluntarily as she sought to “step away from modern connectivity” and was last seen crossing into Mexico, police said at a news conference.

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, appeared unharmed as she walked alone with her luggage into a tunnel at the San Ysidro crossing about 125 miles (201km) south-east of Los Angeles around noon on 12 November the day after her family reported her missing, LA police said Monday. Authorities made the discovery after reviewing surveillance video from the US Customs and Border Protection late on Sunday.

The Los Angeles police chief, Jim McDonnell, said there was no evidence Kobayashi was being trafficked or was otherwise a victim of a crime. Investigators conducted “extensive” witness interviews and reviewed video surveillance but have found no evidence of foul play. Kobayashi’s disappearance is now classified as a “voluntary missing person”.

“We’ve basically done everything we can do at this point. She’s left the country and in another nation now,” he said, adding that if she returned to the US, law enforcement would be notified.

McDonnell said Kobayashi had a right to her privacy, but urged her to reach out to her family or law enforcement.

“A simple message could reassure those who care about her,” McDonnell said. He explained that the missing person case would remain active until her safety was confirmed by law enforcement.

Kobayashi went missing after the budding photographer from Maui did not make a connecting flight to New York on 8 November to travel for a new job and to visit relatives. She told her family she would sleep in the Los Angeles international airport that night.

Family members assumed she was on standby for another flight, according to her aunt, Larie Pidgeon. The next day, Kobayashi texted them to say she was sightseeing in Los Angeles, planning to visit The Grove shopping mall and downtown LA, Pidgeon said.

On 11 November the family received “strange and cryptic, just alarming” text messages from her phone that referenced her being “intercepted” as she got on a Metro train and being scared that someone might be stealing her identity, her aunt said. Her disappearance set off an extensive search and attracted significant media attention.

Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, who had been in the search party along with volunteers, was found dead by apparent suicide on Sunday 24 November in a parking lot near LA international airport, police and her family said.

McDonnell said during a police commission meeting last Tuesday that detectives determined Hannah Kobayashi missed her connecting flight intentionally. Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni Kobayashi, disputed his statement in a social media post.

Police said on Monday that after Hannah Kobayashi was seen in various locations around LA, she requested that her luggage, which had been checked to New York, be sent back to LAX. She then returned to the airport to retrieve it on 11 November and did not have her phone when she left again, according to police.

Investigators found that she had “expressed the desire to step away from modern connectivity”.

Police also identified and questioned a man that Kobayashi was seen with on the Metro. He was “cooperative” and said he met her at LAX, police said.

Sydni Kobayashi did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Members of the public who were in the “Help Us Find Hannah” Facebook group, which garnered the interest of more than 25,000 participants, shared a post from the group on Monday that said the family would be shutting the group down after “threats against their lives and the lives of their small children”.

The post also said Sydni Kobayashi and her mother would not be responding to any messages.

The Los Angeles police department said in a statement that it would not continue the investigation into Mexico but encouraged her to contact police or the US embassy so that officials can “confirm her wellbeing”.

During the news conference, McDonnell reflected on all that the family had endured these last few weeks.

“My ask would be to anybody considering doing this, think about the people you’re leaving behind, your loved ones who are going to be worried sick about you,” he said.