Hannah Kobayashi has made her first statement since returning to the U.S. this weekend, over a month after her family reported her missing and launched a nationwide search, of which the 30-year-old says she was “unaware.”
The photographer, whose family said last Wednesday she was “found safe,” released a statement this week regarding the weeks-long ordeal, during which her father died by suicide.
“I was unaware of everything that was happening in the media while I was away, and I am still processing it all,” said Kobayashi, who confirmed she “crossed the border back into the United States” at “daybreak on December 15th,” People reports.
Kobayashi said her “focus now is on my healing, my peace and my creativity” and that she is “deeply grateful to my family and everyone who has shown me kindness and compassion during this time.”
She requested “respect for myself, my family, and my loved ones as I navigate through this challenging time. Thank you for your understanding.”
Kobayashi was supposed to fly from her native Maui to New York, via Los Angeles, in early November but never made her connecting flight. Her family reported her missing on Nov. 11, a day before she walked across the border from California into Mexico.
Prior to authorities declaring Kobayashi a voluntarily missing person, she sent disconcerting messages to her family, members of whom then traveled to Los Angeles to search for her.
Her father was found dead early Nov. 24, after apparently jumping off a parking structure near Los Angeles International Airport.
Kobayashi’s sister, Sydni Kobayashi, said Dec. 12 that though the family had finally had a phone call with Hannah, she did “not wish to return to us.”
The same day, Sydni suspended a GoFundMe the family had set up to assist in the search, and the Kobayashi family offered to refund the nearly $50,000 in collected donations.
