Hannah Kobayashi, the 30-year-old Hawaiian woman who disappeared last month, has been found. Her family said they would offer refunds to those who donated to help with the search efforts.
“We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe,” Hannah’s sister Sydni wrote in a Thursday update on the GoFundMe page set up to finance the search for the missing woman.
“This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family,” Sydni wrote.
“We want to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us during this difficult time. Your kindness and concern have meant the world to us.”
Sydni asked donors who would like a refund to submit their claim by Dec. 18.
Hannah disappeared on Nov. 11, after she failed to board a connecting flight to New York City at Los Angeles Airport on Nov. 8 and went largely incommunicado in subsequent days.
She was spotted in a random YouTube video posted on Nov. 10 about the Lebron James event at The Grove in Los Angeles but did not inform her family of her whereabouts.
Hannah’s last cell phone ping was dated 4 p.m. on Nov. 11. The family said they had been receiving “weird” text messages from her phone that didn’t sound like her.
That same day, Hannah’s father Ryan boarded a plane to California to look for his daughter.
Her family launched a GoFundMe page to pay for food and lodgings for Ryan and volunteers partaking in the search, such as those from The RAD Movement—a search organization itself founded by parents of a recovered missing child.
However, 13 days later, Hannah’s father took his own life after searching all over Los Angeles for his daughter. Authorities said the 58-year-old father was found dead in a parking lot.
On Dec. 4, Sydni posted an update on the GoFundMe page to thank those who supported them in their search.
“Your donations have helped pay for food and hydration for the search teams,” she said, “transportation for our family and critical support team,” and the father’s funeral expenses.
She also mentioned the funding helped to pay for communication devices and technology “for an extensive search area with no cell phone service.”
Sydni said that the family had been briefed two days prior by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell, who told her that Hannah was missing “voluntarily” and had crossed the border into Mexico on her own around Nov. 12. This prompted the family to hire legal and investigative services in Mexico.
On Thursday, Sydni reported that her sister was safe. However, she did not disclose any details about the precise time or location where Hannah was found.