Missing photographer Hannah Kobayashi spotted buying bus ticket day before police said she crossed border into Mexico

Shocking surveillance footage shows Hannah Kobayashi buying a bus ticket to the southern border the day before police said she crossed over through a tunnel into Mexico.

The footage shows Kobayashi wearing a sweatsuit and purchasing a ticket with cash at LA Union Station on Nov. 11, according to a still obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles. She also appears to have her passport and luggage with her at the ticket counter.

Kobayashi is believed to have then reached the San Ysidro border crossing on Nov. 12, where she entered Mexico, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said during a press conference Monday.

The image comes as the aspiring photographer’s disappearance took a curious turn after the Los Angeles police declared the 30-year-old a “voluntary missing person” and said she willfully crossed into Mexico to “step away from modern connectivity.”

McDonnell said investigators reviewed various surveillance footage and interviewed multiple witnesses, who confirmed Kobayashi’s movements from when she landed in the Golden State on Nov. 8 to when she was last seen crossing into Mexico on Nov. 12.

“We’ve basically done everything we can do at this point,” McDonnell said, citing US Customs and Border Protection surveillance footage showing Kobayashi crossing the border Nov. 12.

“She’s left the country and in another nation now.”

McDonnell said that the LAPD’s investigation would not continue into Mexico but urged the public to come forward with any credible information about her whereabouts.

Kobayashi went missing on Nov. 8 after catching a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles, with a connecting flight that would ultimately take her to New York, where she planned to visit relatives.

After she landed at LAX, she sent cryptic text messages to friends shortly before her disappearance, including one saying she’d had a “very intense spiritual awakening” and another claiming “deep hackers wiped my identity, stole all my funds.”

However, McDonnell said investigators found “video evidence clearly shows Hannah at LAX, appearing unharmed after arriving from Maui on Nov. 8 of this year.”

“For unknown reasons, she decided not to board her prescheduled flight to New York,” he said.

McDonnell revealed that his department’s investigation found no evidence that Kobayashi was being trafficked or involved in any criminal activity.

“She has a right to her privacy,” McDonnell continued. “And we respect her choices. But we also understand the concern her loved ones feel for her. A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”

Lt. Douglas Oldfield, who works in the department’s Missing Persons Unit, said Kobayashi’s social media activity also led them to believe she “wanted to disconnect” from the modern world.

“By looking at her past social media, we then saw indications that there were some desires or posts that would be consistent in somebody who would have the desire to disconnect from their phone,” Oldfield said at the press conference.

Oldfield also shared that the video showed her in San Ysidro and entering Mexico through the border crossing tunnel in Baja California.

Baja is a tourist destination for surfers, solo travelers, and psychedelic retreats, but has been a gateway for organized crime, violence, drugs, kidnappings, and murders, particularly in Tijuana, the biggest border city in Mexico which Kobayashi crossed into.

However, Kobayashi’s family insisted the search is “far from over” despite the declaration that she was considered voluntarily missing on Tuesday.

“We are deeply grateful for the urgency and dedication law enforcement has shown in investigating Hannah’s disappearance,” the family said in a statement.

“Our family remains hopeful that Hannah is safe, and urges everyone to continue the search.”

Her family believes that the search for their loved one is “far from over,” and they are “committed to doing everything possible to bring her home safely.”

Kobayashi’s family has been grappling with another tragedy along with the 30-year-old’s disappearance.

Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, was among several family members who traveled to Los Angeles to help with the search.

He was found dead in a parking lot near LAX on Nov. 24, with officials ruling the death a suicide.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.