Speaking at a Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Nov. 26, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said police determined Hannah had intentionally missed her flight that day.
“On Friday November 8th, 23-year-old Hannah Kobayashi missed her connecting flight from LAX to New York, which the investigation determined was intentional,” McDonnell said.
“On November 15th our missing persons unit assumed investigative responsibility. Detectives have been diligently reviewing video surveillance and employing various investigative techniques to locate Hannah, while her family has continued their personal search efforts,” he continued, adding that authorities “remain fully committed to locating Hannah.”
On Saturday, Nov. 30, in a statement shared on Facebook that was seen by PEOPLE, Hannah’s mother and sister addressed the police investigation.
Hannah’s sister said that “it does not appear that Hannah intentionally missed her flight" and claimed she and her family were “unaware of the alleged findings presented at the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting until multiple videos of the meeting were sent to us by multiple citizens.”
“These alleged findings have yet to be relayed to my mother and I directly from the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department or any detective involved in Hannah’s case,” Hannah’s sister further explained.
The mother and daughter went on to claim that certain details shared by McDonnell about the case in the meeting were inaccurate.