Editor’s note: This article discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org . A missed flight. Cryptic text messages. Sightings around Los Angeles. A family tragedy. Each new update in the monthlong search for a missing Hawaii woman captivated the nation. And after family members announced Wednesday that Hannah Kobayashi, 30, had been found safe , questions are still swirling about what could have caused the photographer to abruptly stop communicating with her loved ones and leave the country. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Kobayashi walked through the U.S.-Mexico border in California voluntarily on Nov. 12, days after she missed her connecting flight to New York. She was not the victim of an abduction, foul play, or human trafficking as had been speculated on social media, McDonnell said. "We are happy to learn that Hannah has been found safe," the department said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Now that we have this new information, this has become a private matter and we will wrap up our investigation." But it's unlikely the public will ever see the results of that investigation or learn exactly what happened to Kobayashi after she was reported missing last month, said Michelle Jeanis, an assistant professor in the criminal justice department of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "If it's a voluntary departure, then there is no crime and there's nothing to investigate," said Jeanis, who researches missing persons phenomenon. "And they have no obligation to tell the public anything or the family anything." What happened to Hannah Kobayashi? According to accounts from family and police , on Nov. 8, Kobayashi missed a connecting flight from Maui to New York City at Los Angeles International Airport and was later spotted at different locations around the city. She sent a series of unusual text messages to her family, including mentions of not feeling safe and of someone attempting to steal her identity and money. Kobayashi stopped contacting them days later, prompting her family to file a missing person report and launch a sweeping, in-person search effort. During the search Kobayashi's father, Ryan Kobayashi , 58, died by suicide near LAX. Police later said Kobayashi intentionally missed her flight to New York - a claim the family disputes - and reclassified her as a voluntary missing person after reviewing footage that showed her crossing the southern border. On Wednesday, lawyers for the family said she had been found in Mexico . “This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through,” the statement, attributed to her mother Brandi Yee and sister Sydni Kobayashi, said. “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.” Kobayashi 'is not obligated' to explain disappearance to police It's not clear what led Kobayashi to cut off communication with her family and travel to Mexico. McDonnell told reporters that before she departed Maui, Kobayashi "expressed a desire to step away from modern connectivity," which may explain why she did not have her phone after departing LAX. Typically, voluntary departures are prompted by a high stress situation like a divorce, financial crisis, or potential criminal charges, said Jeanis. "We rarely see a case reach this level of exposure or attention for what seems like just family dysfunction or perhaps poor communication," she said. Jeanis said Kobayashi and her family are unlikely to share more details about what prompted her disappearance after experiencing such an "incredibly, profoundly traumatic" ordeal. And unlike in cases where people have misled law enforcement about their disappearance, police likely won't investigate Kobayashi further, Jeanis said. "We have not seen her and at this point we have no reason to compel her to see us," Lt. Doug Oldfield, a member of the LAPD missing persons unit, told PEOPLE . "It’s a big news story so she may decide to come with a lawyer, but she is not obligated to speak to us." Oldfield told PEOPLE that if Kobayashi crosses the border back into the United States, she will still "show as a missing person." He said the department is waiting for Customs and Border Protection or other law enforcement agents to make contact and determine she's okay. "Then we take her out of the system," he told the outlet, "unless something else happens." (This story has been updated to add new information.) Contributing: James Powel , Christopher Cann and Eduardo Cuevas , USA TODAY

AP News Summary at 3:12 p.m. ESTBiden's Thanksgiving holiday is part of a longer farewell as Trump's return to White House nearsOn the back of strong gains in the US stock market, Japan's Nikkei futures are trading higher by close to 1%. The major US stock moved higher with the Dow industrial average, the S&P index, and the NASDAQ index all closing at record levels. The gains were led by the NASDAQ index which advance by 1.30%.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A pair of conservative groups on Friday challenged a Maine law that limits donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections, arguing that money spent to support political expression is "a vital feature of our democracy.” Supporters of the referendum overwhelmingly approved on Election Day fully expected a legal showdown over caps on individual contributions to so-called super PACs. They hoped the referendum would trigger a case and ultimately prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the matter of donor limits after the court opened the floodgates to independent spending in its 2010 Citizens United decision. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

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