Hannah Kobayashi, a Hawaii woman whose disappearance launched a widespread search, has released a statement days after being found safe.
"I was unaware of everything that was happening in the media while I was away, and I am still processing it all," the 30-year-old said in a statement to NBC News.
In the statement - issued in a letter through her aunt Larie Pidgeon - Ms Kobayashi also said she returned to the US from Mexico on Sunday.
Ms Kobayashi's family reported her missing on 13 November, later reporting on 11 December that she had been found. During the search effort, her father travelled to Los Angeles and was found dead in what authorities declared a suicide.