Person of interest identified in Michelle Le case

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- Relatives of a Hayward woman who has been missing almost a week tell us they believe she's still out there, waiting for help.

"When I first heard it, like there's no way. There's got to be another explanation," Michael Le, the brother of missing woman Michelle Le, said. "Then all the reasonable explanations started to dry up. I started to wonder, 'Oh God, what happened to her?'"

Cousin Krystine Dinh says Le was always her role model. Her disappearance has taken a terrible toll on the close-knit family.

"We're like any other family," Dinh said. "We just want to spend another holiday with her."

The last time anyone saw Le was Friday night at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward where the student nurse was enrolled in a mentoring program.

Le went to her parked car in the garage but never returned from her break. Her white Honda was later found on a street a half-mile away.

Le's brother said she was too responsible to take off without telling anyone. Friends say she had plans to go to Reno with them. She was really looking forward to it and posted about it twice on her Facebook profile.

Police are looking at security camera video from the garage and tracking her cell phone, which stopped working on Saturday.

Police also have a person of interest: former close friend Giselle Esteban was briefly detained by police last week. Police ultimately released Esteban but continue to consider her a person of interest in the case.

Esteban told ABC7 News by phone she "openly hates Michelle" for once stealing her boyfriend in high school but is innocent of anything associated with Le's disappearance.

Esteban's neighbors say nobody has seen or heard from her since her arrest.

While the search for Le continues, the family's vigil goes on.

"Maybe she's somewhere, health," Michael Le said. "That's what we hope. That's the best we can wish for."

"We want her to be home," said Dinh. "We want her back. We just want her home."

A vigil will be held for Michelle Le from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday night on Ponderosa Court. The street is about a half-mile from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, where Le was last seen on May 27.

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missing person, hayward, east bay news, vic lee

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