MICHELLE HOANG THI LE - 26 yo - San Mateo/Hayward CA

The brother of a missing nursing
student announced Monday night that a $20,000-reward has been offered
for the return of his sister, who went missing four days before.While
speaking to reporters in from of the Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical
Center, 23-year-old Michael Le said his family collected a
$20,000-reward for any information that would lead to the safe return of
his sister, Michelle Hoang Thi Le.Le was last seen Friday at the
Hayward Kaiser taking a class for her nursing course. During the class,
she told her classmates that she was planning to leave for Reno that
night and at around 7 p.m., during a break, she left the class and
didn't return.



Obviously distraught over the situation, Michael
could provide few details on the investigation, saying the family has no
idea what happened to her, they don’t know what the investigation is
about, and that they just want her back safe.“It’s really hard not to assume the worst, but we’re trying,” said Michael Le. “That’s the hardest thing, staying positive.”Though
when asked about Michelle’s roommate, who had not been identified as of
Monday night, Michael said he could not discuss the situation.He also said that his family is extensive, and members came from as far away as San Diego.The
missing 26-year-old lives in San Mateo with a roommate and takes most
of her classes at Samuel Merritt University’s Hayward campus.Friends
of Le describe her as social but private -- not the type to talk a lot
about her personal life. Only a small group of people know if someone
might want to harm her and they're not talking. “We're pretty
much doing what the Hayward police have asked us to do: not comment too
much,” said Michelle Valente, a peer of Le’s and student at Samuel
Merritt University. “We don't want to compromise or jeopardize their
investigation.”Hayward police wanted people with information to
call them to help solve this case, which had no hard evidence of foul
play just a series of unusual events starting Friday night, when Le left
class and never returned.Nurses who work in the area, as well as patients and residents, said this case scares them.“This
place is a very nice place a very nice peaceful place so maybe they
need more security,” said Linda Zhou, mom of one of the patients at
Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center.Friends say it's not
like Le to ignore phone calls or messages like the ones piling up on her
Facebook page. But until there's a reason not to, people said they were
staying positive. “She is definitely missed and loved and we're all just hoping for the best,” said Valente.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/28077080/detail.html

HAYWARD, Calif. -- Relatives and friends of missing nursing student Michelle Le will be handing out fliers Sunday as they continue to hope for her safe return.The 26-year-old Le was last seen on May 27 when she left a Hayward hospital during a break from a shift she was working as part of her nursing training.A family spokeswoman says Mark Klaas of the KlaasKids Foundation will be joining the group as it distributes the fliers Sunday afternoon on Mission Boulevard in Hayward.

Klaas organized the foundation in the aftermath of the abduction and
death of his daughter, 12-year-old Polly Klaas, in 1993.Meanwhile, Hayward
police with search dogs and forensic investigators searched two remote
canyons in Alameda County Friday. A police spokesman says no evidence
was found during the search.Police have classified the case as a homicide.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/12/3694906/family-of-missing-student-to-hand.html#ixzz1P7lUm8cA

Authorities fear that a northern California nursing student who mysteriously disappeared has been killed.
Michelle Hoang Thi Le vanished May 27 after leaving a class at the Kaiser Hospital in Hayward, just east of Oakland.
Hayward
Police Capt. Darryl McAllister said a forensic examination of Le's car
and the parking garage where the vehicle was found, video evidence from
the garage and cell phone records have led them to believe the
26-year-old was slain.
"My heart goes out to this family for
dealing with this ordeal to begin with - anyone who's loved one suddenly
ends up missing under very suspicious circumstances," he said. "What
the family goes through in those times trying to find answers ... is
agonizing."
Police are keeping details of what they found under
wraps, but confirmed the evidence points conclusively to homicide.
Investigators were searching remote areas of Alameda County for Le's body.
"We do believe someone specifically intended to go after Michelle," McAllister said, according to the Oakland Tribune.
Le, a student at Samuel Merritt University's
Hayward campus, was considered "an intelligent, beautiful, polite
person who is very excited about her career of becoming a nurse," school
spokeswoman Elizabeth Valente told the San Francisco Chronicle last month.
Despite
evidence suggesting the nursing student was the victim of foul play,
her relatives are not giving up hope. They have raised the reward for
information leading to her safe return to $65,000.
"The family
believes Michelle is alive," relatives said on a website tracking search
efforts. "Don't give up hope everyone. We're still going to keep at
it."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/06/07/2011-06-07_michelle_hoang_thi_le_missing_california_nursing_student_likely_victim_of_homici.html#ixzz1TYTadBkV

July 13, 2011
Forty-five days after 26-year-old nursing student Michelle Hoang Thi Le disappeared from a medical center in Hayward, CA on Friday, May 27, 2011 at about 7:00 p.m. PDT, the missing woman's family announced on Monday, July 11, 2011 that they have boosted a refund fund for information about her whereabouts to $100,000 according to reports published on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 by the Contra Costa Times, the San Francisco Examiner, CBS News Crimesider, the Millbrae Patch, NBC Bay Area KNTV, and other media sources.

The previous reward was $65,000. That amount has gradually been increased from the initial $20,000 that was offered soon after the woman went missing.

The Le family raised the additional monies through fundraisers and
grassroots donations from friends and community members, as seen in the attached slide show and video clip which accompany this report.

Although the Hayward Police Department, commanded by Chief Ron Ace, are regarding the disappearance as a homicide, rather than a missing persons case, the family refuses to accept the reality that their loved one may already be dead.

While the larger reward may just be a way for them to cling to a
tenuous thread of hope, they also believe that it might bring forward
witnesses who have information to offer.

In addition to the money, during each weekend that Ms. Le has been
missing, volunteers have gathered at the family's command center at 25350 Cypress Avenue in Hayward to be divided into smaller groups and assigned areas to search.

That same process will continue this Friday and Saturday, July 15-16 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
A private investigator from The Framé Group
has been assisting the family to process leads, and talk with witnesses
who may otherwise be reluctant to approach the police directly.
http://www.examiner.com/news-analysis-in-national/michelle-le-reward-jumps-to-100-000

Family of missing nursing student to hold vigil on two-month anniversary of disappearance

Updated: 07/26/2011 05:22:49 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge
This undated handout photo provided by the Hayward Police Department whows 26-year-old female...

Related

• Jul 15:
  
• After search for missing Hayward nursing student, relatives say no news is good news
  
• Jul 13:
  
• Reward for missing nursing student Michelle Le raised to $100,000
  

HAYWARD
-- Two months to the day that Michelle Le disappeared from the Kaiser
Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, family members and supporters will
rally Wednesday at Mt. Eden Park, near the scene of her May 27
disappearance.
"The last two months have been a nightmare; it's
exhausting," wrote Le's cousin Krystine Dinh in a news release. "But
we're still determined to honoring her life and finding her home."
Dinh said the rally will include speakers from the Hayward Police Department and Marc Klass of the KlaasKids foundation.
While
police said shortly after Le's disappearance that they believe the case
is a homicide, family members have not given up hope that she will be
found alive. Dinh said the rally is meant to serve as a reminder to the
public that Le still is missing.
It will begin at 6 p.m. The park is at the corner of West Tennsyon Road and Hesperian Boulevard.
The family also held a fundraiser last weekend at the Icon Ultra Lounge in San Francisco.
Michael
Wetzler, who organized the fundraiser, said that while he never knew
the missing girl, "her story and her family's dedication inspired me.
Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something."
There is a $100,000 reward for Michelle's return. For more information, visit www.michellelemissing.com.


http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_18553801

Judge Rules ‘Person of Interest’ in Michelle Le Case Can See Her Child

A restraining order was filed against Giselle Esteban by her
ex-boyfriend three days before Le went missing. They have a young
daughter.



A Union City woman identified by police as a “person of interest” in
the disappearance of nursing student Michelle Le was granted permission
to see her daughter Tuesday in an unrelated court case, according to
media reports.


Giselle Esteban, 27, a former friend of Le's, had a restraining order
issued against her on May 24, just three days before Le went missing.
It was requested by Esteban's ex-boyfriend, also a friend of Le's, and
barred Esteban from coming within 100 feet of her ex-boyfriend, with
whom she has a 5-year-old child, or his immediate family.


The ex-boyfriend cited increasingly bizarre behavior by Esteban,
including stalking him, threatening to shoot herself and entering his
home uninvited.


The restraining order was extended at a June 14 court appearance where Esteban failed to show up.


A Fremont judge on Tuesday granted Esteban the right to visit her
daughter, but only under the supervision of a professional counselor, the Daily Review reports.


According to the Daily Review, Esteban did not speak in court and walked quickly to a waiting car after her court appearance.


She has not spoken to media since telling KGO-TV reporters in early June that she “openly hates”
Le after the two had a falling out when they were high school friends
in San Diego, where they both grew up. She also accused Le of ruining
her relationship with her child’s father, but said that she had nothing
to do with Le’s disappearance.


Esteban’s ex-boyfriend told Patch in a previous interview that he and
Le have been close friends for nine years and that Esteban’s
accusations are untrue.


In his request for a restraining order, he said he believed Esteban
might have a gun. He said that last December Esteban threatened to shoot
herself if he did not speak to her on the phone. He called police, who
arrested Esteban and found bullets but no gun, he said in his statement.


Esteban’s ex-boyfriend also believed she was stalking him because she
"has at times accurately informed me of what I had done the previous
evening." He also said she hacked into his email account and would
reference saved chat messages he had with others.


He also said Esteban was harassing his mother, causing a scene with her at their daughter’s school on May 22.


On the morning of May 24, the day he filed the restraining order, he
said, his mother found Esteban inside their Fremont home uninvited,
standing outside the child's room. When the mother asked what she was
doing there, Esteban said, "I'm messing with your son," and then ran
away, the report states.


Esteban, whose Union City home has been searched at least twice since
Le went missing, is still considered a person of interest in Le’s case.


Le, 26, disappeared during a break from her rotation at the Hayward
Kaiser hospital two months ago on May 27. Police later found her car
parked in a nearby neighborhood with blood inside.


Hayward Police believe Le was murdered by someone who is "not a
stranger" based on evidence and information investigators have gathered.


Over the weekend, Hayward police issued a statement saying they are narrowing in on a suspect or suspects in the case and that they hoped to make an arrest soon, though no timeline was given.
http://newark.patch.com/articles/judge-rules-person-of-interest-in-michelle-le-case-can-see-her-child

Arrest Made in Case of Missing Nursing Student Michelle Le
Michelle Le was last seen on May 27.

KTLA News

12:42 a.m. PDT, September 7, 2011

HAYWARD, Calif. (KTLA) -- Police in Hayward have made an arrest in the investigation into the disappearance and presumed death of nursing student Michelle Le.

Records show that one of the person's of interest in this case, Giselle Esteban, was arrested in Union City at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The charge was listed as 187, which is the code for homicide.

Sign up for KTLA 5 Breaking News Email Alerts

Le was last seen around 7 p.m. May 27 walking out of Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center toward the parking garage.

The young woman was taking a class at the hospital as part of a nursing program at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland.

She left class during a break around 7 p.m. with car keys in hand.

Police found her car a few block from the hospital the next day.

Authorities later issued a statement saying "compelling evidence" suggests Le is dead.

"Michelle still has not been found, but based on compelling evidence we have recovered during the course of our investigation throughout the week, we are now officially classifying the case as a homicide. We realize this is the worst possible news for Michelle's family and friends, and for everyone involved in looking for her. Despite everyone's hopes, our effort to find Michelle is officially an effort of recovery. Our investigators met with the family this evening to inform them of these latest developments," the statement said.

Several weeks into the investigation, detectives named Giselle Esteban as a person of interest in the case.

Esteban and Le were friends and classmates at Mt. Carmel High School in Rancho Penasquitos.

Both ended up in the Bay Area after graduation.

Last July, Esteban returned to the San Diego area, according to 10News.

Esteban told San Francisco TV station KGO that she and Le had a recent falling out over a man and that Le was the other woman.

According to KGO, Esteban told police, "I openly hate Michelle, but I am innocent."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hayward Police Department at 510-293-7000.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-missing-nursing-student,0,1769988.story

A former friend of Michelle Le, the missing California nursing student who disappeared in May, has been arrested and charged with her murder.

Surveillance video, cellphone records and DNA samples led to this
morning's arrest of Giselle Esteban, according to Lt. Roger Keener of
the Hayward police department.

Le disappeared on May 27 from Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center
in northern California as she was walking from her car to the garage, according to ABC News afilliate KGO. Police believe she was murdered.

Blood stains belonging to Le were found on the interior of Le's car and
matched those found on the bottom of a pair of sneakers in Esteban's
home, according to Keener.

Security video from the parking garage in which Le was last seen also
showed Esteban in the garage before and after Le's arrival there and led
police to believe that Le was assaulted while there, Keener said.

Hayward police and the FBI also tracked the cellphone movements of Le's
phone and, later, Esteban's phone in the hours after her disappearance,
and saw that both cellphones moved around Alameda County in about the
same path and timeframe, he said.

Police said that though they believe they have solved one part of the
crime against Le, they are still committed to finding Le and figuring
out what happened to her.

"Today does not mark the end of the investigation," Keener said. "We
will not consider this investigation complete until Michelle is found."

"Some of the questions about how [Le] met her demise may not be known until she is found," he added.

Keener would not elaborate on the relationship between the pair or speculate on a motive.

The Oakland Tribune previously reported that Esteban's former boyfriend,
with whom she had a child, had a relationship with Le. The boyfriend
filed a restraining order against Esteban just three days prior to Le's
disappearance, citing Esteban's erratic behavior and threats of killing
herself, according to the report.

Le's family made a statement following the arrest, saying that Esteban,
who's been a suspect since May, "dragged this out longer than it had to
go," and that their "primary concern was and is and always will be to
find Michelle and bring her home with us."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/friend-arrested-michelle-le-murder/story?id=14467218

Suspect charged in Calif. nursing student's death

Published: Thursday, Sep. 8, 2011 - 3:01 pm

HAYWARD, Calif. -- The first court
appearance of a 27-year-old woman charged with the murder of a missing
Northern California nursing student has been delayed due to a medical
issue related to the pregnancy of her second child.
Alameda County
Superior Court Judge Gary Picetti said Thursday that Giselle Esteban
was seeing doctors and needed medical clearance before any criminal
proceedings against her can begin.
Esteban did not appear in court and a new arraignment date has not been set.
Prosecutors on Thursday charged Esteban in the death of 26-year-old
Michelle Le. Police believe Esteban, a former friend of Le's from high
school, attacked Le in a Hayward parking garage on May 27.
Le's body has not been found.
Esteban told KGO-TV in June that she hated Le because Le was friends with the
father of Esteban's 5-year-old daughter. But Esteban denied having
anything to do with Le's disappearance.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/08/3894954/suspect-charged-in-calif-nursing.html#ixzz1XPGXMQck

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office filed murder
charges against Giselle Esteban Thursday morning in the slaying of
Michelle Le, but Esteban's 2 p.m. arraignment was scratched for medical
reasons according to the court clerk.
Sources tell NBC Bay Area that Esteban had to be rushed to a nearby
hospital suffering from contractions. Hayward police spokesman confirmed
to NBC Bay Area that she is pregnant.
Hayward police would not comment on her medical condition.
The arraignment has been moved to Sept. 9 at 2 p.m.
Hayward police say they believe Esteban killed her former high school classmate back in May.
Le is the 26-year old nursing student who was last seen on May 27 at
the Kaiser Hayward. Her teacher reported her missing after she didn't
return from a class break.
Esteban has been a person of interest in Le's disappearance from the beginning,
but Hayward police arrested her Wednesday.
Both Le and Esteban grew up in San Diego and graduated from Mt.
Carmel High before moving to Hayward. Esteban and Le were friends at Mt.
Carmel and they both ended up living in the Bay Area after high school.
The two had a falling out at some point. Esteban told a KGO reporter
that she "openly hates Michelle" for stealing her boyfriend, but added
that she did not kill Le.

Esteban's ex-boyfriend and the father of her child filed a
restraining order against Esteban three days before Le disappeared,
according to the Contra Costa Times. Court documents said that Esteban
had been exhibiting erratic and threatening behavior.

Hayward police investigators held a news conference Wednesday to release new details
on the case and to explain their case against Esteban (pdf).

• Police said they had surveillance video of Esteban near Le's vehicle before and after it was in the hospital parking lot.
  
• They said they also had evidence that proved Estaben was inside Le's car.
  
• They said GPS tracking showed the both Esteban's and Le's cell
  phones went the same general direction of the Niles Canyon/Sunol area
  the night Le disappeared.
  
• And they said they found evidence of Le's DNA on a shoe taken during a search of Esteban's home.
  

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44444025/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.Tml3K-x9muI

SUNOL, Calif. — The
family of a missing California nursing student waited for news Sunday
on whether a body found by a volunteer searcher is that of the
26-year-old woman, who disappeared in May.




It is the eighth search the family has organized. The body was found
late Saturday in a remote area of Alameda County in the same area where
police say a former friend dumped Michelle Le's body, the San Francisco
Chronicle reported. The remains were so badly decomposed that
investigators were not immediately able to determine if the remains were
those of a male or female.

Le, 26, disappeared on May 27 when she took a break from her nursing classes at a Hayward hospital.

Giselle Esteban was arrested earlier this month and has been charged with murder in the case.

Police believe Esteban, a former friend of Le's from high school in
San Diego, attacked Le in a Hayward hospital parking garage more than
three months ago.

Le was last seen May 27 at the hospital where she was doing a
clinical rotation. She had told colleagues she was going to her car and
never returned and her locked Honda SUV was later found a half-mile
away.

Esteban, 27, is due back in court Monday after a judge postponed a
plea hearing so she could get an attorney. She was being held without
bail.



Esteban told KGO-TV in June that she hated Le because Le was friends
with the father of Esteban's 5-year-old daughter. But Esteban denied
having anything to do with Le's disappearance.

Hayward police Inspector Fraser Ritchie wrote in an affidavit
released earlier this month that video surveillance footage shows
Esteban at the scene before and after Le's disappearance.

Police said they found traces of Le's blood inside her SUV and
physical evidence that Esteban had also been inside the vehicle, as well
as Le's DNA on one of Esteban's shoes.

Cell phone records also show that both women's phones had "traveled
on a similar path" from the hospital to other locations in Alameda
County immediately after Le disappeared, the affidavit said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44568368/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.TnYObOx9muI

Michelle Le case: Items found in area near decomposed remains
September 19, 2011 | 10:30am

Officials in Alameda County on Sunday found more items in the
secluded area where volunteers searching for missing nursing student discovered a body.

Alameda County coroner's officials will determine whether the decomposed body found on a dirt trail Saturday is that of Le.

The body was discovered about 10:30 a.m. Saturday by members of a
search party made up of family members and volunteers looking for 26-year-old Le, who went missing in May.

Marc Klass, whose daughter Polly was kidnapped and killed in 1993, was helping the Lee family in the search. "We've always had one goal,
and that's to help the family find Michelle," Klaas told the San Francisco Chronicle. "And if that's what occurred today, then we've been successful in our efforts."

Crime scene investigators were inspecting the remains, which were found in a brushy area near Pleasanton Sunol Road and Verona Road,
said Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.

Investigators said it could not immediately be determined whether the body was that of Le. Because of the condition of the remains, not
even the gender could be discerned, according to a news release by the Hayward Police Department.

Le, who grew up in San Diego County, disappeared May 27 after she left a Hayward hospital where she was training to retrieve something
from her car. A woman who went to high school with Le in San Diego, Giselle Esteban, was arrested last week in connection with her disappearance.

Esteban had been a person of interest in the investigation because she had blamed Le for ruining her relationship with her boyfriend,
authorities said. Investigators also said they found Le's DNA on one of Esteban's shoes, along with evidence that she had been in Le's car and
security camera footage of Esteban from the Hayward parking lot.

It was the eighth search organized by Le's family, which has raised $100,000 for a reward in the case.

KGO-TV reported that police found more items in the area where the body was found when they did another sweep of the area Sunday. No
further details were provided, and it's unclear exactly how the items tie in to the investigation.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/michelle-le-case-items-found-around-decomposed-body.html

Authorities say human remains found in a San
Francisco Bay area canyon are those of Michelle Le, the missing nursing
student who disappeared May 27 while taking a school break.


Hayward police late Monday said tests by the
Alameda County coroner on the badly decomposed remains confirmed they
were Le. Police declined to release any further information.


On Saturday, searchers discovered the
remains off a dirt trail in a rugged Alameda County canyon. Police said
cell phone signals from Le and a former school friend they suspect in
her death had been received from the area.




The former friend, Giselle Esteban, knew Le
in high school in San Diego. Esteban was arrested earlier this month and
charged with murder.


Police said Le's family has been told of the
discovery and released a statement thanking those who helped or were
involved in the search. The family has directed any questions about the
case to the Almaeda County District Attorney's office.


Authorities said the remains were so badly
decomposed that investigators were not immediately able to determine if
they were those of a male or female.


Police believe Esteban, 27, attacked Le in the parking garage of the hospital where she was doing a clinical rotation.


Le had told colleagues she was going to her car but never returned. Her locked Honda SUV was later found a half-mile away.


Cell phone records show that both women's
phones "traveled on a similar path" from the hospital to other locations
in Alameda County immediately after Le disappeared, a police inspector
wrote in an affidavit.


Since Le's disappearance, relatives, law
enforcement agencies and volunteers have focused their searches in the
craggy terrain between the cities of Pleasanton and Sunol.


Police Lt. Roger Keener said cell phone
forensics helped investigators target the Niles and Sunol Canyon areas,
but difficulties in traversing the thick brush have forced search teams
to return to the area more than a dozen times.


Le's family has received help from the
KlaasKids Foundation and Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter, Polly,
was abducted from a slumber party in 1993 and later found slain.


The foundation has worked with the Le family
from the beginning and helped register volunteers and establish
protocols for the search on Saturday, Keener said.


Esteban, 27, is due back in court Monday
after a judge postponed a plea hearing so she could get an attorney. She
was being held without bail.


Esteban told KGO-TV in June that she hated Le because Le was friends with the father of Esteban's 5-year-old daughter.


Esteban has denied having anything to do with Le's disappearance.


In the affidavit, Hayward police Inspector
Fraser Ritchie wrote that video surveillance footage shows Esteban at
the scene before and after Le's disappearance.


Police said they found traces of Le's blood
inside her SUV and physical evidence that Esteban had also been inside
the vehicle, as well as Le's DNA on one of Esteban's shoes.


Le was about halfway through a 12-month
accelerated bachelor's degree program at Samuel Merritt University in
Oakland, combining classroom work with clinical training, which is what
Le was doing at the time of her disappearance.


University spokeswoman Elizabeth Valente has
described the young woman as "a ray of sunshine" with a thirst for
knowledge and a passion for nursing who was well-liked on campus.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/20/human-remains-identified-as-missing-california-nursing-student/#ixzz1YUf32hM4

The volunteer who found the body of missing nursing student Michelle
Le over the weekend was the mother of a slain San Diego teenager, police
said today.

Carrie McGonigle, the mother of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, and her
search dog found Le's remains Saturday in Sunol Canyon in Alameda
County, said Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener.

McGonigle and her dog, named Amber, were searching an area off a
dirt path between Foothill Road and railroad tracks, west of Interstate
680 and south of the Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton, when she
came across the remains.

McGonigle's daughter and Chelsea King, 17, of San Diego were raped
and killed by registered sex offender John Gardner III, who is serving a
life sentence. Amber disappeared in 2009, and Chelsea vanished a year
later.

McGonigle declined to comment today, saying she would speak about the discovery Wednesday.

"Carrie happened to be the right person on the right team at the
right place at the right time," said Marc Klaas, whose daughter, Polly,
was kidnapped and killed by career criminal Richard Allen Davis in 1993.
The KlaasKids Foundation assisted in Saturday's search.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this is of great personal
satisfaction to Carrie and that Amber is looking down on her from heaven
with pride in her heart and a big smile on her face," Klaas said.

The Alameda County coroner has yet to determine how Le died.

In a statement, Le's family said they were planning a memorial service to give her a "proper goodbye."

"Thank you for your support, prayers and thoughts. Our family has
greatly appreciated, and would be at a loss without, the help of so many
people and volunteers," the statement said.

The defendant in Le's slaying, Giselle Esteban, 27, of Union City, has not entered a plea. She will return to court Sept. 28.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/20/BAU11L75MR.DTL#ixzz1YXJCxLGs