Crime & Safety

Details Revealed in Michelle Le Arrest

Hayward Police give some information at an afternoon press conference.

(The following blog was put together by Patch Associate Regional Editor David Mills as he attended this afternoon's Hayward Police Department press conference regarding an arrest in the case of Michelle Le.)

2:41 p.m.: Press conference has ended.

2:39 p.m.: Brother Michael Le says his 24th birthday is tomorrow, a day Michelle Le always called him. "I want to hear her voice so badly," he said.

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2:38 p.m.: Cousin Krystine Dinh says the family is still searching for Michelle Le and they still "want to bring Michelle home."

2:37 p.m.: Cousin Krystine Dinh says "No words can express the emotion we are feeling today and the face we can't bring Michelle home with us."

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2:35 p.m.: FBI spokeswoman says the Michelle Le investigation was a "personal case" for them since Le was a niece of an employee at the FBI San Francisco office. She complimented the Le family for keeping the case in the public spotlight.

2:33 p.m.: Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener says they believe Michelle Le was attacked in the parking garage where her car was parked, but they don't know if she was killed in that garage.

2:29 p.m.: Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener says suspect Giselle Esteben has refused to speak with investigators so far about the murder of Michelle Le. They add Esteben may be the only person who can lead them to Le's body.

2:25 p.m.: Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener says there is evidence suspect Giselle Esteben was in Michelle Le's abandoned car.

2:24 p.m.: Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener says they found Michelle Le's blood inside her abandoned car. They also say Le's blood was also found on one of Giselle Esteben's shoes during a search of her apartment. They also say Le and Esteben's cell phones traveled on the same pathway the night Le disappeared.

2:20 p.m.: Hayward police Lt. Roger Keener say they have arrested Giselle Esteben on suspicion of murder. Authorities say they believe Esteben is "responsible for Michelle's demise."

2:18 p.m.: Hawyard police officials and Le family have just entered the room.

2 p.m.: Media is assembled at Hayward Police Department, awaiting the start of the press conference on the arrest made today in the Michelle Le murder investigation.

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Earlier today, Alameda County Jail records indicated Giselle Diwag Esteban, a 27-year-old woman reported to be a friend of Michelle Le, was arrested in Union City approximately 9:50 a.m. this morning on a charge of murder. Esteban will be arraigned Thursday at the Hayward Hall of Justice.

This morning, several undercover investigators began searching the home of Esteban, located at Monterra Terrace in the Monte Vista community of Union City, shortly before 10 a.m.

An officer drove away in Esteban’s silver Honda CR-V.

Esteban did not appear to be home and officers at the scene would not comment on the nature of the investigation or her whereabouts.

The home has been searched at least twice before.

According to neighbors, police initially searched the home on May 28, the day after Le went missing. The home was searched again .

Esteban, 27, is a former friend of Le's from when the two were high school students in San Diego.  She had a , also a friend of Le’s, on May 24, just three days before Le went missing from the Hayward Kaiser Permanente medical facility. The request 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.

Esteban 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. 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.

Le, 26, disappeared more than three months ago during a break from her rotation at the Hayward Kaiser hospital 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.


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