Crime & Safety

Family of Missing Student Urges More Resources

Relatives of Michelle Le release a statement asking Hayward police to hand the investigation to the FBI.

Family members of , 26, of San Mateo, are asking Hayward Police Department investigators to hand over the case to the FBI.

Le was last seen about 7 p.m. on Friday, May 27 at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, where she was due to finish up her clinical rotation that night.

According to Hayward police, video surveillance from the Kaiser garage shows her car being driven out of the parking structure that night, though it does not clearly show who was driving. Her white Honda SUV was found just a few blocks away.

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The family has received few updates from the police since the young woman went missing, said Le’s cousin Krystine Dinh.

“We’re staying positive, but of course as time goes on, we’re getting frustrated,” Dinh said in an interview with Patch. “We’re just looking for answers.”

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Hayward police are scheduled to issue a statement on Monday, according to Dinh. Family members do not know what the nature of the statement will be.

Le’s family released their own statement Sunday morning, urging Hayward police to expand their investigation and allow the FBI to take a leading role in the case. Currently, FBI agents are only providing forensics support, the family said.

“It’s surprising that with the scope that this case has achieved, there aren’t more resources dedicated to bringing her back,” Dinh said. “It’s a little discouraging."

The family believes the local police agency is “not adequately staffed and do not have enough personnel to work on a missing person case,” the family said in the statement.

“We have been assured they have personnel , yet only six personnel are assigned to the team, and of those, three recently went on vacation. We have also been assigned a new public affairs officer. Shockingly, the supervising investigator for Michelle's case told our family they do not have much experience working missing persons cases,” the family said. (See below for the full statement.)

According to the family statement, police did not search Le’s apartment until four days after her disappearance and that whatever evidence was found would take at least two weeks to process. They also said the FBI was not given cell phone records until last Thursday, six days after Le disappeared.

Investigators at the Hayward Police Department were unavailable for comment Sunday.

Police have been investigating , one of which involves a “person of interest” later identified as a Union City resident who said she “openly hated” Le, a former friend, for a high school grudge. The woman was questioned and released earlier this week.

“Until we find Michelle it’s very difficult for us to exclude anything because we don’t know what happened to her,” Hayward Lt. Roger Keener told Patch last week.

As police continue with the investigation, family and friends have started small search parties and drummed up support throughout the state and nationally, Dinh said.

Through donations from family, friends and strangers, a $45,000 reward has been issued for information leading to her return. Community support has also provided funds to place billboards throughout the state and print t-shirts and fliers.

A gathering held Friday night in Hayward where Le’s car was found drew more than 200 people from across the state. Le has connections throughout California; she was born and raised in San Diego, attended San Francisco State University and is currently enrolled at Samuel Merritt University. In recent years, she has lived in Daly City, Oakland and, currently, San Mateo, according to relatives.

On Sunday, a small search party of family and friends were looking for clues at Lake Chabot, Dinh said. Throughout the week, more groups will continue to search the Bay Area. Information on how to join will be provided later in the week, Dinh said.

In the meantime, those concerned about Le can click here to visit the Facebook page that is devoted in finding her. Click here to visit the event page made in her name. An official website has also been created at www.michellelemissing.com.

“We’re like any family who just wants to get a loved one back,” Dinh said.

Michelle Le is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. The Hayward Police Department has set up a tip line for anyone with information that could help with the case; that number is (510) 293-5051.

People are encouraged to download, print and post fliers of Michelle Le to help spread the word.Click here to download the English version. Click here to download the Spanish version.

The full statement from the family follows:

“Following Michelle's vigil Friday, our efforts toward bringing Michelle home have been reinvigorated by the hundreds of supporters in attendance. Though we continue to stay positive and optimistic for her return, we need more resources and personnel with the highest priority to analyze the evidence to bring her home quickly. Currently, we only have family members, friends and volunteers helping us with media collaboration, search parties, and case updates.

Our family believes the Hayward Police Department is not adequately staffed and do not have enough personnel to work on a missing person case. We have been assured they have personnel working 'around the clock,' yet only six personnel are assigned to the team, and of those, three recently went on vacation. We have also been assigned a new public affairs officer. Shockingly, the supervising investigator for Michelle's case told our family they do not have much experience working missing persons cases. As an example, her apartment was not searched until Tuesday, 4 days after her disappearance, and whatever evidence they recovered from her car will take a month to process. The Hayward Police Department did put pressure on the lab to get it expedited, but even then it will take two weeks before any results come back. Though the FBI received her computers early in the week, they did not receive her cell phone records until Thursday. We believe that if personnel experienced in missing persons cases were assigned a lead role, evidence (like her cell phone records) would be analyzed expeditiously, and we would also see her picture and information posted on the FBI's website under the Missing Persons link.

Further, we have not been given regular updates. At times, we have had to pull information from the Police; even now we have to wait through the weekend to receive our next update, which will be in the form of a public address, not directed personally to our family. We understand the importance of not compromising the investigation, as well as the importance of jurisdiction and procedure. However, it fails to inspire confidence in their performance when they report to the media they have no new leads and have to wait for evidence analysis more than one week later.

We are asking the FBI to assume a lead role in the search for Michelle by providing personnel with experience in missing persons to the investigating team, and giving the evidence analysis the highest priority to bring Michelle home.

Not only are our combined efforts gaining national attention, our grassroots efforts have garnered over 62,000 supporters on Facebook alone. We continually thank Michelle's loved ones, the public, the community and the press for their support, and we hope to get some answers to everyone soon.”

San Mateo Patch editor Don Frances contributed to this report.


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