Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Le Family Calls Phone Call Report Untrue

A television station in San Diego says calls were made from Michelle's cell phone after the alleged abduction.

Police and family members of missing nursing student Michelle Le are denying media reports that out-of-state calls were made from her phone after her disappearance .

Television station 10News, which is based in Le’s San Diego hometown, reported Thursday night that "sources close to the case" said a call was made to Reno and another to an undisclosed location in Arizona.

Hayward police told Patch that they did follow a lead into Arizona, but that it was not related to any phone calls.

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"We are not aware of any phone calls made from Michelle’s phone to anyone after she disappeared," said Lt. Roger Keener of the Hayward Police Department.

Reno police also conducted an investigation as Reno was the last known destination for Le, who was to meet a friend and travel there the night she went missing.

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"We just needed to confirm that she hadn’t gone there or called at all," Keener said.

Krystine Dinh, Le’s cousin and spokesperson for the family, issued a statement shortly after the 10News story was published, dismissing the report.

"The facts in this article have not been acknowledged by the family and were not given out by the Hayward PD, which makes those facts untrue," Dinh said.

Michael Le, Michelle’s brother, is quoted in the 10News report saying he did receive a call from a woman in Arizona. The family says that call was insignificant.

Keener and Dinh believe that a man who is unrelated to the family but shares the same last name as Le is pretending to be a relative and releasing false statements to media.

The 10News article states that Le’s white Honda SUV was spotted by witnesses four hours after she went missing and that a small amount of blood splatter was found in the vehicle. The family says both claims are also untrue.

"Our goal here is to find Michelle, and we appreciate the respect that any family would want if their loved one was missing," Dinh said.

Le, 26, who most recently lived in San Mateo, was last seen around 7 p.m. May 27 while attending clinical rotations at the Kaiser Medical Center in Hayward. Classmates said she stepped out to grab something from her car, which was parked in the garage next to the hospital. She never returned.

Though Hayward police investigators have , her family continues to hold hope for her safe return.

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 may also call Hayward police at 510-293-7033 if they have information on Le's disappearance.


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