UPDATE: Police Arrest Union City Woman In Missing Nursing Student Investigation

Hayward police announced Wednesday afternoon the arrest of a Union City woman in connection to the homicide investigation of Michelle Le.

Giselle Diwag Esteban, 27, of Union City has been booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder, according to court records. She is scheduled for an arraignment at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Esteban was arrested around 10 a.m. as she was leaving her residence at 35530 Monterra Terrace in the Monte Vista community of Union City, said Lt. Roger Keener of the Hayward Police Department.

Le, 26, disappeared more than three months ago during a break from her clinical rotation as part of her curriculum as a nursing student at the Hayward Kaiser hospital on May 27. Police found her car the following day parked in a nearby neighborhood with blood inside.

After what Keener called a thorough investigation, Hayward police believe that the arrest of Esteban "is responsible for Michelle's demise."

Hayward police announced numerous sources of compelling evidence that led to the arrest such as:

• Blood stains belonging to Le inside of Le’s abandoned vehicle.
• Security camera footage from Kaiser that showed Esteban had been in the parking lot before and after Le’s disappearance.
• Physical evidence that indicates Esteban had been inside of Le’s vehicle.
• Cell phone records and cell tower activations that show that Esteban and Le’s phones “traveled on a similar path” from Kaiser to other Alameda County locations shortly after Le’s disappearance
• A pair of Esteban’s athletic shoes recovered during a search of her home where Le’s DNA was found.

In late July, Hayward police issued a statement saying they are in the case and that they hoped to make an arrest soon, though no timeline was given.

Hayward police has searched Esteban’s home three times since Le’s disappearance. On Monday morning, an officer drove away in Esteban’s silver Honda CR-V.

According to neighbors, police initially searched the home on May 28, the day after Le went missing. Police said Wednesday that this is when they retrieved the running shoes where Le’s DNA was found. The home was searched again .

Keener said during the afternoon press conference that Esteban has refused to speak with officers at this time. He also noted that there is no indication that Esteban was assisted in the case of Le's disappearance.

Esteban 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.

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