A former high school friend of a missing Northern California nursing student has been arrested on suspicion of murder, more than three months after the victim vanished from a San Francisco-area hospital where she was working.
Funk Flex
Find Flex On Google+

Hayward police arrested Giselle Diwag Esteban in the death of 26-year-old Michelle Le, who told colleagues she was going to her car during her shift in late May and never returned. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.

Lt. Roger Keener said Wednesday that police believe an assault occurred at the hospital’s parking garage as 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, as well as on one of Esteban’s shoes during a search warrant of Esteban’s residence.

Le’s body has not been found, but Kenner said he hoped Esteban would help police make a discovery.

“The reality is, we don’t have Michelle. That’s a piece we are not going to close out on until we find her, until her location is known,” said Keener at a news conference announcing the arrest. “The facts are some of those questions, such as how Michelle met her demise, may not be answered until Michelle is located.”

Esteban was named as a person of interest in June as investigators questioned and searched her Union City apartment. She and Le had been friends at a San Diego high school.

Esteban told KGO-TV at the time that she hated Le because she was friends with the father of Esteban’s young daughter. But Esteban said she had nothing to do with Le’s disappearance.

Court records show that Esteban’s ex-boyfriend, who had custody of their daughter, was granted a restraining order against her three days before Le’s May 27 disappearance, according to KGO.

On Wednesday, Keener said he could not speculate a possible motive, including a possible love triangle.

“I don’t know the answer to that question and I’m sure our investigators don’t know the answer,” Keener said. “That answer, I’m assuming, may only be answered by Esteban herself.”

Esteban is scheduled for arraignment in Alameda County Superior Court on Thursday.
BH