Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20130112

Of course, its meaningless, most of it. Meaningless, that is, until its not. Until its terrifying. The San Francisco bay, may 27, 2011. 6 55 p. M. A young Nursing Student named michelle le walked across the foot bridge from her training hospital to the parking lot. She is not supposed to be here. For reasons unknown and without permission she has left her post at the hospital. Here she walks to a white honda crv just out of camera range. Then 7 17 p. M. Here is michelles honda leaving the garage, but why . Why then just an hour or two before the end of her shift . Good questions. Questions about to engulf a whole family. Why that day couldnt she have stepped out and gone to another campus that day and avoided this whole thing . Why did it have to have to our family . Why did it have to happen to michelle . But it did. Much of it recorded, as you will see by those electronic beep, bites and pixels. Just enough to make it a truly puzzling mystery, enough to not quite know what happened to michelle le. One of the things i was so angry about was that nothing made sense. Nothing made sense. Especially this. Same night, 8 56 p. M. Michelles nursing instructor, annoyed, baffled worried by her absence takes a Security Guard to the parking lot to look for her car. Michelles car reenters the garage two floors below. 9 06 p. M. It arrives on the third floor. Offcamera, the nursing instructor sees it, waves frantically and the car suddenly stop, backs up and races down the ramp and out of the garage, but why . Alarmed, the nursing instructor calls the police and the next morning 400 miles south in san diego michelles krystine is awakened by michelles boyfriend. Hey, just so you know, we dont know where michelle is. Have you heard from her . I tried calling her, and i thought, my gosh, what did michelle do this time. Shes usually out having fun. Shes a funloving person, huh . Yeah. She was always out with her friends and getting lost sometimes. So we thought i i honestly didnt think much of it at the time. I read the message and i, like, rolled over back in bed. Michelle, after all, could look after herself. Had been looking out for krystine for years. She was just 26, but seemed somehow older than that. The eldest of a clan of 15 cousins who grew up together with very little except each other and michelle was smart and studious and attractive, the leader of this very active pack. Strong, Loving Center of the family, a mother figure to her brother michael. Michael who was the next person to get the call from the exboyfriend. Where was michelle . I said, yeah, yeah. Exboyfriend, just trying to get a hold of michelle so i didnt pay it any mind, but just in case, i wanted to see if she was okay, so i checked out her facebook and she had plans to go to tahoe with some friends and i just sent her friends messages to make sure she was okay. Michael went to work and didnt think much more about it and then he got another call. This time it was that nursing instructor. She was trying to be composed and she told the story of how she went out to the garage looking for michelle and she said she saw what matched the cars description taking off and it wasnt a game anymore. It wasnt something you could excuse. Then krystine was calling michelles cell phone. She wouldnt pick up and thats where i had a feeling where i thought something might be wrong after she didnt pick up a few times. At 9 30 a. M. , 12 hours after michelle was reported missing, police found her car. It was parked outside this Apartment Building just a few blocks from the hospital where michelle was last seen. Odd. Hayward Police Inspector Frazier Richey was called. It was locked and thats why we thought michelle was possibly around here, but we had no clue where to start looking. What they could see through the tinted windows looked fine as if michelle had probably left the car here herself. A flurry of worried phone calls went back and forth among michelles friends and family. What should they do . It was chaotic, but we werent thinking the worst at the time. Still in san diego, krystine along with her aunts, uncles, cousins began packing for the eighthour drive north to San Franciscos bay. Brother michael was attending college at uc berkeley and she rushed over to nearby hayward to join michelles friends who were handing outposters outside the parking garage. Had anybody seen her . We all just wanted to find her. We didnt think anything bad happened to her. Where was she . They hammered her iphone with more than 100 calls and texts and heard nothing. Then 12 45 p. M. , 15 hours after michelle was last seen, finally a text from her home. Im not missing, it read. My phone has been acting crazy. It deleted everything. All these texts have killed my battery. Michelle sent a flurry of reassuring texts to friends and family, im fine. Just taking it easy. So that exboyfriend texted her back. His phone number she knew almost as well as her own. The response from michelle . Who is this . Uhoh. When wey come back, did michelle really send that text . If not, then could she have been kidnapped . Police thought maybe so or maybe she just left. I had asked is it possible she could just be out there all stressed out . They said yes, its possible. But soon Police Questions about michelles friends would lead them closer than they knew to the key to the case when vanished continues. Hey, our salads. [ bop ] [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i dont like v8 juice. [ male announcer ] how about v8 vfusion. A full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. But what you taste is the fruit. So even you. Couldve had a v8. This is so so soft. Hey hun, remember you only need a few sheets. 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Cell phones buzzed and after michelle livanished from the watching web. Certainly her iphone hadnt vanished. One creepy text after another i had a bad night last night. I dont really want to talk to anyone right now. But then after three hours of that, detectives stopped just as suddenly as they had begun. The last one simply said im sick. So strange. So out of character. To michelles family and friends it seemed obvious someone had michelles phone. Someone who was not michelle. The more that day without my sister it felt like it was becoming sinister. Having this person text back as michelle was extremely, extremely terrifying. What does it feel like to go through that . Its hard to put into words. Living nightmare, i think, is the closest thing. The strange way, as chilling as these messages were they gave michelles friends and family some hope. To them it was obvious they were communicating with someone who had abducted michelle and so their mission was now clear. Michelle didnt just need to be found. Michelle needed to be rescued. Its a timecritical situation. Every second that you waste is a second that she was hurting and we had to find her. Saturday afternoon, 18 hours after michelle vanished, michael and a group of michelles friends met with inspector Frazier Richey was Hayward Police department. We had about ten or 15 family members, classmates and friends at the police department. They were all talking about how responsible she was, how out of character this would have been for her to just get up and leave. Did you try to call michelle or anything . Yes. Did you get a response . Yes. I sent a message out, this is inspector richey of the Hayward Police department you need to get a hold of me right now. I got the response within several minutes saying that my phone is dying. I need to find a charger. Im having car trouble. The same sort of response received by michelles friends and family who had now decided based on those weird Text Messages that michelle had been kidnapped, but as far as inspector richey was concerned, just about anything was possible. I kept an open mind. I didnt know whether michelle voluntarily went missing for whatever personal reasons she had or if this was a stranger abduction or if this was an abduction from someone that she knew or if she just left with a friend. Did anybody think she would have just flipped out or stressed out . I asked, is it possible that she could just be out there all stressed out and they said yes, its possible. Inspector richey also asked if michelle had any enemies or problems with exboyfriends, for example. The only problem she seemed to have with anybody was Giselle Esteban. Giselle esteban was in san diego. She was a fixture around the house and spent hours with all of those cousins and then after high school in 2002 the two friends both moved to San Francisco to attend college and thats where giselle fell in love and got pregnant, moved in with her boyfriend scott and then broke up with him three years later. The trouble came when michelle stayed friends with scott, with that boyfriend after the breakup and that just didnt sit well with giselle. Though really it wasnt such a big deal. Still, to cover all of the bases, late saturday night richey dropped in on giselle to ask what she knew. We are here about michelle le. Who . Michelle . Oh, god, what about her . She went missing last night from her work. In talking to her friends and such. We understand that you guys had a tumultuous relationship. A tumultuous relationship . She was my best friend who slept with my thenfiance. I started talking to her and asking her questions about her relationship with michelle and if she can provide any information where she would be. Giselle said she had no idea. And besides, they werent seeing each other these days so she wouldnt know. Then just Due Diligence that night, richey sent another team of detectives to speak to giselles exboyfriend, the father of her baby who they were interested to learn now had sole custody of the child. Listening to him, talking to him and the relationship with him and his daughter and his family and things like that, he didnt seem to be the type of person that could lie. That would lie. Sunday, 48 hours after michelle appeared in that ghostly video at the parking lot, her large, extended family began arriving from san diego and meeting with the police and thats when detectives began to understand michelle a little, how kind she was and bright and selfreliant. Very much like this young woman, fong le, also vietnameseamerican, also a 20something Nursing Student, also living in the San Francisco area who 13 months earlier also disappeared. There were a lot of similarities, in that shes the same age category, aim ethnicity, same profession. Even the same last name. Was a pattern developing . Coming up, police look into the possible connection between those student nurses and a meeting between police and michelles family goes badly. We were horrified. When dateline continues. Woman were helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. Man and now were helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. Were a leading Global Insurance company, based right here in america. Weve repaid every dollar america lent us. Everything, plus a profit of more than 22 billion. For the american people. Thank you, america. Helping people recover and rebuild thats what we do. Now lets bring on tomorrow. Introducing a revolutionary new mascara. Clump crusher. Crusher. 200 more volume. Zero clumps. New clump crusher from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. [ female announcer ] mcdonalds dollar menu just keeps getting better. Introducing the allnew mouthwatering grilled onion cheddar burger, topped with melty white cheddar and caramelized onions. Plus all your tasty favorites for just a dollar each. Every day, as always, theres a lot to love for a little on mcdonalds dollar menu. [ traffic passing ] ] menu. [ music box lullaby ] [ man on tv, indistinct ] [ lullaby continues ] [ baby coos ] [ man announcing ] millions are still exposed to the dangers. Of secondhand smoke. And some of them cant do anything about it. [ continues ] [ gasping ] it was april 30, 2010, just over a year before the disappearance of michelle le. It was close, perhaps 50 miles away and it was so coincidental. Another young Nursing Student almost the same age, same ethnicity, even the same last name vanished from this Shopping Mall parking lot. Her name, phuong le. Police lieutenant greg hurlman got the case, but couldnt find her. Several months later we got a call from a neighboring county saying they had a body out in the woods that somewhat matched the sdripgdz of the missing person. It was indeed phuong le, but that was by no means, the end of the investigation. To this day we are trying to identify who, in fact, killed phuong le. So during the memorial day weekend in 2011 when the detective heard about the disappearance of michelle le, he wondered, is this a break in his case . Someone that looks almost exactly the same, the same name, almost same circumstances, its a bizarre coincidence. When they met with detectives for the first time, 48 hours after michelles disappearance, they asked the dreadful question. Could michelles case be connected to the phuong le murder . The community brought that up and thought they might be linked and we went to the Hayward Police and they said well look into it, but we dont think theres any connection. So then there was a wash of relief. The detectives also told the family theyd found michelles car, that it was locked, appeared undamaged. To the family, that was good news. It meant to them that michelle must be alive, held somewhere, though during that sunday meeting the police gave the impression they still had no idea what happened to michelle. They asked us all questions about her relationships and her friendships and they told us they were working on it. We kept asking them and probing them for more information, and they said we cant tell you much, were sorry. So your level of frustration must have been pretty high. It was sky high. The le family had the impression the police werent taking the case seriously at all. Michelle was an adult and they felt if shes an adult and maybe she wasnt a child she wasnt prioritized. What was it like leaving that meeting . It was chaos. It was the number one feeling. We didnt have a place to stay. We were hotel hopping. We were just waiting around most of the time sitting in the hotel. You were blind. You didnt know we had no idea where to go, what to do. The family couldnt understand why the police seemed to be moving so slowly. In their minds michelle was being held against her will. The week went by, saturday june 4th, eight days after michelles disappearance, her family held this vigil near the place where her car was found. Weepted the fbi to get involved and we were just making a lot of noise. Quietly attending was scott. The young man the police had questioned a week earlier, Giselle Estebans old boyfriend, remember, the father of her child. Two days later, sunday june 6th, the family was called back to the Police Station for an important meeting. The police finally had a chance to search michelles car and the status of her case had been changed. T from missing person to homicide and the family felt blind sided. They said, you know, i think you have to get comfortable with the fact that your sister is probably dead. We were horrified. And just like that, the information door closed. The Hayward Police told the family it was a Murder Investigation now, so department policy, they could reveal nothing more. And therefore, couldnt or wouldnt tell the family why they thought michelle was dead, but without hearing an explanation or seeing any evidence, how could the family believe the police . Now they simply wouldnt accept what the cop his to say. It was horrible. We were really angry because, okay, you want to make it homicide and youre not going to tell us why. Richey understood the familys anger, but as far as he was concerned he had a Murder Investigation on his hands and that meant the family had to be kept in the dark. There are certain things we have to keep close to us that we cant put out there because we have to maintain evidence and maintain the custody of certain information and it is of evidentiary value to us that if we dont have the suspect in custody that the only people that know about it is the suspect and us. So in the absence of official information, the le familys youngest members decided the only option was massive publicity and appeal to the public for whatever help they could offer. For that, was there kids and cousins. Family elders were deeply reluctant to share their grief with strangers. They didnt want her story out there publicized like we had made it. Why . Its very private. There is such a fine line between how much you give away about your own familys misfortune to to for the good for michelle. In the asian families when youre younger youre supposed to be very respectful of the hierarchy in the family. Youre not supposed to boss anybody around, but i was just livid. I was so angry. The elders knew far more about survival than most people ever knew. They were boat people, had been forced to flee vietnam after the war, very nearly perished in their open boat in the South China Sea and then they spent months in a refugee camp before being dropped in a land whose language and customs they did not know and yet, before long, they embraced it all. Big family celebrations at christmas time and easter and birthdays. They went on allamerican vacations like this one to the california coast. Thats michelle in the glasses. Here we are in Santa Barbara beach. Were having lots of fun and heres my brother. They succeeded in america by doing what they had since their days of crisis on the South China Sea. They stuck together, an epic, very american tale of hope and selfreliance. Lessons absorbed by their children. If i was missing and michelle was looking for me she would she would, you know, tear up heaven and earth, you know, to find me. And so i had to i had to fight for her. So it was the new generation, the americanborn generation that finally convinced the family it had to go public to put their story out in the press and on social media. Until the Hayward Police department can offer conclusive and definite proof, otherwise we will continue to believe she is alive. Michelle is still alive, and needs to be rescued. We will bring you home. Two weeks to the day after michelles disappearance, the family organized this vigil to make a public case that michelle was not dead, but instead a kidnap victim in urgent need of rescue. We are focusing on what we can do to get her home. I truly believe that shes out there and well find her. If michelle was going to be rescued, the family decided, it would be up to them to do it. But where is michelle and who could have taken her . An outside investigator zeros in. This is someone that knew her. Knew shed be at work. When vanished continues. 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Then june 30th, 34 days into michelles disappearance the le family cop tacted us to say theyd begun working with a private investigator, a man named michael fame and in the midst of the investigation he sat down with us to tell us what he had learned. This happened quickly. This was a parking garage. People come and go from that garage all night. Someone was lying in wait and they knew at one point she would return to her vehicle and it was a number of hours before her shift was going to be over and they were prepared to abduct her at that time. Does anyone know why she went there . Not at this time. Unusual thing to do . It was a quick break or something drew her out to her car. That, we still dont know, but she was still dressed in white hospital scrubs and it was evident that she was going come back because she left her belongings in the hospital. Remember, when police found michelles car about half a mile parked in a residential area they hadnt revealed yet what evidence theyd found inside, but fame had found out a thing or two about the car and how it got there. Did anybody see the car arrive . There was a report of a witness who stated that her conversation the headlights shining in her house and conversation coming from the car at 4 00 the following morning. Conversation . People talking. The people that reported this saw headlights shining through their window and they believe it came from the general direction of where michelles car was found. Multiple kidnappers, almost had to be, said fame. I think when you looked at the circumstances and their totality, how this person was waiting for her and the fact that she was put into her vehicle quickly, driven out quickly, that there may be a possibility of more than one person. And he was almost sure, not strangers. This is someone that michelle had some type of contact with that saw her, that knew her, that knew where she parked her vehicle, knew what she drove and knew where she worked and knew shed be at work. So it may be members of her family or her friends and they know who this is, they know the person who did it just may not be aware that they know if they just looked through what the relationships were the answer may be in there somewhere. The answer, i think in this case, was not far off. The police had questioned michelles family, current and former friends, old boyfriends, but it didnt seem like they were getting anywhere. Fame thought the investigation was in trouble. When your investigation has run cold and you dont have a viable suspect, when you dont have information thats going to lead you to a suspect, i think its important that you start looking at viable alternatives. Too often these cases go cold for five, ten years. From what weve seen so far that was a possibility. The le family was working with fame because they were frustrated with police and now fame tried to do something that police couldnt. What weve done is put out information to anyone who may know something or potentially be involved or think they know who is involved and they called us confidentially without contacting police and well provide that information to the right authority ands protect people if they need protection. Soliciting tips from people who were afraid to call the cops. Would his plan work . Wait and see. Coming up, dateline is there when that private tip line gets a dramatic call. What is this guy saying . What did he tell you . He said he has information to where michelle may be. Would he lead them to michelle when dateline continues. Announcing the allnew 2013 malibu from chevrolet. With a remarkable new interior featuring the available chevrolet mylink infotainment system. This is where sophisticated styling begins. And where it ends . Thats up to you. 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We are farmers bum pa dum, bum bum bum bum michelle le had been missing for weeks, no break in the case at all and then just before we sat down for an interview with the private investigator named michael fame his phone rang with a tip from an inmate who claimed to know where michelle could be found. So who do you think is involved in michelles disappearance . What is this guy saying . What did he tell you . He said his information is to a potential site where michelle may be. Fame made the trip out to the jail for a facetoface interview. The parolees information was that she was abducted and was being held in a house in hayward, and it turned out that this information was related to another criminal act and it had nothing to do with mish wills disappearance. Back in hayward the police might have been accomplishing something, but they were saying nothing. Beyond their belief that michelle was dead and as far as the family could tell, the Police Investigation seemed to be getting nowhere. Now the familys own private investigator seemed lost in the weeds, as well, hoping to shake loose a lead, they increased the amount of the reward money of 20,000 to 40,000 to 65,000, to 100,000. All from private donations. Much of it out of the familys own pockets. So every day was precious said her brother, michael and every day that passed a missed opportunity to find her. She was always looking out for me until i this was my time to to do everything i can to look out for her and to make sure that the hell she was going through she wouldnt have to go through a day longer. You must have this sense that any day now well find her and well bring her back and everything will be okay. Every day we were hoping that today was the day. Every day. It was obvious, as we talked to michael the intensity of his devotion for michelle, the reason for that . He told us a story about their mother. Our mom was pretty much our superhero and she worked long hours and she was an incredible mother to us. She was so loving and she would always tell us stories and stories about what . One that we always loved was one called the woman on the moon and its a love story about if you look really hard enough the shadows of the moon kind of looks like a woman with long, flowy hair and on the same day of the year she would come down looking for the one that she loved and ultimately she was trapped on the moon to watch over him. Folklore is the kind of reality that is like armor for a child that protects in a time of terror. Michael was 11 when his mother learned she had breast cancer, but she did not tell him. She protected him from the worst of it, both he and his 14yearold sister michelle and so when the cancer finally took her life. It was a shock. She died december 1, 1999, and we had just seen her for thanksgiving maybe about a week ago. Now alone, michael and michelle were taken in by krystines family. She told me a story about how after her mom passed away she didnt even know what to do at first until she saw michael in the garage holding something of his moms and crying. She told me, you know, that was the time i knew it was time to be big sister and be a mother figure for him. Overcome her own sense of loss and yeah. Save this boy. You couldnt even tell she was having any trouble. She made a sort of commitment to between her and i that she would look out for me. But not just michael. Michelle also kept watch over krystine. She was like my older sister. She dressed me. She helped tweeze my eyebrows. She taught me how to doic maup. She taught you about boys. Talked to me about boys all of the time and taught me how to write love letters and we were so alike that my family started calling me mini michelle. They issued press releases, anything to keep michelles case in the public eye. I needed to work on something all of the time. That was her, every day. That was her every day. Did you feel like you were getting anywhere . It felt productive, but it still felt hopeless hopeless in the sense that you still dont know whats going on. After weeks of casting about, they were no closer to finding michelle than there had been that first chaotic weekend and it was sad, but perfectly understandable that Public Interest began to wane. It was during that period of darkness when one of michelles uncles down in san diego asked for help from this woman, Carrie Mcgonigle. Why her . Because carrie had been through it all herself. Two years earlier she had to search for her murdered daughter, amber dubois and now carrie ran a Search Organization in memory of her daughter. She couldnt know back then the role she was going play, the events she would set in motion, but now it was who she knew. I put them in touch with mark klaas because he was up in Northern California and they were up in the same area. Mark klaas, rare man with a rare skill. How to find the missing. Coming up, a man who knows how it feels to lose a daughter and had learned from personal experience how to lead the search. We needed help from the police and when we pressed them why should we be looking there, they finally said because thats where the cell towers take us. When vanished continues. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. The battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. 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They were nowhere and it was just at that point when mark klaas stepped into the life of the le family. I met the family in a dingy motel on the side of the freeway in hayward, california, at about 11 00 in the morning and they were all huddled inside this little room. To the le family, klaas was like the cavalry riding in. We were all in our pajamas, just dishevelled and we were all together on our laptops trying to edit press releases and trying to organize all of the interviews and reading the news, trying to talk to police. And i looked around and i said the first thing you people need to do is get out of this room. Dark and depressing. It was horrible. It was horrible and they were so downtrodden. They had absolutely no idea of what to do or where to go. And he he sat down and gave us a list of what to do. We had to start a search center. We had to get volunteers. We had to position media in this sort of light and just gave us all sorts of tips. It made a wealth of difference emotionally and on practical levels. What mark klaas didnt do was burden the le family with his own story. Didnt tell them about his own daughter polly kidnapped two decades ago. That was the worst time in my life. It shattered me. Shattered my heart. 12yearold polly klaas was snatched from her home in petaluma, california, in the midst of a slumber party. Teams of volunteers tramped through california looking for polly and lack lacking in coordination and focus and it was ultimately fruitless. Pollys body was only discovered when her killer arrested at a traffic stop two months later showed detectives where he buried her. Do you still with that awful week . Yeah. All these years later. My work is my therapy. My work is my therapy. That work through the Klaas Kids Foundation is to help families find missing lovered ones by providing families with a now proven, professional, methodical approach to their search efforts. You have to basically start in the center and work your way out, letting following statistics that the vast majority of people that are missing or going to be found a, within a halfmile radius of where they went missing or b, within a fivemile radius of where they went missing. Its dismal work they do. Its not dismal. No. Nothing we do is dismal. Its hard work. It can be heartbreaking. It can be so sad, but its not dismal. Its really good work and its important work, and theres just not enough people doing it. Possibly because its worked the les bare wounds. Since pollys death, mark has shared his experience and learned through his own parental grief with families just like michelles adrift and in shock. Repair the relationship with the police which had become very c afraid, indeed. We needed help from the police and they slowly started to let us know where they thought we should be looking and when we pressed them why should we be looking there, why should we be looking there they finally said well, because thats where the cell towers take us. Michelle le, it turns out, went on a strange journey on the evening of may 27, 2011, at least her cell phone did. In the two hours after michelle left a Training Session at the Kaiser Hospital in San Franciscos east bay, that cell phone left its indelible footprint through the congested streets of the east bay and then it turned on to a twolane back road and then a major freeway and then it pinged back along the very same route, back to the parking lot, at the very moment the nursing instructor saw michelles car drive into the parking lot and rapidly reverse course and speed away into the dark, a puzzle. But getting that cell phone trail from the police was also a huge break said mark klaas, who was now deeply involved in the search for michelle. It enabled us then to really hone in on what we needed to do and why we needed to do it. It was to prepare a viable search locations for search teams. But the area was vast. Much of it rugged, rural. The search for michelle would be tough, laborintensive work. Just the sort of thing mark klaas organization knew how to do. When we saw the machine in motion was when we felt that, wow, this guy and this foundation has really got it together. We would have never thought of that on our own. Klaas even flew in his director of Search Operations who was one of the first volunteers to look for polly years before. Well be in treacherous terrain today as well as tomorrow, canyon area, lots of rocks into the ravines. This was day 49 since michelle disappeared and once again, her san diego relatives loaded into cars around midnight and drove the eight hours north to the San Francisco bay. Dateline was there watching as they gathered for a morning briefing to prepare them for the long day of searching ahead. If you take nothing else away from this presentation take this portion right here, okay . Every single search that weve put you on today, tomorrow, we consider a potential crime scene. The police suggested a zone to be searched, but thats about all of the information they provided. We dont know exactly why, but they say its based on all of the evidence and the timeline they believe that something might have happened in this area. The area, a Narrow Canyon in the hills east of the San Francisco bay. As the search party made its way up the canyon they tied off here and there pink ribbons. We have a system of tape marking that we use and we report it to the investigators and they follow up. Everything we do here is to support the Police Effort in bringing back michelle. A complication. This area is a haven for the homeless. Its also a notorious dumping ground for murder victims. Here one of the searchers found an encampment and inside, a sleeping bag. Ian. You want to check out this this looks like a sleeping bag. Do you want me to pull this bag out . The bag was empty. But deeper inside the encampment, Something Else was uncovered. A large bone. This creek canyon, it soon became apparent had been well traveled by creatures great and small. An man mal, some mammal. There was another bone at a creek crossing. Searchers had passed it by when our producer noticed it lying this, tail bone, probably and yet what do you think its from . Not sure. It does look like a thigh bone. Its a joint. Hey, ian. Can you take a look at this . There are other bones around it which is kind of interesting. Its big. Its pretty big. Looking at a bone from a large mammal. Lets tag it and lets do a more thorough search around here just in case and then well get somebody to get the gear. Do you think you can scamper up to that little piece of rebar or whatever is there and tie a pink ribbon for us . The bone was tagged, examined and yes, it was from the leg of a large mammal. In this case, a human. Coming up, one of michelles friends and family is searching, police are making a tiny clue. We found an identification card from the Nursing School, but it was not michelles. When dateline continues. Back with your freedom cardsmh getting cash back on what . Close shave and haircut fan for the ceiling. Youre gonna cool off that hoooounddd tonight you gotta get your cash back, on new slacks. Use freedom on lunch with jack. Everybody get everybody get get your cash back. Chase freedom. Game day bucket go boom. [ male announcer ] start couchgating today with a kfc game day bucket for just 19. 99. Returning to our story, its livanished from a hospital parking garage, but signs of her after her disappearance keep her on a typical San Francisco summer afternoon as the fog rolled in, krystine and michael brought us uptodate on their efforts to find michelle. How long has it been now . Its been over two months. Its been 72 days. How are you doing, the two of you with all of this . How are you holding up . Weird. Just trying to keep the word out, trying to stay positive. Right. Just really trying to stay positive is the hardest part. The hardest time for me is getting in bed thinking, gosh, i hope michelle is in a bed. Yeah. You have decided that shes still alive. Its not over. Its not going to be over until we get her home. So that very evening they hosted a fundraising event at a nearby restaurant and a few days later on august 20th, the 85th day of michelle les disappearance, the san diego family piled into their cars just after midnight and made the long drive up the coast to launch their eighth search. Time had faded the posters taped to their cars, and the creek bed seemed far away from any place where a body might have been dumped or a woman held captive. They tracked where her cell phone ended up after she disappeared and its all around the rural east bay and its such a huge area. It was 100 degrees in the waning days of summer and it seemed to have impacted turnout as the number of volunteers dwindled. Suddenly the search leader called in a discovery. Some female clothing partially buried in the sand. What do you have . Im down by the creek. Its womans underwear by the tree, almost like light pink, white. It is, as it turns out, another false lead so they pack up. Another fruitless day in a case gone cold, or so it seemed to michael and krystine, but oh, what they did not know that during all those weeks and months in which the family had been searching for a living woman, a police Murder Investigation had been very active indeed and now in the last days of august inspector Frazier Richey was closing in on a very hot target, but to understand how he got there we need to go back, almost to the beginning. It was minutes before midnight may 28th, 29 hours after michelle le disappeared. Richey had gone to pay a midnight visit to michelles Old High School friend Giselle Esteban. How long has she been missing . Have you guys tried calling her . I have no idea how to help you at this point. Im ive actually trying to call her. Since when . For, u, in, almost a week now. To tell her to stay away from my daughter. So, clearly there was animosity between Giselle Esteban and michelle le, and so inspector richy and his partner brought gisele downtown to the Police Station for a more indepth conversation. I understand at at one point, you and michelle were close friend, is that right . I considered her my sister. And then what happened . She made a mistake. Scott made a mistake. And that was that when you were with scott or had you guys broken up . No. We were still together. They made mistakes. And then michelle told a strange little story, she was pregnant, remember, with her second child and said she went to the hayward Kaiser Hospital for a prenatal checkup just hours before michelle disappeared. She said she spotted her old friend at a distance. Were you surprised to see michelle there . Yes. How did it make you feel when you saw her . At first surprised and then annoyed and then i thought, okay. Keep your Blood Pressure down, otherwise youre going to lose this baby. Strong feelings, but Giselle Esteban herself was not so strong, tiny and pregnant. Hardly seemed physically capable of overpowering and murdering the larger michelle le, let alone, finding a way of disposing her body. They sent her home and later this afternoon finally got a look inside michelles car. As we did much later when the detectives showed it to us. Nothing had changed, nothing was touched. Here the morbid, but sad is personal space. This is what inspector richey found, a crime scene. Once we got the car open, you can see theres blood wiped across here and the plastic, a little bit on the floor mats and then as you can see, theres more droplets or blood dropping down going in a straight down pattern. Police also found some blood smeared on the floor of the garage where michelles car had been parked. Were you able to make a judgement about what would have happened when she got to her car . She was attacked most likely here because from the looks of it, it looks like she ended up being placed in the backseat. There was a bloody confrontation here and then theres more blood back there, but you can see here, its been moved around a bit and its a little bit smeared up and theres more than one location. Clearly, a very violent and physical assault. Who could have done this . A fresh look at the surveillance tapes may offer a clue. Watch what michelle does as she walks to her car parked to the far right hand side of the lot. Michelle makes a wide, sweeping turn to the left away from the car and then walks back to the right. A few seconds later it appears she stopped. What happened . Did she see somebody she knew or somebody she didnt want to see . Richey feels he may have answered that question when he found on the passenger seat of michelles car a little piece that would end up fitting into a very large puzzle. We found a identification card from the samuel merit Nursing School that michelle was attending, but it was not michelles. There was no reason for that to be there. The name and face were plainly visible on the card partially wedged into the seat cushion as if somebody had left it there by mistake so richey called the school and was told. Oh, thats our new instructor thats starting in a week, and i could hear in the back of the phone her i. D. Cards gone. Its missing from my desk. The card had been stolen, but by whom . The thing about these identity cards, theyre actually key cards. This is mine at nbc and whenever im in the Headquarters Building of 30 Rockefeller Plaza i use it to swipe the key card on that box there and makes an electronic recording of that moment in time and then at this place and then, if youre watched by Security Camera at the same time. In pack, you cant go anywhere in this building without being seen by Security Cameras. The Security Team of the Nursing School did the same thing. They just looked for the computer record of the key card being used and they pulled up the security video from that moment and that place and voila, was there their thief. I had them send me the still photographs and when i looked at it i immediately identified it, it was Giselle Esteban. The picture was dated may 26th, one day before michelle le disappeared. So what else did she do that day . Richey got a subpoena for all of the Security Camera footage from may 26th. What he saw in those videos was both strange and disturbing and moved Michelle Esteban to the top of the list of persons of interest. Coming up, the strange video trail of Giselle Esteban the day before michelle disappeared. It shows giselle Walking Around with a lab coat on pretending to be an instructor. What was she up to . When vanished continues. Ill believe it when i taste it. I believe it i can dig it [ male announcer ] ok, a bit of an overreaction, but. 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What youre seeing is the exact record of the moment in time. This is Giselle Esteban at michelle les Nursing School the day before michelle vanished. Why she was here was a mystery, but what she did, that, inspector richey pieced together from giselles electronic trail which picked her up at the morning in the Nursing School posing as a prospective student. While there she stole an instructors key card and then appeared to test whether it would work by entering this break room. And then at 5 30 in the evening when the campus is closed she gains access through the back door using that electronic key card. Same card. Throughout the campus theyre in the classrooms and the hallways theres cameras and it shows giselle Walking Around with a lab coat on. Her glasses up and shes going around turning on computers. Weird. Giselle can also be seen with a class roster stolen from an instructors office. You can see a class roster because it has all of the students and photographs on there so its not just typed. Its photographs so you can see that there is a class roster and shes Walking Around as if shes pretending to be an instructor or Something Like that. Shes there for an hour and a half or so and then she leaves. All of this the night before michelle le disappeared. What was jish giselle doing . On the morning after giselle disappeared Giselle Esteban went with her daughter in tow to an apple store and there she was on the Security Camera. Thats her there in the top left of her screen having one of the employees unlock an iphone. She told the Apple Employee that her daughter had put a code into the phone and locked it. Once he unlocked it the phone started pinging and ringing. And just at that very moment, as cell phone records showed, michelle les iphone began pinging on the cell phone tower not far from the apple store. Now it was a matter of following the signal which led to this chuck e. Cheese restaurant a few miles away where the phone turned up again. Giselle was seen on a video showing a white iphone. Remember, this was the day after michel michelles disappearance when her family were frantically calling and texting her. It looks like jgiselle is sendig out Text Messages and at that moment, giselles iphone was pinging off a nearby cell tower. To richey, it seemed quite clear, Giselle Esteban was the one using michelles phones to send those creepy Text Messages to worried friends and family and to him, and giselle did all this while on a shopping trip with her daughter. And shes on that phone, roughly the same time that shes getting Text Messages from the classmates and family members and things like that, and then i sent her a second text message at roughly at 3 15 in the afternoon saying this is not a joke. This is the police department. You need to contact me right now. That was the last contact. Thats when her phone went off. The evidence was mounting so richey stepped up his surveillance on giselle. We placed a tracker on her car. Why . To see if she would take us to a location that michelle would possibly be. Well, that didnt happen. Not to say, though, her behavior wasnt suspicious. Remember the vigil the le family held the week after the disappearance, the one attended by giselles boyfriend scott, it turned out giselle was there, too, sort of. The tracking device showed giselle circling the block as giselles family pleaded for help and later it showed her driving past scotts house. Why . Richey was all, but sure now giselle had something to do with michelles disappearance. The question now was did she have some help . There was something that we had to look at. If so, who . Yeah. Dive into her life. Whos her friends and who can we talk to that knows giselle . Richey consulted an Alameda County assistant d. A. , a guy named butch. Butch ford. Some of my colleagues their response was who helped her do it because shes a woman. Shes pregnant. In order to do this she had to have help. Prosecutors had a hard time believing esteban was physically capable of killing michelle le all by herself. We encouraged them to make sure they eliminated any possible suspects such as the father of giselles child. That would be scott, the exboyfriend butch is referring to. And so everybodys antenna went up in late july, 63 days after michelles disappearance as the family searched the hills for her. Detective richey got a very strange phone call from scott who sounded out of breath. Saying that he believed that he had found michelles phone. I asked him, where did you find michelles phone . In the backseat of his car. Coming up, at first, police doubt scotts story . Have we missed something . Is he the other part of this. You deserve to die for your lies. When vanished continues. Sofa. Desk. You know what . Why dont you go get some frozen yogurt. I got this. Youre so sweet. You got this, right . I do got this. Let us get everything off the shelf, and to your home. You in heaven. Wrapped in luxury. You in action. You in motion. You in luck. Play in style. Talking stick resort, scottsdale. Book now to enjoy Cactus League spring training rates. Secondhand smoke affects everyones health. Its not just irritating. It can cause Heart Disease and even death. Speak up about secondhand smoke. Your health and the health of your family depend on it. Sofa. Desk. You know what . Why dont you go get some frozen yogurt. I got this. Youre so sweet. You got this, right . I do got this. Let us get everything off the shelf, and to your home. Its hard to tell from this video, but the prime suspect in michelle les disappearance, we have a young lady who disappears from a public place. Automatically our minds went to is there more than one person involved . So when richey got a call from michelles exboyfriend claiming to have found michelles iphone he was worried. I was very concerned that had we missed something . Is he the other part of this . Then why is he telling us this if he is the other part of this why is he finding this and telling us about evidence . That was the key question. Why would scott admit to having incriminating evidence . Was he trying to outsmart the cops by pretending to be helpful, to have found michelles iphone when he had it all along or was he afraid . Afraid someone was trying to set him up which might have been the reason why scott shared this document with detectives. This is a temporary restraining order against Giselle Esteban. In signed declarations both scott and his mother told how his family was awakened one morning by scotts car alarm. Scott went to investigate. While hes out front he hears his mother screaming. He goes inside and giselle is inside of his house. Shes inside his room tampering with his computer. Sound familiar . It was the same thing esteban was doing at the Nursing School. And when was this . Four days before on a tuesday. There was Something Else. A i piece of evidence you have to hear to believe. Scott told the detectives that four months before michelles disappearance, giselle harangued and threatened him, verbal attacks so alarming he recorded some on his iphone just in case something bad ever happened. This one in a parked car. Their small daughter sitting in the backseat listening. You listen closely. Youre about to hear the real Giselle Esteban. I asked you, can we just be honest about michelle because shes the one issue that i really, really am having a hard time dealing with. Thats not what you said at all. Starting from now, we are going to be honest about michelle, do you understand me . Whether you sleep with her, whether you share food with her, whether you talk to her. You will be honest with me. Look at me you will be honest with me regarding her otherwise i will take you and hers and you can take that to the grave. Wow why . Because you lied about her so many times its hard to believe that you didnt sleep with her. You deserve to die for your lies and she. This is your last and final warning. Why . Do you understand me . This is your last and final warning. Detective richey listened to her go from furious to threatening and this was far from the subdued woman he met back in may. It was apparent that she was a violent person. Did you ever have any concern about scotts safety . Yes. And we advised scott that, if it is giselle you have to be concerned for your safety as well. He might well be a target. Esteban had become fixated on her old friend and was convinced that michelle had somehow broken up her relationship with scott and yett as richey took pains t discover. Michelle and scott were nothing more than just friends. Scott was just one of the many friends that she had. The only person in this world that seemed to think there was more to it was giselle. Prosecutor butch ford heard the audio, too, and read the 1500 pages of texts and emails scott gave police. For the better part of six years she had an obsession with michelle. Her Text Messages were filled with hatred toward michelle at every step of the way and then towards the the last four months and so they were filled with hatred toward scott. Wishing him wishing his death. Wow they were just filled with hate toward the two of them with blame towards michelle for ruining her relationship and essentially breaking her family. Do you think theres any truth to that at all . Only from the standpoint that giselle believed it was michelles fault. So in terms of responding to that question, the answer has to be yes, theres truth to it from her perspective. Because she had to blame somebody. This is a very disturbed individual. Yes. No question about that. From my perspective, when were dealing with, in particular murderers, my position is theyre all sort of screwed up because the normal person doesnt react that way. We have to believe that, right . The normal person doesnt react that way. At some level any time one person commits a murder there is a screw loose in their head. There has to be. Butch knew about the parameters of human nature. He helped raise eight younger siblings while growing up in South Central l. A. And worked his way through law school and now as a prosecutor seeks out advice from someone who has seen it all, his own grandmother. I have dinner every wednesday at my grandmothers house. The first female africanamerican judge appointed in alameda count. Ive never hadda i case that i havent spoken to her about and run ideas in terms of trial presentation and Closing Argument and things like that. I always run it by her. This case was special. Fords grandmother was struck by the determination to find answer, but it was clear there was still too many questions to take this case to court. The theory was that giselle had done something to bring about her demise. It was a question of what what and how we prove it. In fact, without a body, how could they prove there was a murder at all . Coming up, in a strange twist of fate, the mother of amber dubois joins another search for michelle along with her new dog. She jumps up on me and takes off again and i followed her and i noticed sticking out of the ground. A dramatic discovery when dateline continues. Hurt you. What if you didnt know that boxes by the curb. Make you a target for thieves . Or that dog bites account for a third of all home liability claims . What if you didnt know that one in seven drivers is uninsured . And that grease fires have to be smothered . The more you know, the better you can plan for whats ahead. Get smarter about your insurance. 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Hardly the sort of place a detective would expect to get a hot tip in a murder case, but thats exactly what happened. It was the priest who called the police and wound up talking to inspector richey and told him a story about an odd encounter with a young woman who came to see him seeking solace of some kind. It was actually outside of an office in a patio area and he asked her several times do you want to go into confessional, she said no, so thats why he was able to talk to us about it and he said that she was wearing a medicaltype scrubs, same physical build, characteristics of giselle, and she was asking for forgiveness for something that she had not yet done. Wait a minute, she asked for something a sin she hadnt committed that was the interpretation the priest got and that was roughly at 3 00 the afternoon the day michelle went missing. So was prosecutor butch ford, but they didnt know how she did it or when she did it or where she did it. Or more important, what she did with the body. If you dont have a body it makes the case more difficult. And so richey and the other investigators at the hayward p. D. Continued the tedious work of building a murder case without a body. They ran fingerprints. They sent dna out for testing and interviewed witnesses all quietly, out of sight of the family and press. They tested a strand of hair found in michelles car that turned out to be michelles. Some of her touch on the steering handle as well. Since the two knew each other that wasnt enough to make an arrest. They checked giseles cell phone records, found that her phone, like michelles left a trail in the hours after michelle vanished and what do you know . The looks that michelles phone went, giselles phone went. As though they were traveling together. Yes. The eavesdropping electronics was closing in. Here is giselle trying to access the Nursing Schools computers the night before giselles disappearance, and here, the scene at the apple store the night michelle vanished. Esteban getting michelles iphone unlocked and later using it at the chuck e. Cheese, but still, it wasnt enough until the lab result finally came back from evidence seized that very first night in Giselle Estebans apartment, specifically from her shoes. Those tests uncovered a trace amount of blood, blood that belonged to michelle. Only one explanation for that. And so on september 7th, 104 days after michelle les disappearance, inspector richey went to giselles estebans house for a final visit. We waited for her to come out of her house, and i pulled up in front with two other investigators and we got out of the car and she looked at me very nonshal chalantnonchalant. What now . Youre under arrest. Not for what or anything, it was just like a matter of fact, she was waiting for it. It wasnt there was no sign of guilt. There was no sign of remorse. Nothing. She was just okay. And when the news was announced michelles family knew giselle, and knew her as one of michelles closest friends and they were stunned. I never suspected her and thought the worst until we knew for sure. I didnt think it was her. When michelle was having problems giselle would go with her and all because she felt it was her friend and that was her last text to her, no matter what, youll always be my friend. The le family found themselves in a strange paradox, glad someone would be held accountable for michelles disappearance, yet refusing to accept she was dead. To them, the fact that no body had been found, meant there was still hope, however slim that they might find her alive. I was still hoping that without finding my sisters remains, i was Still Holding out hope until it was definitive, we were going to fight for her. And so on september 17th, 113 days after michelle disappeared. Ten days after the arrest, the family mounted yet another search. This time they were joined by Carrie Mcgonigle whose daughter amber dubois had been kidnapped and murdered in san diego two years earlier and like mark klaas before her, carrie formed an organization to help find the missing. She brought her new search dog with her. A search dog in training. She was acting weird. She was jumping all over the place and she was barking and wanted to get away from me is and as i buckled her up she took off and ran and i started running after her and she came back and jumps up on me and takes off again and i followed her and she was just standing there and i reached down to put her leash on, and i noticed some 29 rope sticking out of the ground and then some bones next to it. It was the skeletal remains of a young woman, unidentified. Michelles cousin krystine was back at the command center. Remember search director brad dennis took a break and he looked at me and said hey, babe, well be right back and he never leaves the search center. So he left and i was, like, something happened. They must have found something. Im taking a break and im going out there and looking, you know, some random evidence they found. But then her phone rang. A reporter with a tip from someone in the search party. And he told me, oh, i heard they found michelles body, can you comment on that . And i i started shaking. I told them, we havent found her. But i knew that they did when i got that call from the reporter, i knew. There wasnt confirmation, not yet. The medical examiner still had to match up dental records and that, the family was told, could take a few days. It might sound really dumb now, but i still i i was still really stubborn about it. I just didnt there was nothing that could tell me that michelle was dead. But we all stayed in a hotel room because we were just hiding, i think. No one knew where we were, we were in a hotel room for the next few days and then i think about four days later the Hayward Police came to our hotel and they told us that she had been confirmed to be found through her dental records. At that point you couldnt pretend anymore. Yeah. After four months, the familys long and determined search to find michelle was over, but their goal, no matter how remote, was always to bring her home alive, but she was found dead was a blow that took them to their knees. That was one of the few times i really let myself cry. Part of me was relieved that its over. That we had found her and that wed brought her home and a majority of me was very angry. Um, and it just it just felt hollow. Now there was one thing left to do. Make sure michelle got justice, but that, it turned out, was not going to be so easy. Coming up, giselle on trial and her Defense Strategy surprises everyone. You have to find a better way to vilify the victim. Would it work . 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She blamed it all on her successful, too beautiful friend michelle and set out methodically to kill one of the few people left in the world when still tried to be her friend. Why did she sneak into her school . To find michelles new address and maybe kill her there, said ford. Why did she send the texts from the chuck e. Cheese . To cover up her crime. She couldnt hide from the cameras, the phone ping, her own electronic trail and the dna in the car confirmed it. The evidence was overwhelming, just no refuting it, said ford, and so the defense didnt even try. Instead, they did something wholly unexpected, a big surprise. Giselle admitted she did it. So youre putting all of these Building Blocks together to show that she had to be responsible for this. Yes. And she goes and admits it. Yes. I could not believe she would allow her defense to be i did it. But there was a reason, said the defense. Giselle had been provoked. She killed michelle in the heat of passion. Michelle, she claimed, was a lying schemer who had been busy stealing what little giselle had left in life, her family. Mark klaas watched from the back of the courtroom and was disgusted. I dont think character assassination is a defense. I think that if youre going to defend against the indefensible, you have to find a better way of doing it than to vilify the victim. But ford was worried. The defense just might work. If i come in as a defense lawyer and i say were going to tell you that my client did it even though the District Attorney has the burden of proof, but were going to tell you why it happened because thats the most important thing. Thats something the d. A. Cant tell you. Exactly. And it has an air of credibility. And thus, is not firstdegree murder. Yes. A voluntary manslaughter and then you get out in nine years. So that was the big fight . Yes. There was another problem, even as ford methodically laid out the evidence for the jury, what he couldnt do and this turned out to be a big hole in this case was tell the jury how the murder took place. Michelles remains were so decomposed the coroner couldnt determine the cause of death. The pathologist report indicated they not only visually examined michelles remains and examined it using an xray to look for any sort of trauma to her skull or bones or anything of that nature and they,nt locate any. While the Security Cameras seemed to locate everything before and after the murder, it didnt capture the crime itself. Its my position that the evidence of the crime is most supported by an assault with a sharp object, a stabbing object, a knife, a box cutter, something of that effect. Truthfully, i believe that she snuck up behind her, grabbed her by her hair and assaulted her with a sharp object. Which would explain why that small woman could do that woman would do that. It immediately incapacitates you, the forensic evidence, the blood evidence and all of that indicates that type of assault. The only person who knows for sure is giselle. But she wasnt talking. Choosing, instead to sit passively throughout the trial. She would look at the jury thinking, are they buying this . Are they believing all of this nonsense that that the defense is offering up, you know . That this is heat of passion . That this wasnt planned . Michael was in court every day as was krystine and the aunts and uncles and parents and cousins. All of them took time off work to be united for michelle. Oftentimes in homicide cases nobody shows up for the victim or maybe its a mother or father or a sibling. In this case every day there were between i would say 12 and 20 family members and knowing that the vast majority of them had traveled from san diego to be present, to show everybody that michelle was missed it was it was really touching to me and inspiring in that again, it made me want to work even harder to ensure that i had done everything i could to bring about what was a just result and i had mentioned that was the only thing i promised to the family was that i would work as hard as i could to make sure that the right result came. Do you encounter families like that very often . On that level, no. When the case went to the jury everything was up in the air. Prosecutor ford didnt worry particularly when the jury stayed out a full day. Even when it stayed out two days. After three days, ford began to wonder if hed done enough to debunk giselles heat of passion defense. After four, everybody wondered. The longest deliberation id ever had was four days. This was now getting to four and a half days so i started to have concern. Coming up, day five and the suspense is over. The jury sends word of a verdict. We were all Holding Hands in the front row. Will there be justice for michelle and coming up next friday on dateline, this is called snake alley. Its the chase through the jungle thats captured the worlds attention. Everything that happened doesnt seem real. The hunt for hightech millionaire john mcafee. You havent heard the half of it. It didnt have the feel of almost being in a bond movie. Secret potions, shocking danger. You tried to shoot him. He said just do it. What about the murder . Neither you nor anybody representing you went over to greg pauls house and shot him through the head . No, sir. Its a tale that may be headed for hollywood, but first, its headed for dateline. You will not believe the [ male announcer ] wouldnt it be cool if we took the already great sentra apart and completely reimagined it . 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Who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasnt quite the same. The recipes not the recipe. Ohhh. [ female announcer ]. Without swanson. The broth cooks trust most when making soup. Mmmm [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. For their annual football trip. Thats double miles you can actually use. Tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. But its our tradition thats roughing the card holder. But with the capital one venture card you get double miles you can actually use. [ cheering ] any flight, anytime. The scoreboard doesnt lie. Whats in your wallet . Hut i have me on my fantasy team. Giselle esteban readily admitted she killed her friend michelle le, but she claimed it was in the heat of the moment. She was angry, provoked by michelle. The defense which in a way blamed michelle for her own death. To friends and family sitting in the courtroom the strategy seemed outrageous and yet, after the jury had been out four long days they all worried, had it worked . I was wondering if the jury sat in the same trial that i sat in. We were going crazy. We were really afraid that either they felt sympathy for the defendant because she is a woman or that she has children or you never know. By the fifth day we were thinking what if they let her off easy . And then finally on the fifth day the jury announced they were ready. There could be no acquittal. Their choices were firstdegree murder or voluntary manslaughter, a verdict that could have esteban back on the street before she was 40. I remember our hearts were pounded and being lined up and we sat down and we saw the jury walk in, and a couple of them you can just tell on their faces that they were exhausted. They looked exhausted and we were just all Holding Hands in the front row. They were all shaking and you could see butch he was just up there with his hands on his head and all were just praying and then we heard guilty of murder first, i burst right into tears. That feeling was just so indescribable. How much relief was there. 17 months after michelle le went missing, after endless searches, a relentless investigation, a tense trial, finally an end. The search for michelle and for justice was over. One of the things i was so angry about was that nothing made sense. Nothing made sense. Why did it have to happen to michelle, and so i think the verdict brought reason. The defense of someone committed a murder, they will pay for the crime. Its just as awful as it was and the loss is just as great, but the world is back on its axis or Something Like that. In some way, yeah. How was it getting that verdict . What was it like . In one word, relief. What did your grandmother say . She asked, how is michelles family doing . Because i had talked to her about what a great family they were and i have nothing, but respect for that family and they had faith in the process and more than anything i appreciated that they had faith in me. The les family uncommon grace and dignity and determined togetherness infected many of the families that stood with them during those dark months. They were able to do what a lot of other families have never been able to do and thats rally around each other in a time of great need, to prop each other up. Michael and krystine now volunteer with mark klaas organization. Most recently helping to coordinate the search in the case of a teenager kidnapped near san jose. Their way to honor michelle. Michelle, who still refuses somehow to leave them. She mainly comes in dreams and its so real that it feels like her, and she wont say a thing. Shell just give me a hug or something. I would flip out, michelle, where the heck have you been . We had this huge thing where we thought you were gone, you know . And she laughed and she said im fine. To michael, when he and michelle were little they begged their mother to tell them the old vietnamese folk tale of the woman in the moon who protects and watches over them. The tale is very real now for michael le. I feel like i feel like theyre always watching me, and, you know at the very least id like to believe that my sister is with my mom finally and that theyre together. Its not my time yet, but i cant wait to see them again. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Well be back again next friday at 9 00, 8 00 central and ill see you tomorrow morning on today. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news. Good night. Its hard, you know, when you see that, you almost want to get into the screen and tell her to go the other way. Right now at 11 00, the michelle lay murder in the spotlight. Her family speaks out about seeing the startling and gripping evidence revealed in this case. Good evening. Im raj mathai. Jessica aguirre is off. Tonight, we saw a revealing and painful look into this Murder Investigation. Exclusive Surveillance Footage and the interrogation tapes. Her family might never shed the pain of their loss, but they are healing. Stephanie trong