Missing Hayward nursing student Michelle Le reward hiked to $65K

The reward for any information, which would lead to the safe return of missing Hayward nursing student Michelle Hoang Thi Le, has been hiked from $20,000 to $65,000.

The additional reward was pledged by Samuel Merritt University and Turner Construction Company. At the time Le went missing, she was a student of Samuel Merritt University's Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. She had also worked with Turner Construction part-time as an accounting clerk for five years.

Le went missing about 7 pm on May 27 while she was on a class break at Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center. She told her classmates that she planned to drive to Reno, Nevada, to meet her friends over the weekend. Following the class break, her friends could not find her and finally alerted the police.

Initially, the police could trace her cell phone signal but later tracing became difficult. Then, the authorities tried to use a helicopter to look over the area where she reportedly got lost, but did not find any information leading to her discovery.

The police said that they found Le's car parked half a mile away from the medical center on Ponderosa Court. There was no sign of any forcible entry. Le generally parked her car at the parking lot of the medical center.

During the investigating process, the police also questioned several persons of interest.

Le's family had gathered $20K as a reward for anyone providing any information for her safe return. They also created a website called www.michellelemissing.com. It contains a family phone number (510.303.3013), together with contact numbers of Hayward Police Department. The family believes Michelle is alive. Don't give up hope everyone. We're still going to keep at it, the family posted on the website.

The family also opened a Facebook page called Help Find Michelle Hoang Thi Le - Missing from San Mateo, California. They have requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to join in the search.

Le's family still believes she is alive and doesn't want to give up the search. They were very thankful for the $45K donation. Our family members are incredibly thankful for this donation and appreciative of Samuel Merritt University and Turner Construction, Le's brother Michael Le said. One hundred percent of the funds will be used towards finding Michelle and keeping the spirit of her search alive.

A candlelight vigil will be held on Thursday and a flyer distribution has been planned for Sunday by the family. They are putting up in a local hotel near the Hayward police station as they want to know the progress being made by the police in their investigation.