UNSOLVED: The Murder of Nursing Grad Phuong Le

Some of us are born with this intrinsic drive to help others. The eternal caretakers. My aunt, a registered nurse, was one of them - bound by a lifelong urge to care for others. And that could certainly be said of a young nursing grad named Phuong Le.

I just learned about Phuong Le today after watching an episode of Dateline. The episode focused on another young nurse, Michelle Hoang Thi Le. Michelle went missing in May of 2011 after entering the parking garage of the California medical facility where she worked. Investigators in that case saw some striking similarities between Michelle and Phuong, but Michelle's case was soon solved as a former "friend" confessed to killing Michelle in that parking garage.

But what about Phuong?

I was left feeling unsatisfied, so I took to the Internet and was saddened to find that Phuong Le's case has never been solved.

Let me backtrack and introduce you a bit better to Phuong and describe the events surrounding her disappearance.

Who Was Phuong Le?

Bichphuong 'Phuong' Le was a kind-hearted young Vietnamese woman who went missing from one of the places she loved the most - Barnes & Noble on Gateway Boulevard in Fairfield, California in April of 2010.

Phuong was ambitious, having just completed a nursing program at Solano Community College. She emigrated to the US from Vietnam at age nine, and she was an avid reader. She was close with her family, and her parents always believed she would amount to something great.

Phuong Le's brother, Huong Le, went out in search of his sister the next morning and located her white Honda Accord, abandoned, in the Gateway Boulevard parking lot, easily identifiable by its "Support Our Troops" ribbon magnet located on the trunk.

Phuong's purse and cellphone were found in the trunk of her Accord. It was not like Phuong to leave her items abandoned in her vehicle and just vanish. And it was certainly unlike her to not contact her parents.

12 days later - on May 7, 2010 - Phuong's body was discovered by a woman walking her dog in a rural part of Napa County. Phuong would have celebrated her 25th birthday only five days after she disappeared.

Phuong's mother, Sang Pham, told reporters in 2013 that “Parents often have a soft spot for their youngest daughter. At the time when I heard about her death, I didn’t want to live.”

Her father, Huong Van Le, said, "When I think of my daughter now, there’s a sense of despair (and) hopelessness. My heart feels pain."

Phuong Le's loved ones were left to wonder who would want her dead - and why.

Phuong Le's Death Becomes a Cold Case

Two years after Phuong was murdered, her case officially went cold, according to her brother Huong Le. The case was turned over to a cold case squad, but three months after that happened, Huong lost touch with them. As Huong said, “I get the same answer every time. They’re still working on the case, but nothing new.”

Lt. Greg Hurlbut, investigations commander with the Fairfield Police Department, said that just because the case is cold doesn't mean detectives aren't working on it. One of the businesses Phuong frequented was served with a search warrant in 2013 so that they could identify anyone Phuong might've been in contact with the night she disappeared.

Hurlbut has gone on record, saying "“It was probably someone she had met that day, or just a few days before she left, that her friends and family didn’t know necessarily." Hurlbut surmised that Phuong might have left her items in her car that fateful day, believing she would return after meeting with this individual. This implies a significant level of trust.

There Was One Suspect

Phuong Le's family and friends initially identified one potential suspect - Phuong's married boss, Thuc Nguyen. Nguyen and Phuong had apparently been engaged in a romantic affair, so police served warrants at Nguyen's home in Fairfield as well as at his Suisun City business, Postal Express.

At that point in time, police did not find any evidence to suggest that Nguyen was involved in Phuong's death.

In 2013, a search warrant was served at a Fairfield business Phuong frequented to see if anyone there might have been communicating with her and might have had motive to kill Phuong.

The family continues to believe that Phuong knew her killer.

The Michelle Le Parallel

I want to take a moment to talk more about the Michelle Le murder, since there were some parallels. Michelle was murdered by a jealous classmate, Giselle Esteban, who was later found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Michelle was last seen alive leaving the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, California, where she was a student nurse.

Esteban and Michelle Le went to high school together in San Diego and, after graduating, moved to the San Francisco Bay area - but that is about the extent of their similarities. Their lives were going in two different directions.

Esteban hated the fact that Michelle Le had a brief relationship with a man named Scott Marasigan, who was the father of Esteban's six-year-old daughter. Esteban believed that Marasigan was still madly in love with Michelle even after the pair had broken up.

Esteban was pregnant again at the time of the murder. Prior to killing Michelle, she once brandished a knife in front of Marasigan and threatened to kill herself and the unborn child. It got to the point that Esteban, in a full-on rage, went out to hunt Michelle down.

In his testimony at Esteban's trial, Marasigan claimed that his relationship with Michelle was never sexual and that they had remained friends after the breakup. Esteban, however, said Marasigan told her Michelle was pregnant by him and seeking an abortion. The text messages presented at trial from Esteban to Marasigan show a clearly increasing animosity toward Michelle.

February 10:

'I hope you find what you are looking for in someone as disgusting as her. I wish I had a kid with a better man.'

February 17:

'Cut her out for our family's sake. It's the only thing that will convince me you are trying to be better. Otherwise be prepared to be held accountable for your bad actions and decisions.'

February 18:

'If you aren't sorry for anything you have done with that wh*** and are not willing to make things right for (our daughter's) sake, then no, I'm not sorry for the consequences your actions have brought on you both. ... You have dug your own graves.'

February 25:

'FYI, you pushed me into insanity with you putting wh**** before your own family. You should have loved (their daughter) and I more, but you loved sex and attention more. Those two are exactly what you are going to get now. You reap what you sow.'

February 26:

'And you can't protect anyone. Your wh*** will get what she deserves, too.'

February 26:

'Get rid of your wh***. Block her out. Otherwise you bring your own hell on you and all you love.'

February 28:

'I was loving and open and took care of you and Michelle, and you two lied to me, not once but three times. It's only fitting you pay for your mistake. So will she.'

March 2:

'And Michelle has dug her own grave by being a homewrecker and a wh***. ... She won't be an issue for much longer.'

March 17:

'FYI, she won't pass her midterms.'

May 29 (two days after Le vanished):

'Where's Michelle?'

Michelle's devastated family offered a $100k reward for information leading to the discovery of their daughter. Her white Honda SUV was captured on camera driving out of the parking garage, then it was found abandoned in a parking lot mere blocks away. Investigators believe that Michelle was killed in that parking lot.

Horrifically enough, Michelle's body was found near San Francisco, in Sunol Canyon, by the mother of a young lady who was raped and murdered in 2009.

Carrie McGonigle's daughter Amber Dubois was only 14 when she was raped and killed by a sex offender named John Gardner III back in 2009.

Carrie and her dog, which she named Amber after her late daughter, joined the search in Pleasanton for Michelle. Perhaps it was fate that the mother of a murdered girl would be the one to find the body of another murdered young lady.

Esteban was named a person of interest in 2011, and after obtaining a search warrant, detectives found Michelle's blood inside Esteban's SUV and on one of Esteban's shoes when they searched her home. When they searched her personal computer, they found Esteban had searched for Michelle's home address prior to the murder. Not only did she do that, but Esteban also swiped Michelle's class roster and security badge from Samuel Merritt University and called employees in an effort to learn Michelle's schedule.

Esteban's attorney claimed Esteban was guilty of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and that Michelle had stoked the embers of Esteban's rage. The prosecutor, however, reminded the jury that Le's death had been planned months in advance. Esteban never testified in her own defense and was ultimately sentenced to 25 to life.

So, What About Phuong?

While Phuong and Michelle were clearly a lot alike, their cases are different. Michelle's - thankfully - was solved and her killer sent to prison. But who would want to kill Phuong by stabbing her in the chest? Who would dump her body near Lake Berryessa and leave it to decompose for several days, until she was found by a woman walking her dog?

Phuong's family, friends, and co-workers have all been ruled out as suspects, even Thuc Nguyen. Phone calls and emails prove that the two had a romantic affair, but not that he killed her.

Stabbing someone in the chest? That's incredibly personal. That is fueled by rage. Every thrust of the blade says "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." Who could've hated Phuong, someone who was well-loved and loved helping others?

Maybe we'll get answers someday.

If you know anything about who might have killed Phuong Le, please contact the Fairfield Police Investigation Division with your tip: (203) 254-4840.