Michelle Le is still alive

Clinging to hope that missing nursing student Michelle Le is still alive, family, friends and concerned residents attended a Friday night vigil at Hilltop Community Park in Rancho Penasquitos.

Family and friends of Michelle Le Friday night for a vigil on behalf of the missing nursing student.Le disappeared May 27 from the Bay Area, after taking a break from a nursing class at Kaiser Permanente in Hayward.

While the focus of her disappearance has been in Hayward and the surrounding Bay Area, those who love her said it was appropriate to have a San Diego vigil, close to where she grew up.

During Friday’s vigil, tears, words of hope, flickering candles and flashlights inside cups inscribed with positive messages filled the night air with love for Le.

It was an emotionally packed evening emphasizing that until their loved one is found, the Le family will continue to get the word out through fliers, the media and websites about finding her.

“We’ll find you, we’ll bring you home,” said her aunt, Thuy Le, a San Diegan who raised Michelle and her brother, Michael, as teens, after their mother died of breast cancer.

Michelle Le moved up to the Bay Area after her high school graduation, and family said it was no surprise she began pursuing a career in nursing — following in her mother’s nurturing ways.

Those in the crowd, including her 2002 former Sundevil classmates, came to show their support for the missing woman — and her family.

Many, including youngsters, tied yellow ribbons to their arms, or wore shirts with Le’s photo and other details about her, plus a reward fund.

While Hayward Police investigators have now classified the case as a homicide, based on forensic evidence found in her car, search warrants and other information, the Le family is not giving up hope that she is alive.

Katie Ninh, Emily Ninh, Amy Ninh, Mai Dinh, cousins of Michelle Le, and Terri Le, her aunt, at the vigil for Le Friday night. Photo by Beverley BrooksMichael Le expressed regrets during the vigil that he did not tell his sister often enough that he loved her, but when he sees her again, he will tell her every day that he loves her, he said.

Le’s nursing school, Samuel Merritt University, Kaiser Permanente and family members have raised $65,000 of reward money in hopes that a witness who knows Le’s whereabouts, or saw what happened, will step forward.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Steve Brown of the Hayward Police said that while Le’s family is upset about the investigation now being determined a homicide, “We’d like nothing better than to bring her home alive.

“She has a huge, loving family — and they’re doing everything right to find her,” Brown said. “They’re putting up billboards, printing T-shirts and distributing fliers.”

A Friday 30-mile search of Niles Canyon in the unincorporated area of Alameda County did not turn up any evidence, according to police.