Judge Extends Restraining Order Against Ex-Friend of Michelle Le

A Fremont judge on Tuesday extended a restraining order against a Union City, CA, woman who police say remains a "person of interest" in the case of missing Mount Carmel High graduate Michelle Le.

Giselle Esteban, 27, a former friend of Le's, did not appear in court. She has been barred from coming within 100 feet of Scott Marasigan, her ex-boyfriend, with whom she has a child, or his immediate family. The original restraining order was filed against her in May.

Marasigan, who told Patch he has been a friend of Le's for nine years, requested the stay-away order on May 24, three days before Le was last seen at Kaiser's medical center in Hayward.

Police say based on evidence they believe Le was killed in the medical center's parking garage. They've questioned dozens of people, including Esteban, whose Union City apartment was searched twice, but no one has been arrested or charged. On Tuesday, police confirmed that they have not ruled Esteban out as a person of interest.

Esteban's attorney Marsanne Weese appeared on her client's behalf and agreed to continuing the restraining order until Aug. 2, when Esteban and her ex-boyfriend are due back in court. 

Judge Richard Keller said because the conduct alleged in the restraining order is "quasi-criminal in nature," Esteban is required to be present at the next hearing. 

Weese would not discuss her client's case, except to say that she "is with her family" at this time. 

Marasigan declined to comment on his relationship with Esteban. Le's family also has declined to talk about Esteban's potential involvement in the case, saying they will not speculate or "slander" the woman.

In Marasigan's request for a restraining order, he reported increasingly bizarre and threatening behavior from Esteban.

He said last December, Esteban threatened to shoot herself if he did not speak to her on the phone. He called the police and she was arrested; officers found live rounds of ammunition but no gun, but he indicated that he believes she possesses a firearm.

He also said in February and March, she sent him text messages at least once a day "telling me to put a bullet in my brain" and that she also repeatedly told him that she was having him followed and "has at times accurately informed me of what I had done the previous evening." 

He said he believed she hacked into his email account, deleting emails and referencing saved chats he had with other individuals.

Then, on May 22, he said Esteban went to their child's school at an unscheduled time and caused a scene with his mother, who was there to pick up the girl.

He said the next day, May 23, he found Esteban outside his workplace "and that [she] appeared to be stalking me." He wrote that three days prior, she had "been stalking my mom," but the document did not describe details of that incident. 

On the morning of May 24, the day he filed the restraining order, Marasigan wrote that his mother found Esteban inside their Fremont home uninvited, standing outside their daughter's room. When the mother asked what she was doing there, Esteban said, "I'm messing with your son," and then ran away, the report states.

"My mother, brother and I are very concerned that she is trying to take our daughter. We are also very worried because this is an increased level of harassment," Marasigan wrote.

A parenting plan submitted the day of a custody hearing for their child on Oct. 5, 2010, stipulated that Esteban attend weekly individual counseling sessions and that a licensed mental health professional produce a report assessing Esteban's mental health.

Esteban is believed to have returned to her hometown of San Diego,  where she and Le both attended Mount Carmel High School, in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Peñasquitos.

Hayward police believe Le, 26, was murdered by someone who is "not a stranger," based on forensic evidence collected from Le's car and from the Kaiser Hospital parking structure where the car originally was parked; information collected during interviews; examination of evidence gathered via search warrants; review of video footage from the garage and other locations; and examination of Le's cell phone records.

A 35-person police team  of Niles Canyon, Palomares Canyon and ranchland off Mission Boulevard in Union City last Friday for any evidence leading to Le's whereabouts. That same night, in San Diego, Le's family and friends in Rancho Peñasquitos where they reemphasized their belief that Le is still alive because police have not yet discovered a body or other conclusive evidence of her death.

Hayward Police Lt. Roger Keener said more searches are planned in the East Bay, but investigators are unlikely to return to the area they canvassed June 10. The department is actively analyzing additional evidence "to determine where good places are to search," he said.

Le, a San Mateo resident, was last seen on May 27 at about 7 p.m. at the Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center, where she was an intern while going to nursing school at Samuel Merritt University.

She was supposed to meet a friend and drive to Reno after finishing her rotation at the medical facility but left during a break and did not return, according to Hayward police.

Le has black hair, brown eyes, is 5 foot 6 inches and was last seen wearing white nurse's scrubs. The family has set up michellelemissing.com to provide updates about the case.

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