9/8 Annie Marie Le missing from Yale University (BODY FOUND)

[cece]

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/features/2009/09/14/idealistic-young-woman/

‘An idealistic young woman’

She was upbeat, friendly, always armed with a smile. Since going missing Tuesday afternoon, Annie Le MED ’13 has been sorely missed by all who knew her.

Following the discovery of a female body presumed to be Le in the building at 10 Amistad St. on Sunday evening — the same day Le was to wed her college sweetheart — friends, family and colleagues are mourning her loss.

Described as sweet, spunky and smart, the 24-year-old pharmacology student and Placerville, Calif., native was scheduled to be married Sunday to Jonathan Widawsky, a graduate student at Columbia University whom she met at the University of Rochester.

While working overtime in her Yale laboratory in the weeks leading up to her wedding, Le chatted constantly about her excitement for the ceremony, colleagues said.

“Lucky I’m in love with my best friend ,” Le had written on her Facebook profile. According to status updates and wall posts on the profile, Le and Widawsky were engaged in July of 2008 and celebrated their five-year anniversary as a couple in March of this year.

At Yale, colleagues at Le’s lab said she was dedicated to her research. Recently she had decided on the topic of her dissertation: the study of how certain proteins are involved with metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

Associate professor of pharmacology Anton Bennett, Le’s faculty adviser, said Le — who received a National Science Foundation grant in 2008 — had “tremendous potential.”

“I can tell you that we are fond of all our graduate students, and among them Annie was a bright spot,” pharmacology professor Gary Rudnick wrote in an e-mail message Sunday night. “She almost always had a smile when I saw her in the hallways. … This is a very tough loss for all of us in the department.”

Le made an impact not only on those around her at Yale but also on colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, where she participated in a scholarship program during two summers as an undergraduate.

Jennifer Simpson, a fellow NIH scholar who last spoke with Le about four weeks ago, recalled how on one summer night during the program, Le burst into her room with a hankering for Vietnamese food. Traveling on the subway from Bethesda, Md., to a Vietnamese restaurant in Virginia, the two went on a spontaneous “adventure” inspired by Le’s craving. “I thought you’d like it,” Simpson remembers Le saying.

“Annie enjoyed sharing her life with people,” Simpson said late Sunday night. “She wasn’t a loner. She was alive. She had a vibrant personality. She wanted to be there with people.”

At Union Mine High School in El Dorado, Calif., Le was valedictorian and a member of the National Honor Society and the culture club.

Though small in stature, Le stood out among her classmates and was not afraid to speak up for herself. “She was a spunky little thing,” high school friend Cierra Montes said Sunday night.

Shaun Perisho, another one of Le’s classmates, recalled how substitute teachers would often mispronounce Le’s surname (which is pronounced “lay,” not “lee”), one of Le’s pet peeves. But on such occasions, the usually vocal student would hold her tongue out of respect for the teacher, instead glancing back at her classmates with a wry grin.

Le also spent time in high school volunteering at the Marshall Medical Center in Placerville.

Classmate Tiffany Filice described the close relationship Le developed with Filice’s grandmother, who was a patient at the Marshall hospital. Le logged extra hours visiting the woman, who gave Le a graduation gift in appreciation.

Pursuing her passion for science at the University of Rochester, Le received a bachelor of science in cell and developmental biology in 2007. She graduated cum laude with awards for her achievements in biology and her leadership on campus, a spokeswoman for the university said.

But despite her heavy academic workload at Rochester, Le always found time for her friends, who called her energetic and “the happiest girl you’d ever know,” as college friend Mark Biery said in a phone interview around noon Sunday. “She would work those crazy hours, but she would still take time out of her day to come see us, or we would come see her.”

As fellow NIH scholar Michael Torres put it in a phone interview Sunday afternoon: “She’d be the last person that anyone would ever want to see harmed, and that’s, I guess, why it’s so shocking.”

[Jennifer34]

Very interesting article about the professor.  I wouldn't be surprised if it did in fact turn out to be him.  A very dear family friend of mine was murdered by his professor back in the late 80's.  It happens more than you hear about in the media.

[klaasend]

This morning's report.  Nothing new really:

[no rose colored glasses]

Very interesting article about the professor.  I wouldn't be surprised if it did in fact turn out to be him.  A very dear family friend of mine was murdered by his professor back in the late 80's.  It happens more than you hear about in the media.

  How horrible, I'm sorry. I have bad feelings on this one professor Schlessinger, but whoever did this to Annie whether a professor or a student knew the blueprints well of that lab.

[can]

Justice for Annie Le!

With everything to live for and so much to contribute.  R. I. P. Annie.
Condolences to her family, her sweetheart and her friends.

 

[no rose colored glasses]

An autopsy was being performed Monday morning on the human remains authorities believe are those of Yale grad student Annie Le, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said.
Dr. Wayne Carver, the chief medical examiner in Connecticut, is expected to make a formal finding of cause and manner of death by the afternoon, she said.
Carver's office will then decide if and how to make those findings public, she said.

[no rose colored glasses]

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/autopsy-being-performed-on-body-believed-to-be-annie-le-1.1445629

[klaasend]

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/09/14/news/doc4aae5d57ae145175622155.txt

Body found in 'chase' at Yale lab, police sources confirm
Published: Monday, September 14, 2009

(snipped)

A chase is an enclosed vertical channel inside a wall that holds utilities for a building, like electrical wiring and plumbing. It typically goes from the basement to the roof and has “fire stops” between each floor. There also usually are access doors on each floor.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.wesh.com/index.html
Police: Yale Univ. Killing No Random Act
Police Say No One In Custody
PATRICK SANDERS, Associated Press Writer

POSTED: 7:27 am EDT September 13, 2009
UPDATED: 11:52 am EDT September 14, 2009
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Police in New Haven, Conn., said the killing of a person whose body was found stuffed behind a wall in a high-security laboratory building at Yale University is not a random act.

New Haven police spokesman Joe Avery told The Associated Press on Monday that police don't believe that anyone else on the Ivy League campus is in danger. He would not say if police have a suspect, but said nobody is in custody.

Police believe the body found Sunday in the Yale Medical School building is that of Annie Le, a 24-year-old native of Placerville, Calif. She was last seen in the building on Tuesday.

An autopsy is being performed to verify that the body is Le's.

Police are hunting for the killer.

Police found the body around 5 p.m. Sunday, on what was to have been Le's wedding day.
<snipped>

[no rose colored glasses]

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/09/14/news/doc4aae5d57ae145175622155.txt

Body found in 'chase' at Yale lab, police sources confirm
Published: Monday, September 14, 2009

(snipped)

A chase is an enclosed vertical channel inside a wall that holds utilities for a building, like electrical wiring and plumbing. It typically goes from the basement to the roof and has “fire stops” between each floor. There also usually are access doors on each floor.

Thanks, I never heard of that term before.

[Northern Rose]

Yale Killer Caught on Tape?
by Wendy Murphy

With 75 cameras trained on the Yale lab where Annie Le’s body was found, former sex crimes prosecutor Wendy Murphy says police are likely tracking their suspect’s reaction to the grim discovery.

First it was bloody clothes hidden above ceiling tiles in the lab where Yale graduate student Annie Le was last seen alive. Then Sunday evening, Le's body was found behind a wall in the same building.

As yet, there are no suspects, but unlike most cases, odds are excellent the killer will be identified quickly. The building requires those who enter to swipe a card to get in—which means every potential suspect is already known to police. And even if the person gained entry without using a card, the building is under constant surveillance by 75 video cameras. Whoever killed Le is on the tapes.

By process of elimination alone, there's little doubt police will name the killer soon. If 25 people were in the building at the time Le went missing, cops will have no trouble figuring out that 24 of them had nothing to do with the crime. Whoever's left will become the focus of their investigation. This remaining individual—make no mistake—will have had a motive to kill Annie Le. A jilted and possessive ex-lover who was jealous because Le was about to be married to another man? A crazy scientist, upset that Le's work had led to a discovery that he had hoped to find? An angry woman, upset that Le was marrying a man she loved?


MORE....

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-14/the-killer-caught-on-tape/

[Tamikosmom]

It is too late to read read any of the dialogue of today.  I will catch up tomorrow.  However ... reading the following article causes me to wonder why the dogs did not pick up the scene in the earlier search.

Janet

That was exactly my thought when I saw that she was found inside of the building.  Not to be smart alec...but they need some new cadaver dogs IMO.  And how about their own noses?  I have heard people complain about having dead rats, etc. inside of walls that they could smell..much less having something as large as a person.  Sorry for the graphics everyone..but this should have been 'solved' in one damn day. (I know I have a Type A personality...damanding something close to perfection...and I work on it every day)

I wonder if, since it is a medical lab, the dogs had problems with the smells of other dead things and the chemicals? I wonder if they do necropsy in the building or work with human tissue? I do not know enough about cadaver dogs but it seems like it could be a problem?

Good point theboyzmom.

Janet

[N2WISHN]

Fox news just said that LE does have a suspect, no name yet, suppossedly he failed a poly and has defensive wounds on his person. More to follow as it becomes known. Might be getting an arrest soon........

[tupelohoney]

http://www.wesh.com/news/20885454/detail.html

Reports: Police Have Suspect In Yale Murder
Police Say No One In Custody
PATRICK SANDERS, Associated Press Writer

POSTED: 7:27 am EDT September 13, 2009
UPDATED: 12:43 pm EDT September 14, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Multiple national news networks reported Monday that police investigating the murder of a Yale University graduate student have a suspect in the case.

ABC News and MSNBC reported that a student failed a lie-detector test and what could be defensive wounds.

Police are hunting for the killer who stuffed a body believed to be that of a Annie Le behind a wall in the high-security laboratory building where she worked.

Police found the body around 5 p.m. Sunday, on what was to have been 24-year-old Le's wedding day.

An autopsy was underway on Monday to verify the identity of the body, found in a cable duct in the Yale medical school building. Police would not say Monday if they have a suspect, but said that nobody is in custody.

"We're not believing it's a random act," said Officer Joe Avery, a police spokesman. He would not provide any further details, but said no one else is in danger.

The building where the body was found is part of the university medical school complex about a mile from Yale's main campus and is accessible to Yale personnel with identification cards. Some 75 video surveillance cameras monitor all doorways.

"It's a frightening idea that there's a murderer walking around on campus," said 20-year-old Muneeb Sultan, a chemistry student. "I'm shocked that it happened in a Yale building that had key-card access. It's really sad."

Police have not provided any details on the condition of the body found or how the woman died.

A friend said Monday the doctoral student never showed signs of worry about her own personal safety at work, although she did express concerns about crime in New Haven in an article she wrote last year.

"If she was concerned about (it) she would have said something to someone and they would have known," Jennifer Simpson told CBS' "The Early Show." ''And Jon (her fiance) would have known, her family would have known, friends would have known."

Simpson called Le, a pharmacology student from Placerville, Calif., friendly and affable to everyone.

"She was a people person," Simpson said. "She loved people. She loved life. We just can't imagine anybody wanting to harm Annie."

Another friend, Laurel Griffeath, echoed those thoughts on NBC's "Today" show.

"I can't even imagine someone mad at Annie, much less wanting to hurt her," Griffeath said.

Police are analyzing what they're calling "a large amount" of physical evidence.

They will not discuss suspects, other than to say Le's fiance is not a suspect and has assisted in the investigation.

Campus officials have said that the security network recorded Le entering the building by swiping her ID card about 10 a.m. on Sept. 8, and have been baffled before Sunday's gruesome discovery that she was never seen leaving.

The university planned a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. Monday at the Ivy League university. The Yale Daily News says an e-mail to the Yale community invites participants to "bring a candle and join us in solidarity."

Yale President Richard Levin offered support to Le's family and her fiance, Columbia University graduate student Jonathan Widawsky. The couple was to marry Sunday in Syosset, N.Y., on Long Island's north shore.

"The family and fiance and friends now must suffer the additional ordeal of waiting for the body to be positively identified," Levin said.

Le wrote an article that was published in February in the medical school's magazine. The piece, titled "Crime and Safety in New Haven," compared higher instances of robbery in New Haven with cities that house other Ivy League schools. It also included an interview with Yale Police Chief James Perrotti, who offered advice such as "pay attention to where you are" and "avoid portraying yourself as a potential victim."

"In short, New Haven is a city and all cities have their perils," Le concludes. "But with a little street smarts, one can avoid becoming yet another statistic."

Le, who worked in a laboratory in the five-story building's basement, was reported missing Sept. 8. Her ID, money, credit cards and purse were found in her third-floor office.

More than 100 local, state and federal police had been searching the building for days, using blueprints to uncover any place where evidence or Le's body could be hidden.

Investigators on Saturday said they recovered evidence from the building, but would not confirm media reports that the items included bloody clothing.

Authorities also sifted through garbage at a Hartford incinerator Sunday, looking through trash that was taken from the building in the days since Le went missing.

No one answered the door at the Widawskys' gray, ranch-style in Huntington, N.Y. on Monday.

"He is a very nice young man," next-door neighbor George Mayer said of Jonathan Widawsky. "His family, they're all just wonderful people -- very, very nice people."

Both families belong to the same temple.

Mayer, whose mother had been invited to the wedding, said he hopes whoever committed the crime "gets justice -- that he gets whatever he deserves."

Yale students on Monday called the finding sad, but some said the discovery doesn't make them feel less safe at Yale.

"Obviously it's a city and there are safety concerns," said 18-year-old Peter Spaulding, a student from Maryland. "It can happen anywhere. You have to go on with life."

Law student Lindsay Nash of West Chester, Pa., said she doesn't sense a heightened level of fear on campus.

"There's always an attention to safety here," she said. "I think there's perception that you need to be careful regardless."

[Toler]

Police: Student Is Suspect In Yale Killing [Breaking News]
APReport ^ | September 14, 2009

Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 10:45:20 AM by Steelfish

Police: Student Is Suspect In Yale Killing Victim believed to be graduate student who was due to be married Sunday

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Police have identified a suspect in the killing of a person whose body was found stuffed behind a wall in a high-security laboratory building at Yale University, law enforcement sources told NBC News on Monday.

The suspect, a student, has defensive wounds, and failed a polygraph test, police said.

The body found Sunday in the Yale Medical School building is believed to be that of Annie Le, a 24-year-old native of Placerville, Calif. She was last seen in the building on Tuesday.

Police found the female body around 5 p.m. Sunday. An autopsy is being performed to verify that the body is Le's.

Friends said the doctoral student -- who was due to get married on Sunday -- never showed signs of worry about her own personal safety at work, although she did express concerns about crime in New Haven in an article she wrote last year.

"I can't even imagine someone mad at Annie, much less wanting to hurt her," Laurel Griffeath said on the TODAY show on Monday.


(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2339373/posts

[Northern Rose]

You Can Get In With A “Butter Knife”

As an electrician familiar with Yale’s Amistad lab building, Jesse Stanley said, he knows how easy it is to open up one of the big electrical panels leading to the “chase” where cops discovered graduate student Annie Le’s presumed remains.

Police spokesman Joe Avery Monday said that the body of the missing 24 year-old Yale pharmacology PhD. student was found Sunday inside a mechanical chase in the wall of the basement at 10 Amistad St., a medical building where she did lab experiments. Since then the New Haven police have taken over the investigation from the Yale police and the FBI. Avery said most of the department’s 60-plus detectives are on the case, interviewing hundreds of people.

The mechanical chase is a void in the wall used to take utilities from the top floor to the basement, Avery said.

The Amistad building has panels at every floor allowing technicians access to wiring and cables, electrician explained.

And they’re not hard to open, according to Stanley. “With a screwdriver or even a butter knife you could open it up,” he said.

MORE....


http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/09/you_can_get_in.php

[Northern Rose]

Tests on bloody clothes in student case may be completed Monday

(CNN) -- A day after finding a body inside a building where missing Yale student Annie Le was last seen, investigators might get a key piece of evidence Monday: results of tests on blood-stained clothing found in the same building.

Teams at a Connecticut State Police lab worked through the weekend processing and examining the clothes, which were found hidden above tiles in a drop ceiling. Lt. Paul Vance, a State Police spokesman, said results could be available as early as Monday.

MORE....

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/14/missing.yale.student/

[Northern Rose]

Lorimer: Security stepped up at Amistad
BY THE YALE DAILY NEWS

University Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer sent a campuswide e-mail shortly after noon today to share details about Yale's response to the discovery of a body at the research facility at 10 Amistad St.

The Amistad Building will be closed today, with the exception of those who have "essential research responsibilities," who will be accompanied into the building by a law enforcement official. Those who work in the building are being given an additional day of paid time off.

In addition to increased street patrols and a new bicycle unit in the medical school area, additional security personnel have been added to the Sterling Hall of Medicine, where Annie Le MED ’13 was early Tuesday morning before she left to go to her lab at 10 Amistad St.


MORE...

http://www.yaledailynews.com/crosscampus/2009/09/14/lorimer-security-stepped-amistad/

[klaasend]

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2009/09/14/female-body-found-10-amistad-st-police-suspect-it-/

(snipped)

Deputy Secretary Martha Highsmith, who oversees campus security, said earlier this week that access to the rooms and labs inside the building is restricted and digitally monitored. Authorities said they know who was in the basement at the time when Le entered.

Robert Alpern, dean of the Yale School of Medicine, where Le was studying for a Ph.D. in pharmacology, said in a telephone interview Sunday night that access to the basement where Le was found is limited to certain people with approved Yale magnetic identification cards, as it is at all University facilities where research is conducted on animals.

(snipped)

and some good pics



Basement where her body was found:

[Northern Rose]

Reports: Police Have Suspect In Yale Murder
Police Say No One In Custody

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Multiple national news networks reported Monday that police investigating the murder of a Yale University graduate student have a suspect in the case.

ABC News and MSNBC reported that the person failed a lie-detector test and had what could be defensive wounds.

Police are hunting for the killer who stuffed a body believed to be that of a Annie Le behind a wall in the high-security laboratory building where she worked.

Police found the body around 5 p.m. Sunday, on what was to have been 24-year-old Le's wedding day. 

An autopsy was underway on Monday to verify the identity of the body, found in a cable duct in the Yale medical school building. Police would not say Monday if they have a suspect, but said that nobody is in custody.

"We're not believing it's a random act," said Officer Joe Avery, a police spokesman. He would not provide any further details, but said no one else is in danger.
MORE....

http://www.kpho.com/news/20885454/detail.html?treets=pho&tml=pho_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=pho_natlbreak_1_11440109142009