Possible Love Triangle in Le Case?

The best-known “person of interest” in the case of missing San Mateo resident Michelle Le was a friend from high school who court records indicate had been harassing her ex-boyfriend – a man who reportedly had also dated Le – in the time before the nursing student’s disappearance.

In fact, a restraining order was taken out against Giselle Esteban by her ex-boyfriend on May 24, just three days before Le vanished, according to records obtained from Alameda County Superior Court.

Esteban, 27, is not technically a suspect, although Hayward police have visited her Union City apartment twice and interviewed her at least as many times. Police note they have also interviewed more than two dozen other people as they in the case.

Those same court records allege erratic behavior by Esteban due to an apparent grudge against Fremont resident Scott Marasigan, who is the father of her child. Esteban has been accused of stalking Marasigan, breaking into his home and sending threatening text messages, among other things. A hearing in the civil harassment case is scheduled for June 14 at the Fremont Hall of Justice.

Previous news reports have quoted Esteban as saying she “openly hates” Le for stealing her boyfriend – but she also has denied having anything to do with Le’s disappearance.

A former roommate of Esteban’s told a San Diego TV news station that he didn’t think Esteban was the jealous type and that “To my knowledge, she was ready to go on with her life.”

According to some reports, Esteban has very recently returned to Rancho Penasquitos, the San Diego suburb where both she and Le attended Mt. Carmel High School together and were friends before moving to the Bay Area.

Le, a at , was last seen on May 27 at 7 p.m. at Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center's facility in Hayward at 27303 Sleepy Hollow Ave. Le told classmates she was planning to drive to Reno after finishing her rotation at the Kaiser Hospital in Hayward. She left during a break and never returned.

Police have said forensic and other evidence leads them to believe she was killed in the hospital’s parking garage by someone who is “not a stranger.” Surveillance cameras recorded footage of her vehicle exiting the parking lot that night, but the footage did not show who was behind the wheel.

The vehicle, a white Honda SUV, was found a few blocks away in a Hayward cul-de-sac called Ponderosa Court.

On Monday, Hayward police said the case has become due to strong evidence that Le had been killed in that parking lot. Le’s family, however, says they have not seen solid evidence that she is dead, and on Tuesday they encouraging community members to .

Pledges from Le’s family, as well as from Samuel Merritt University and Turner Construction Company, where Le worked, have led to a total for information leading to her return.

“It is with heavy hearts that we learn from Hayward Police Department that Michelle Le's missing person case has now become a murder investigation,” said Samuel Merritt University president Sharon Diaz in a statement. “The pain we feel is indescribable.”