Police Deny Calls Made from Missing Nursing Student's Phone

Hayward Police Dept.(HAYWARD, Calif.) -- Police and an investigator for the family of missing California nursing student Michelle Le on Thursday denied a report that calls were made from Le's cellphone following her disappearance in late May.

Le, 26, vanished on her way to the garage at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward in Northern California.  She was studying at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, combining academic work with clinical training.

A source told ABC News affiliate KGTV in San Diego that several calls were made from Le's cell after her disappearance.  One was made to a phone in Reno and one to somewhere in Arizona, the source said.

But Roger Keener of the Hayward Police Department said in an email that police "are not aware of any phone calls made from Michelle's phone after her disappearance."

Michael Frame, hired by the Le family as a private investigator on the case, called the report "erroneous."

A family member, Krystine Dinh, said in a statement that Michelle's brother Michael did receive a call from a woman in Arizona that he passed on to police, but he did not say that the call "had any significance."

Hayward police declared the case a homicide on June 6, citing "compelling evidence."  Le's SUV, found less than a mile from the hospital, had a smattering of blood inside, according to KGTV.

But Frame said the family, which is offering a $65,000 reward for any information, refuses to give up hope.

"They found Jaycee Dugard 18 years later," he said.

Michelle might have had a wound that bled, he pointed out, but could still be alive.

Police have said they have several persons of interest in the case, including Giselle Esteban, who was involved in a dispute with Le over a boyfriend.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Nursing Student Dragged into Woods By Camouflaged Abductor

Design Pics/Robert Cable/Valueline/Thinkstock(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) -- Almost 400 volunteers are searching the dense West Tennessee woodlands looking for a 20-year-old nursing student last seen being dragged by a man dressed in camouflage into the woods near her home, investigators said.

Holly Bobo was dragged "across the carport of her home…toward a wooded area" in the town of Parsons on Wednesday, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Both Bobo's mother and 25-year-old brother watched the woman being abducted and called 911.

Mayer would not say if family members tried to intervene or if they were suspected in the abduction.

Bobo is a cousin of Whitney Duncan, a country music singer and a finalist on the television talent show Nashville Star.

"My cousin Holly was kidnapped this morning," Duncan wrote on Facebook. "Please pray for her & our family. This is really sad & shocking."

Investigators initially believe the young woman may have been abducted from her house in a home invasion, but John Mayer, spokesman for the TBI told ABCNews.com that "the suspect was never inside."

Police won't comment on what else family members told them or what evidence may have been left behind.

"The investigation is ongoing," said Mayer.

Between 300 and 400 people are involved in today's search, Mayer said.

Investigators are using sniffing dogs and a helicopter to comb the rural area around Bobo's home, about 100 miles north of Memphis.

Calls to Bobo's family were not returned.

Bobo is five-foot-three and weighs 110 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio