Death Of Annie Le Ruled Homicide
Police Say Killing Was Not Random
POSTED: 11:36 am EDT September 14,
2009
UPDATED: 9:14 pm EDT September 14,
2009
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Human remains found inside a wall in a secured Yale University laboratory have been positively identified as belonging to missing graduate student and bride-to-be Annie Le.The remains were found inside a wall in the basement area of 10 Amistad St. just after 5 p.m. Sunday, Le's would-be wedding day. Police said the remains were found stuffed behind a wall that covers pipes and wires in the section of the building where animals used for lab work are housed.
Yale students told Eyewitness News that the lab's basement area is secure."It's pretty secure to go to the basement area where they found her. You have to go through two levels of security card access," said student Dennis Jones.The medical examiner said the remains were positively identified as 24-year-old Le during an autopsy Monday. The cause of death has not been released, but her death has been ruled a homicide.Police said Monday that they do not believe Le's killing was a random act, and would not provide further details, but said no one else is in danger.Sources told Eyewitness News that people have been questioned in connection with the case, but police said nobody is being called a suspect and no arrests have been made. "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."Le had been missing since Tuesday, when she was last captured by some of the school’s 70-plus surveillance cameras entering the lab.New Haven detectives said they are going through "a substantial amount of physical evidence."On Saturday, bloodied clothing was found hidden in a drop ceiling in another part of the building. Police said they are testing to determine whether the clothing belongs to Le or someone else.The Amistad Street building was closed on Sunday and remained closed on Monday, but students who work on the lab said they're on edge."They only closed it on Sunday and we've been in it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and she was still in the basement. That's messed up," said student Adam Lazorchak.Le and fiance, Jonathan Widawsky, had planned to wed at the the North Ritz Club in Syosset, N.Y., on the north shore of Long Island. Police said Widawsky, a Columbia graduate student, was assisting in the investigation and was not considered a suspect. Le and Widawsky are described as college sweethearts, meeting as undergraduates at the University of Rochester.Le received her undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester in New York and majored in cell and developmental biology with a minor in medical anthropology. She conducted a summer project at the National Institutes of Health on bone tissue engineering using mouse mesenchymal stem cells, according to a biography posted on the NIH Web site. While at the University of Rochester, she conducted research involving parasitic wasps.She is originally from California, and graduated from Union Mine High School in 2003, where she was named "Best of the Best" and "Most Likely To Be The Next Einstein."
Previous Stories:
- September 14, 2009: Yale Death Stirs Memories At Wesleyan
- September 14, 2009: Homicide Not The First In Yale’s History
- September 14, 2009: Remains In Wall Assumed To Be That Of Missing Student
- September 13, 2009: Wedding Bells Silenced As Search For Le Continues
- September 13, 2009: Items Seized In Yale Student's Disappearance
- September 10, 2009: Yale Student Vanishes Days Before Wedding
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