Police Find Human Remains in Search for Missing California Nursing Student

Michelle Le, 26, was last seen at the Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center in Hayward, Calif. (Hayward Police Department)

SUNOL, Calif. – California investigators Saturday unearthed human remains during a search for missing nursing student Michelle Le, KGO-TV reported.

The body was found in a remote area of Alameda County near Sunol, Calif., about 50 miles (80km) southeast of San Francisco, on Saturday afternoon by a member of a search team organized by Le's family.

"Today, one of the search party members did discover remains," Hayward Police Department Lt. Roger Keener told KGO. "Right now that's all we know. There is nothing that indicates gender with the remains. The body is decomposed."

Alameda County Crime Lab technicians attended the scene to collect evidence, but authorities say it may take weeks to identify the corpse.

The 26-year-old nursing student was reported missing May 27 after she never returned from a break during her shift at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hayward, Calif.

Video surveillance in the hospital garage showed Le's white Honda SUV leaving later that evening, but it was not immediately clear who was driving the vehicle, which was found empty a few blocks away, according to police.

Hayward police released a statement shortly after saying they found "compelling evidence" in Le's car and in video footage that led them to classify the case as a homicide.

Earlier this month, police arrested Giselle Esteban, 26, a high school friend of Le's, on suspicion of murder.