A strange disappearance

A 2007 graduate of the University of Rochester who was studying for a doctorate in pharmacology and molecular medicine, Annie Le began the day Tuesday September 8, 2009, working in her lab at the Sterling Hall of Medicine, said University Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer.

Le left the lab sometime Tuesday morning to walk the three blocks to the Amistad Street facility where she frequently works on experiments, Lorimer said.

Le brought her Yale identification card with her — records show that she swiped it at the building's entrance about 10 a.m. — but left her purse with her cell phone, credit cards and money in her Sterling office, Lorimer said.

Le worked in the lab of Anton Bennett, an associate professor of pharmacology. Police confiscated her belongings from that lab yesterday and were still examining her lab space Tuesday evening.

Bennett, for his part, said he was first contacted by police late Tuesday September 8, 2009, after Le’s roommate reported her missing.

He emphasized that his eight-person laboratory team, of which Le is a member, works closely together and, as such, her colleagues noticed her absence quickly.

“There was certainly immediate concern about her whereabouts,” Bennett said. “And they grew over the course of the day,” especially after she missed a pathology class for which she is a teaching assistant.

Bennett described Le as an extremely diligent and well-organized student. He added that she was always aware of her surroundings and took appropriate precautions when leaving the lab late at night.

On Friday September 11, the media reported the following: "Annie Le, 24, was last seen on a surveillance video entering that building and has not been heard from since."

The Long Island wedding which was planned for the 13th of September was canceled and more than 100 local, state and federal law enforcement officials descended on the university, pouring over video footage from some 75 cameras near where Le was last seen.

Under the circumstances, one would think that her worried fiancee, Jonathan Widawsky, would have frantically searched the lab where she worked when she went missing.

On Septembe 12, 2009, investigators discovered bloody clothing hidden above a ceiling tile in the research building where Le was last seen.

The body was found shortly after 5 p.m. the next day, on Sunday September 13, 2009, in the wall of the Yale Amistad Street research laboratory where Le was was seen entering the lab, but not leaving.

Shouldn't the police have video surveillance evidence of the killer entering the lab and leaving? There are 70 cameras in and around the building, and if this is a spontaneous, workplace violence killing, the police should have surveillance evidence to prove who the killer is.

Le was due to marry Jonathan Widawsky on the day she was found, which led to questions about whether the 24-year-old pharmacology student had gotten cold feet and ran away, or whether she was the victim of foul play.

"They are going frame by frame, looking at every image," Yale spokesman Tom Conroy told The Associated Press.

What did they discover? This is a strange case.

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

The person who killed Le has evidently gotten away with it so far, and he or she is probably counting on the indictment of a scapegoat, to get away with murder.

Time will tell.

A Yale Alumni wrote; "Having just graduated from yale, there are secret ways you can get in a building and out of a building without being seen. Check the steam tunnels...it's grim and gross but theyre used."

Is that true?

Another wrote; "The whole thing just seems totally unreasonable. Nobody can escape the many monitoring cameras there, except for a well prepared expert. By the way, who triggered the fire alarm?"

On September 15, 2009, authorities gather evidence at the apartment of Yale research technician, Raymond Clark III, who is officially named a person of interest.

He is released on September 16, 2009 but arrested on September 17, 2009 and charged with the murder of Annie Le.

Is he the murderer?

Is he guilty? Highly Doubt it.

If this was a spontaneous, rage killing, this case should have been solved through video surveillance, and why that has not happened to date is anybody's guess.