Advertisement Murder mystery: New details in death of nursing grad Phuong Le Police have forensic evidence from Le’s body, car in 3-year-old cold case Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Tales of the American dream abound for young immigrants like Phuong Le, who emigrated from Vietnam when she was 9. But her parents never imagined this kind of ending for their daughter, who just graduated from nursing school.“When I think of my daughter now, there’s a sense of despair (and) hopelessness. My heart feels pain,” father Huong Van Le told KCRA 3 in an exclusive interview.Phuong's mother lies awake every night, remembering her smart and studious daughter, and, consumed by what-ifs and whys, is haunted by one question: Who killed Le?“Parents often have a soft spot for their youngest daughter," Sang Pham said. "At the time when I heard about her death, I didn’t want to live.”Fairfield Police Lt. Greg Hurlbut said two cold-case detectives are sifting through leads, trying to track down Le’s killer.“It was probably someone she had met that day, or just a few days before she left, that her friends and family didn’t know necessarily,” Hurlbut said.Perhaps the biggest clue lies at the Fairfield Barnes & Noble – inside where she was last seen, or outside where her car was found, with her cellphone and purse left inside the trunk before Le vanished.“There was some suggestion that she may have known who she was going with to some degree, like her property was left behind as if she anticipated coming back,” Hurlbut said.But Le never came back.Twelve days later, a woman walking in a remote area of Napa County found Le’s body, suggesting to police that the murderer is at least familiar with the area.Her family and friends gathered for a funeral, around what would have been Le’s 25th birthday. Suspicion soon fell on Le’s married employer, Thuc Nguyen, with whom detectives and family members say she was romantically involved.Police served warrants at Nguyen’s Fairfield home, as well as Postal Express, his Suisun City business. However, detectives do not believe he’s the killer.“None of the evidence suggests he was involved in the abduction or murder at this point,” Hurlbut said.Investigators tell KCRA 3 they served a search warrant at a Fairfield business earlier this year to see who might have been around Le when she disappeared.Police say Le’s body was so decomposed at the time it was discovered, they cannot confirm or rule out whether she was sexually assaulted.However, they were able to obtain DNA evidence from her body, car and belongings.“So, that’s the challenge of trying to figure out who that person would be, who would have access to her, who she communicated with,” Hurlbut said.Police are still reaching out, asking anyone who could’ve been in the parking lot that night or spotted Le while driving around the area, to contact them.“Her disappearance was so unexpected, but I believe it was someone who knows my daughter – someone she socialized with often who killed her,” Le’s father said.For Phuong Le’s family, an American dream has morphed into a never-ending nightmare, with hope fading each day and closure no closer than it was three years ago. --Inside KCRA.com:Fairfield police get far-flung reports of Le sightingsLe's disappearance a mysteryPD: Body similar to description of missing woman