Local, state and federal authorities are looking for 24-year-old Annie Le, a graduate student last seen at a Yale research building in New Haven, Connecticut. While there are reports that her bloody clothes were found above a ceiling tile in the building and her body was even found in the building, FBI special agent Kimberly Mertz said, "We are not in a position today to conclude whether this is a missing persons case or whether criminality is involved... I will categorically say a body has not been found," adding, "Items that could potentially be evidence has been seized," but said they had not yet been associated to the pharmacology doctoral student. Le, whose credit card, purse and cell phone were left in her office a few blocks away, was to be married tomorrow at North Ritz Club in Syosset, but the wedding was canceled; Newsday reports, "Police have said that Le's fiance, Jonathan Widawsky of Huntington, a graduate student in physics at Columbia University, is not considered a suspect and that he is in New Haven cooperating with police." And Yale said reports (from the Post and a Fox affiliate) suggesting a professor was a suspect were "typical Fox News hysterical headline[s]." more ›

More grisly details have emerged from an investigation into the murder of Eridania Rodriguez, a 46-year-old cleaning woman who vanished during her shift at 2 Rector Street Tuesday night and was found dead at the building Saturday morning. After futilely searching a Pennsylvania landfill for her remains, some 100 officers returned to the building Saturday to search the building from top to bottom. The corpse of a woman strongly believed to be Rodriguez was found in an air duct on the 12th floor, which was under construction and had restricted access. more ›

Brazilian and French military jets are conducting searches of the Atlantic Ocean, in hopes of finding wreckage from the Paris-bound Air France Flight 447 that disappeared a few hours after taking off from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday night. Brazil's largest airline, TAM, reported that a crew member saw "several orange points" on the ocean's surface yesterday morning, over the same route the Air France flight was taking. more ›

As the search continues for missing Brooklyn woman Laura Garza, police say they have found a bleached section of carpet along Route 17 in Bloomingburg that appears to be the same one that was missing from Michael Mele’s apartment in nearby Wallkill. While police wait for it to be tested, a spokesman said, “It is anticipated that it will be significant.” The discovery came a few days after police questioned Mele’s girlfriend, who had allegedly helped him remove the carpet the day after Garza disappeared. more ›

In case there has been any ambiguity up until this point, Michael Mele is not a nice person. One of his employees at the Quizno's he manages in Orange County recounted to the Post today about how her boss berated her, screaming into the phone at her for revealing to police where he lived when they came by investigating the disappearance of Laura Garza. more ›

Bail for Michael Mele, a convicted sex offender, was raised to $150,000, as he remains the sole suspect in the disappearance of Laura Garza. Garza, a Brooklyn resident who had recently moved from Texas, was last seen in a SUV with Mele, who she apparently met at Marquee nightclub last Wednesday. Mele's friend told state police he last saw the Mele and Garza in a McDonald's parking lot in Newburgh. The Daily News reports that the state police are also trying to use Mele's cellphone records to "trace his steps...When a cell phone is on, it frequently 'pings' off the closest tower, and that information can be used to create a road map of the user's movements." Mele's lawyer points out that his client hasn't been charged in Garza's disappearance, in spite of the police searching his apartment and finding blood in his car (Mele is being held on a probation violation). more ›

After the State Police asked women to come forward with any information about a man suspected in the disappearance of missing Brooklyn woman Laura Garza, "stories of creepy run-ins" with Michael Mele are emerging. According the Daily News, the 23-year-old, "in most of the attacks...followed women to their cars and then masturbated in front of them." He was convicted of doing that in NY State and may face charges in NJ and Connecticut. Garza was last seen with Mele, apparently meeting him at nightclub Marquee. Investigators found blood in Mele's car and there's a large piece of carpet missing from his apartment in Wallkill. Mele has not been charged yet—he's being held on a probation violation. more ›

Police are looking for witnesses who may have seen the silver Infiniti SUV "any time after early Wednesday morning," because that's the vehicle a missing Brooklyn woman was last seen in. Laura Garza left the Manhattan nightclub Marquee early Wednesday morning with Michael Mele (pictured), a convicted sex offender, and hasn't been heard from since. State police investigated Mele's upstate apartment, finding a woman's shoe near a dumpster and a large piece of his home's carpet missing. more ›

Authorities arrested the girlfriend of the fugitive hedge fund scammer yesterday. Debra Ryan reportedly confessed that she helped Sam Israel, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for swindling hundreds of millions from investors, plan his disappearance a week and a half ago. more ›

After released a "Wanted" poster and questioning someone who may have been involved with an escape, law enforcement officials doubt that hedge fund founder Samuel Israel killed himself. Israel, who was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for swindling $450 million out of investors, was supposed to arrive at federal prison on Monday, but instead his empty SUV was found the Bear Mountain Bridge. The words "Suicide is Painless" were written on the dusty hood, suggesting suicide. more ›

Two months ago, Sam Israel III was sentenced to 20 years at a Massachusetts prison for swindling $450 million from investors in his hedge fund, the Bayou Hedge Fund Group. He was supposed to report to prison yesterday, but he never showed up. Instead his 2006 GMC Envoy was found on the Bear Mountain Bridge, keys still in the ignition and the words "Suicide is painless" (the theme song to M*A*S*H) written on the dusty hood. more ›

Trying to quell speculation about a missing passenger's disappearance, the Norwegian Cruise Line says there is surveillance video showing 46-year-old Mindy Jordan falling from the ship. Jordan fell overboard the Norwegian Dawn two hours after it left NYC, on its way to Bermuda. more ›

The search for a missing NJ woman led the police to a pond in the Charleston section of Staten Island, where a suitcase of bones were found. The bones are undergoing DNA testing to see if it's a match for Amy Giordano, who vanished last June. more ›