University Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer shot down reports this morning that the authorities believe a professor may be involved in the disappearance of Annie Le GRD ’13.
The New York Daily News, citing an anonymous police source, reported today that police questioned an unnamed Yale professor on Friday after learning he canceled his class on Tuesday around the time Le went missing. The New York Post published a similar article, citing a report on the Fox affiliate WTIC-TV in Hartford, and the stories have quickly spread around the Web.
In an interview this morning, Lorimer said that headlines like one on the Fox News Web site saying “Yale Professor Questioned in Graduate Student’s Disappearance” are entirely misleading.
Calling the phrase a “typical Fox News hysterical headline,” Lorimer added that the police are “interviewing tons of people” and there is no reason to believe any professor is a suspect in Le’s disappearance.
In the interview, Lorimer also said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has received a “great response” to its tip line and that the University hopes the $10,000 reward it is offering for information will be “some incentive to some individuals to come forward with information.”
She confirmed news reports that Le often uses Yale Transit to travel from her apartment in the East Rock neighborhood to the School of Medicine, but said there is no evidence that Le used Yale Transit after entering the facility at 10 Amistad St. at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Finally, Lorimer called it “entirely perplexing that there doesn’t seem to be a record of her” leaving that building.
“At a certain point in time you start wondering what sort of positive storylines there could be here,” Lorimer said.