Chandra Ann Levy (April 14 1977 – circa
May 1 2001) was an intern who worked at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who
disappeared in the spring of 2001 and was subsequently found murdered in Rock Creek
Park. The investigation into her disappearance uncovered an affair[1] with then-U.S.
Representative Gary Condit, a Democrat representing California's 18th congressional district and a senior member of the House
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Though Condit was never called a suspect by police, the uproar led to his exit from
Congress. The circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear.
Life and background
Levy was born in Cleveland and grew up in Modesto, California. Her parents are members of Congregation Beth Shalom there, a Conservative
Jewish synagogue.[2] She attended San Francisco State University, earning a degree in journalism. After interning for the
California Bureau of Secondary Education and working in the office of Los
Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, she began attending the University of Southern California to earn a Master's
degree in Public Administration.
As part of her studies, she moved to Washington, D.C., to become an intern with the
Federal Bureau of Prisons, although shortly before her death, this was
abruptly terminated when her academic eligibility was found to have expired. She had previously completed her degree requirements
and was scheduled to return to California for graduation.
Case and scandal
Disappearance and search
She was last seen alive on April 30 2001 [citation needed]; the following day police said she
had disappeared and controversy surrounding her disappearance was a main topic of the American news media ending only after the
September 11, 2001 attacks. All of this contributed to Condit's failure to
win his party's re-nomination, and thus re-election, to his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Levy's parents, Robert and Susan Levy of Modesto, held numerous vigils and news conferences in an attempt to "bring Chandra
home". (Mrs. Levy later participated in the efforts to find another missing Modesto woman, Laci
Peterson.)
Condit, a married man who represented the congressional district where the Levy family resided, at first denied that he had
had an affair with Chandra. His later statements left open the possibility of an affair. Even
though police repeatedly stated that Condit was not a suspect, many in the media — along with Levy's family felt that Condit was
still being evasive and possibly hiding information about the matter. Condit later refused to submit to a lie detector test to be
administered by the D.C. police. He also tried to avoid answering direct questions during a televised interview with news anchor
Connie Chung on August 23 2001. Condit later appeared before a District of Columbia grand jury
investigating the disappearance.
Condit subsequently lost the Democratic primary election in March 2002, and left Congress at the end of his term in
2003.
Discovery of remains
District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey announced on May 22 2002, that remains matching Levy's dental records were found by a man walking his dog and looking for turtles in Rock Creek Park near Levy's apartment in northwest Washington, D.C. Police had previously searched well
over half the area of the 2,000-acre (8-km²) park, which Levy had visited on many occasions, after determining that someone had
used Levy's laptop computer to do an internet search for the park's Klingle Mansion on the day police believed she went
missing.
Police stated that they had not searched this particular area before due to its remoteness. Her remains were found a mile (1.6
km) north of the mansion and about four miles (6 km) away from Levy's apartment. After a preliminary autopsy was performed, District of Columbia police announced that there was sufficient evidence to begin a
homicide investigation. On May 28, the
District of Columbia medical examiner officially declared Levy's death a homicide.[3]
Police interviewed Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran national incarcerated for assaulting
two women in the park. Washington police chief Charles H. Ramsey called him a "person of
interest". Police administered a polygraph test, which he passed.
As of September 2006, the Levy homicide is listed as a "cold
case" on the D.C. police website, and the FBI says that their
investigation remains open.
Similar homicide of Joyce Chiang
Levy's disappearance came two years after the disappearance and declared homicide, under similar circumstances, of
Immigration and Naturalization Service attorney Joyce Chiang. Levy's apartment building was four blocks away from Chiang's former building. Levy's remains
were found in a D.C. federal parkland area, as were Chiang's belongings, before her body washed up in a nearby river. Both were
young, brunette women of petite stature. These similarities have led to various theories that both women were killed by the same
person.[4]
References
- ^ http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/07/07/condit.missing.intern/
- ^ "Chandra Levy’s Jewish Angle" by James D. Besser, July 20, 2001. Jewish Journal.
Accessed December 18, 2006.
- ^ "Coroner says Chandra Levy was murdered", Associated
Press, May 28, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
- ^ "Unexplained Death: Joyce Chiang", Unsolved Mysteries,
June 10 2002. Retrieved on 2006-10-05.
See also
External links
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