Posted on 05/23/2002 9:28:52 AM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police were trying on Thursday to establish the cause of death of Chandra Levy, whose remains were found after a year-long search and whose disappearance marked the beginning of the end of Rep. Gary Condit's political career.
Although the missing 24-year-old's skeletal remains and clothing were found scattered on Wednesday in a secluded part of Washington's Rock Creek Park, police said they were not ready to call the death a murder.
Police Chief Charles Ramsey said on morning television shows that authorities started to search the heavily wooded park at first light for further clues.
We don't know if this is the primary or secondary scene," Ramsey said on ABC's "Good Morning America" of the area where her remains were found.
But on Wednesday evening he appeared to suggest that the location of Levy's remains made it unlikely her death was an accident.
"It's really very rugged terrain," Ramsey said on CNN's "Larry King Live" program. "This was off the beaten path. It was on a very steep incline. In fact, the remains were covered with probably about a foot (30 cm) of underbrush and leaves"
The tragic end to the 13-month saga of the Washington intern's disappearance is the first break police have had in the missing person case that captivated the country last summer, in part because of the disclosure of her close relationship with Condit.
Ramsey repeated that Condit was not a suspect but that he and many other people may have to be interviewed again for further information.
"We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Now that the body has been found it does lead us down a different path," he said on NBC's "Today" show, adding that police hoped to interview many people who lived in the area.
Jonathan Arden, chief medical examiner for the District of Columbia, was still attempting to determine how Levy died, Ramsey said.
Some experts said the decomposition of the body could make it difficult to determine the cause of death unless there is bone damage caused by a blunt object, knife or bullet.
The Washington Post reported that Levy's skull, which was not complete, was cracked. The cause of the crack was not immediately clear, it added.
Levy's parents, Robert and Susan Levy, were "not holding up well," their representatives said.
"Until they found a body we had told them there was hope," attorney Billy Martin told NBC. "When they realized that they no longer had hope that their daughter would return and that she was in fact dead, they lost it."
Martin, a top Washington criminal lawyer hired by the Levys to find their daughter along with a team of investigators, said on Wednesday the Levys believed she was murdered and urged police to step up their investigation.
Levy was last seen working out at her gym on April 30, 2001, and police believe she spent much of the morning of May 1, 2001, surfing the Internet and shopping for an air ticket home to Modesto, California, to receive a graduate degree.
ONLY KEYS WERE MISSING
When police searched her apartment, they found her wallet, computer and luggage packed at the door. Only her keys were missing.
Ramsey, who turned the investigation over to the police department's violent crimes division, said it could not be determined whether Levy died near the rugged area where she was found or if her body was dumped there.
Levy's remains, which were positively identified through dental records, were found on Wednesday morning by a man walking his dog and looking for turtles. Levy was known to have jogged in Rock Creek Park.
Thousands of people disappear in the United States every year but the Levy case drew national attention for her relationship with Condit, a California Democrat who has not divulged publicly how close their relationship had been.
Condit lost a Democratic primary earlier this year, in part because of the perception he had not told everything he knew about her disappearance and might have hindered the investigation.
Police, who were criticized last year for failing to pursue the case vigorously enough, searched more than 1,700 acres (685 hectares) of the park after Levy disappeared.
The discovery of her remains dominated U.S. news coverage for the first time since the summer of 2001, when TV camera crews followed Condit's every step around Washington and speculation grew to fever pitch about Levy's fate.
Interest in the case evaporated after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people.
It revealed an out of touch with reality sociopath who valued power and personal gain above all else.
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