Chandra Levy's parents suffered double heartbreak after their daughter was found dead a year after her disappearance — as D.C. detectives stalled their own investigation into
the murder of the Washington intern! The inside story follows — with The National ENQUIRER exposing more shocking secrets in Investigation Discovery's "Chandra Levy: An American Murder Mystery," premiering Monday, September 4 on TLC at 8 p.m. EST. An exclusive early release is available now on ID’s TV Everywhere platform, ID GO. Photo credit: Getty Images
Bob and Sue Levy spent a year hoping their daughter was still alive after disappearing in May 2001 — as Chandra's disappearance made headlines over suspicions that she had been the mistress of
Rep. Gary Condit, a married Congressman from California. But when Chandra's remains were finally found, they couldn't get her body parts to top investigators!
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A powerhouse crime-solving trio of Henry Lee, Cyril Wecht and Michael Baden had volunteered their services to Chandra's parents, who wanted a second opinion about their daughter's death. "We are confident this addition of experts in their field will continue to lead us closer to finding out who is responsible for Chandra's fate," said Levy family attorney Billy Martin — who had to threaten to sue when D.C. authorities wouldn't release Chandra's body to the grieving parents!
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Chandra's death was declared a homicide after her skeletal remains were found on May 22, 2002, amid dense foliage on a steep hillside in Washington's Rock Creek Park. But D.C. Medical Examiner Jonathan Arden said he did not have enough of her body to determine exactly how the 24-year-old was killed.
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As The ENQUIRER reported exclusively, Arden found that Chandra's hyoid bone — the small U-shaped bone in the front of the neck — was damaged, an indication she may have been strangled. "The three of us know our stuff damn well," Dr. Wecht (pictured) told The ENQUIRER at the time, saying that they wished to examine Chandra's hyoid bone.
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"We are very good, and the possibility is there that we will learn how Chandra died." The team had already trudged down the hillside where Chandra's body was found to examine the crime scene. Wecht said he and his colleagues agree that Chandra was either carried while dead, or went willingly with her killer down the hill.
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"I don't think someone dumped the body and it rolled down the hill to where it was found," Wecht said. "There are too many trees and too much foliage for that." Medical examiner Arden had given his permission for the three experts to see Chandra's remains — but, insisted Wecht, "we have to look at them more thoroughly in a lab setting."
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But that request was denied, with Arden waited a full year before releasing Chandra's remains to be buried. The experts were never able to conduct their analysis. "I can tell you honestly that in 40 years of handling cases in which death has been an issue, I've never known of a body that has been retained," noted Wecht.
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"You take pictures," he added. "You have charts for trial purposes. You don't keep the body when the family has the right to have it for burial!"
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Ingmar Guandique, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was later convicted of Chandra's murder in 2010. He was later released in 2016 —
and quickly deported — when it was revealed that a witness had committed perjury on the stand.
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Tragically, Chandra's death now remains unsolved — with an opportunity to learn more about the case forever lost.
Learn more disturbing secrets about the death of Chandra Levy as The National ENQUIRER partners with Investigation Discovery for "Chandra Levy: An American Murder Mystery," premiering Monday, September 4 on TLC at 8 p.m. EST. An exclusive early release is available now on ID’s TV Everywhere platform, ID GO.Photo credit: Getty Images