Chandra Levy's death remains unsolved
15 years after her body was finally found — thanks to a series of mistakes made by clumsy D.C. cops!
The inside story follows — withThe 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. Chandra, who had been interning at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, went missing in May, 2001 — with her skeletal remains found in Rock Creek Park in May 2002. Cops investigated an alleged affair between Chandra and married California
Rep. Gary Condit. Illegal alien Ingmar Guandique was later
convicted of Chandra's murder, but was released over a witness committing perjury at his trial.
Former homicide detective Ted Williams told The ENQUIRER that "poor police work in the beginning" explains why Chandra's murder remains unsolved — and had even warned when Guandique was arrested that the D.C. cops had "a lot of circumstantial evidence, but the physical evidence is gone." Sadly, the trail had also gone cold because of the cops!
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First, police officers failed to confiscate the surveillance camera tapes at Chandra's apartment building following her disappearance May 1. A week later the tapes were overwritten, so police had no idea when Chandra left the building or if she was alone.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Then a fumbling sergeant lost valuable information while checking the missing woman's laptop for leads. The officer corrupted the data — and it took a month to untangle a list of Web sites and discover that Chandra (seen here in her final photo) had searched for info on Rock Creek Park.
When cops finally did search the park at the time, they missed her body. Cadaver dogs might have found Chandra's remains, but they were never used until after Chandra's remains had been found.
"There would have been a lot of trace evidence — hairs, semen, saliva and blood — a lot of potential forensic evidence that would have immediately given a very good answer to who did it," said leading forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden.
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Chandra's skeleton was finally discovered by a hiker a year after her death. Sadly, it was too late to collect DNA evidence from the remains, revealed forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht — who was part of a top team hired by Chandra's family
to perform their own autopsy.The ENQUIRER, however, reported on how Wecht and his associates were ultimately denied the opportunity while local police refused to release Chandra's remains to her family.
Even the investigation into Guandique's guilt was handled poorly. He was arrested just two months after Chandra's disappearance for attacking two women joggers with a knife in Rock Creek Park. Police waited until August 2002 to interview Guandique's girlfriend, who complained
that her ex was violent and had bitten and choked her.
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"There was so much bad police work in this case," retired FBI special agent in charge Ted Gunderson told The ENQUIRER, "it's like watching the old sitcom 'Barney Miller,' but without the laughs."
Learn more disturbing secrets about the death of Chandra Levy asThe 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.