Intern Likely Didn’t Kill Self, Police Say

Chandra Levy, the former government intern who disappeared more than two months ago, probably did not kill herself, because if she had, her body would have been discovered by now, District of Columbia Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said Thursday.

Authorities intend to focus their investigation on the two other most likely explanations for Levy’s disappearance: that she has gone into hiding or that she fell victim to foul play.

“The odds of her taking her own life diminish as time goes on because you can’t kill yourself and bury yourself,” Ramsey said during a Washington radio call-in show. “At some point in time, a body does surface.”

As part of their investigations into Levy’s disappearance, FBI and local police officials Thursday interviewed the wife of Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres). Rep. Condit had befriended the young woman. Carolyn Condit, who lives in the congressman’s California district, was in Washington the weekend Levy disappeared.

Several of Levy’s relatives have said that Levy told them she was having an affair with the congressman, but Condit has denied that.

In a written statement issued late Thursday, Condit’s lawyer confirmed that authorities interviewed Carolyn Condit but shed no new light on the status of the investigation or the rumors of extramarital affairs that have swirled around the congressman in recent days.

Instead, the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, attempted to calm the media frenzy surrounding Condit’s connection to Levy.

Lowell said Condit believes that “the media risks losing its focus with what has been a recent and seemingly unbounded effort to expose highly personal and private Condit family matters.”

“None of these matters pertain to Ms. Levy’s disappearance or the ability of law enforcement to determine what has happened to her,” Lowell said.

Levy, who had worked as an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, was last seen April 30 while canceling her gym membership. Police have said that phone and computer records indicate she was last in her Dupont Circle apartment May 1. Levy’s family believes she had been preparing to return to Los Angeles for her May 11 graduation from a USC master’s program.

The police chief’s remarks appear to bolster repeated claims by those close to Levy that the 25-year-old showed no signs of being suicidal in the days preceding her disappearance.

Another police official stressed that Ramsey’s comments do not reflect a shift in strategy by local investigators, who will continue to consider the three scenarios of suicide, intentional hiding and foul play.

“Until we find evidence to rule any of the three possibilities out, we’re not going to rule anything out,” said department spokesman Joe Gentile.

Ramsey left open the possibility that authorities will question Condit a third time about his relationship with Levy. However, he emphasized that Condit is not a suspect in the case and is just “one of 100 people we’ve talked to.”

Media scrutiny of Condit’s personal life has heightened in recent days, following flight attendant Anne Marie Smith’s allegations that she had an affair with Condit that he asked her to deny in a written statement after Levy disappeared.

Condit responded to Smith’s claims Tuesday with a statement saying, “I have not asked anyone to refrain from discussing [the Levy case] with authorities, nor have I suggested anyone mislead the authorities.”

Smith’s allegations have little immediate relevance to the Levy investigation, Ramsey said. “We’re not the sex police here. We’re trying to investigate a missing person. [Condit’s personal life] only matters to me if it relates to the Chandra Levy case.”

Ramsey also confirmed Thursday that investigators have begun employing teams of cadaver-sniffing dogs in D.C.-area landfills as they expand their search for evidence.