CONDIT - Police in Levy case get tip on possible buried body

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Police in Levy case get tip on possible buried body

Associated Press Aug. 1, 2001

WASHINGTON - Police investigating Chandra Levy's disappearance said today that they would travel to Fort Lee near Richmond, Va., to check on an anonymous tip that a body may be buried in a parking lot under construction.

Law enforcement officials said the tip came from a Web site that collects information on possible crimes. They said the search was routine and just one action police are taking in following up hundreds of possible leads in the case.

"At this point, there is nothing to confirm the tip," Sgt. Joe Gentile said.

Police have used dogs specially trained to locate bodies several times as they have searched buildings and parks for Levy, 24, of Modesto, Calif., who disappeared three months ago while in Washington for a federal internship.

Police decided to suspend those searches early this week.

The officials said they did not know if those dogs would be used in the latest search. Police have determined that the military police at Fort Lee have dogs available.

Military police officials at the installation were planning to assist, and FBI officials helping the Washington police in the investigation were aware of the latest developments, officials said.

Police also have interviewed Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., four times. Condit, who is married, acknowledged to police in his third interview that he had an affair. Police say he is not a suspect in the disappearance.

Gentile, the Washington police spokesman, said WeTip, a California organization that accepts tips and passes them on to authorities, faxed an anonymous tip that Levy was buried on the grounds of the Fort Lee military installation

WeTip describes itself on its Web site as a 28-year-old nonprofit organization that serves as a conduit between anonymous tipsters and authorities.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Answers

Cnn reported the person who said where Levi was, had witten a three page account.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

CNN

Police to look at Virginia parking lot for Levy

August 1, 2001 Posted: 6:06 PM EDT (2206 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Washington D.C. police said on Wednesday that military police would check into an Internet tip that the body of missing intern Chandra Levy would be found near Richmond, Virginia.

Initially, police discussed the idea of sending cadaver dogs to check the area, near Fort Lee just outside the Virginia capital. But the D.C. officials said they would leave that decision to Fort Lee authorities.

CNN National Correspondent Bob Franken said the tip had indicated that Levy's body would be found buried in a parking lot under construction near Fort Lee, but stressed that it was one of dozens of tips police have received in the case.

"The police are very cautious, saying only that they are going to check it out because such a parking lot does exist," Franken said. "They are following up on all tips."

The tip about the parking lot was submitted to www.WeTip.com on Tuesday, where tips about crimes can be typed in anonymously. An official with the Web site said the tip was a three-page, single-spaced and detailed document submitted to the site.

"We don't try to make a determination of whether (the tip is) important or even correct, we just pass it on to the police," Miriam Brownell, chief operations officer of WeTip.com, told CNN.

"It sounds like an extremely interesting and very complicated tip," Brownell said.

{Remainder is rehash.]

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


Just noticed I spelt her name wrong, it should have been Levy, not Levi.

Earlier today, when I was listening to what Miss Levy's Aunt was saying on CNN...the part about Chandra telling her after 5 years she was going to marry Condit. Chandra's Aunt had said the police had told them to keep alot of stuff to themselves, now it looks like they are tired of not being informed of what's going on with the case and are starting to give out more info. Now, low and behold this thing pops up about an anonamous (?) tip of where Chandra may be.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


For the sake of the parents, I hope that it is her just so that they can get some closure and begin to heal.

That being said, since this is a very high profile case, I wonder just how anonymous this tip will end up being. From what I heard, it was detailed in HOW she died. Seems like someone is wanting closure too, or was involved.

Time will tell.

(Fingers still crossed that she is alive, but somehow I doubt it.)

Sheeple

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


CNN just said the tip said her body had been shrink wrapped and buried.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


I agree with you Sheeple, if she is dead the parents need some kind of closure. I just don't understand about this tip and the way it is being taken so serious.. as to phyically checking it out and on the other hand it is being said how many tips they get and they don't pan out. The tip, to me, must have had somethings in it to get their attention and act on that information. I'm sure they don't follow up on all the tips they get.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

That occurred to me too, Maggie. The tip sounds so bizarre and pulp-fictionish and I'm sure the police have had innumerable, equally strange tips--so why follow up on this particular one? Yes, it must have contained information about Chandra which only a few people could know.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Maggie,

Could it be because it was three pages single spaced? Either there is some twisted sick soul out there, or there is something to this. Apparently, the 'tip' also said something about how she died. Sounds more like some sort of confession to me.

As an aside, I heard on Fox News that Gary Condit was going to be having some time with his grown children (both of which were older that Chandra) to "heal" with them. Fox said that both were highly pissed at/about their father right now. Then he is supposed to talk to the people of California.

I tried to register at either ShandryLevy or findshandralevy.org and couldn't because there has been a bunch of abuse. Anyway, if the police think that GC had something to do with it (which I think they do), they should check the security records for his building around that timeframe. I'm always seeing him use a magnetic card to get into the building. Chances are, the building (possibly) is wired to a computer somewhere. Maybe they can figure out if he had that quiet evening at home with his wife on the 1st.

Sheeps

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


OTOH, there is some real interesting resemblence between Chandra's case and that of some other unsolved murders in the area. Seems the police had not made the connections, but some sharp readers did.

Capitol Grilling link

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


Sheeple, YOU'RE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD??????

This is a thread at Capitol Grilling that has had some discussion about whether Chandra might have had keys made to Condit's apartment,since a keymaker claimed to have made keys for her around her disappearance. If you have any information to add, this might be the place to put it. I think that board is being looked at as a source of possible information that deserves to be checked out. If you have any information that could help, please join in.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001



Chandra and keys discussion

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001

Firemouse,

No, I'm not in the neighborhood. But everytime I see him (on TV) entering the building, he uses a magnetic card key to open the front door of his building. I'm sure that he has actual key keys for his apartment doors. Think of this as sort of like some of the hotel keys you get now.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


from abcnews ...

Link

snip...

The anonymous tip, faxed in last night from a California-based Web site called wetip.com, claimed, "Ms. Levy's body was buried on the grounds of a military installation called Fort Lee in Petersburg, Virginia," police said in a prepared statement released today.

The tip prompted Washington police to contact Fort Lee, where the provost marshall offered to dispatch military cadaver dogs to search the area.

But Assistant D.C. Police Chief Terrance Gainer cautioned against making too much of the "unconfirmed rumors," one of thousands of tips that have been received by police.

"This is not an emergency," Gainer said. "We're just following up on a tip."

On Tuesday, the final day of a sweep of Washington parks, police cadets combed through a wooded area near the Naval Observatory, the vice president's official residence. In all, the extensive searches turned up little but animal bones, a pair of sneakers and other items of clothing. But police found no trace of Levy.

end snip...

Question - unconfirmed rumors are 3 pages in length and single spaced?

The .mil folks wanted to get the dogs out to sniff, but he wanted them to hold off.... WHY? Is the chief afraid they might find something?

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


Snip: The tip prompted Washington police to contact Fort Lee, where the provost marshall offered to dispatch military cadaver dogs to search the area.

But Assistant D.C. Police Chief Terrance Gainer cautioned against making too much of the "unconfirmed rumors," one of thousands of tips that have been received by police.

"This is not an emergency," Gainer said. "We're just following up on a tip."

On Tuesday, the final day of a sweep of Washington parks, police cadets combed through a wooded area near the Naval Observatory, the vice president's official residence. In all, the extensive searches turned up little but animal bones, a pair of sneakers and other items of clothing. But police found no trace of Levy.

end snip...

"Question - unconfirmed rumors are 3 pages in length and single spaced?

The .mil folks wanted to get the dogs out to sniff, but he wanted them to hold off.... WHY? Is the chief afraid they might find something?"

Sheeps, if something was found...the "unconfirmed rumor" would no longer be a rumor. The offer was made and was turned down...I edited the cuss words.

Maggie

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001


Old Git, the part about the shrink wrap that was given in the 3 page tip, to me, sounded way out there until a man on CNN was talking about some testing to find a body that had been buried and seepage. Sorry if that is so graphic but, that's one of the things he said.

Sheeps, the 3 page single spaced "tip", could be a confession like you said of the person who did it or a second party... who it was confessed to.

"As an aside, I heard on Fox News that Gary Condit was going to be having some time with his grown children (both of which were older that Chandra) to "heal" with them. Fox said that both were highly pissed at/about their father right now. Then he is supposed to talk to the people of California."

He'll be lucky if they both don't walk the other way when they see their father. Yah, I can see Condit now with his children and his wife beside him, when he talks to the people of California. YUK!

"Anyway, if the police think that GC had something to do with it (which I think they do), they should check the security records for his building around that timeframe. I'm always seeing him use a magnetic card to get into the building. Chances are, the building (possibly) is wired to a computer somewhere. Maybe they can figure out if he had that quiet evening at home with his wife on the 1st."

I remember seeing a detective show, where the time of entry for the card was recorded. A little recorded camera action with the time card entry, would be a nice little benifit.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001



The keys--if the story is true, then which keys were they, hers or his?

If hers, could be she was merely replacing a lost set of spare keys to return to the landlord as she left.

I don't think they were his, because it's impossible to get a computer card duplicated (well, not impossible but for her it would be), so why bother with his regular apartment keys?

The only other thing I can think of is Condit had another apartment somewhere and the keys were to that place. Perhaps this is the "big news" that Chandra was talking about--they were going to move in together at this new apartment and perhaps that is where she was killed. Wish I had time to go to that site, it sounds fascinating.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001


Firemouse,

Are you Ferry Fey? I just read the link you provided above. Interesting read.

Sheeps

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001


Levy tip a hoax, investigators say

August 2, 2001 Posted: 5:55 PM EDT (2155 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A tip about the whereabouts of missing intern Chandra Levy was a hoax, investigators said Thursday.

The tip, phoned in to a toll-free hot line run by a California firm, told authorities that Levy's body could be found near Fort Lee, an Army post near Petersburg, Virginia. But a high-level law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation called the tip a "hoax," and the FBI said the information doesn't match the facts.

"The FBI, in concert with Fort Lee officials, have determined that there is no site on or around the Fort Lee military base that corresponds with the information provided in the anonymous tip," said a statement released by the FBI's office in Richmond, Virginia.

The tip caught investigators' attention because of the level of detail it provided, and it briefly made Fort Lee, about 116 miles south of Washington, the focus of intense attention from news outlets. But subsequent investigation determined those details did not match any site around the Army post.

Levy, 24, has been missing since the end of April. The tip sparked new interest in the case, but Washington police had stressed it was just one of dozens they receive each day. So far, none of those has produced a solid lead in what authorities have called a frustrating case.

California-based WeTip received the information from a caller and passed it Tuesday to police in Washington, who then relayed it to authorities at Fort Lee. The group claims nearly 15,000 arrests have resulted from about 343,000 tips it has received since 1972.

"It could have come from a mentally disturbed person who just likes to use the telephone," WeTip CEO Bill Brownell told CNN. "WeTip doesn't do an evaluation of the tip even if it's a very bad-looking tip. It might be just exactly what law enforcement's looking for."

Late Wednesday, the FBI had said it would first attempt to evaluate the credibility of the tip before searching the grounds of Fort Lee. Authorities and others familiar with missing person cases had urged caution, noting that most such tips never lead to anything.

"There are a number of challenges here, the first thing that we have to recognize is that there are a lot of evil, mean, despicable people in America that have fun doing this type of dirty deed ... a false tip," said Peter Banks of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Levy's case has received widespread attention because of her relationship with Rep. Gary Condit, D-California. Her family has said she was having an affair with the married 53-year-old congressman. Publicly, he has acknowledged only a friendship, although police sources said he admitted to a romantic relationship in an interview with police.

Police said they are treating Levy's disappearance as a missing person case and have long said there is no evidence of a crime, so there are no suspects. Recently, police said Condit was not the "central figure" in the investigation.

Levy was last seen April 30 at a Washington gym as she canceled her membership. Tuesday, a key maker at a hardware store across the street from her apartment told the FBI and police that he saw Levy during the week after April 30, when she had come into the store and had keys made. Authorities are still checking out his information.

A spokesman for the Levy family said the tip and frenzy that surrounded it amounted to an emotional "roller coaster." Kim Petersen, executive director of the Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, also said the Levy family was told "there's nothing to" the tip.

"Hearing things like you did yesterday is difficult," she told reporters outside the Levy family home in Modesto, California. "You can't just shut those things out."

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001


The false tip did give alot of attention to the web site for people to call in information anonymously and be able to collect the reward money. On TV, it was told, in detail, how a person could call in and how they set up the transferance of the tax free reward money.

Notice how the press ran with the story. Looking back at it now, could this have been a "get your attention, while we tell you (anyone with info) how to contact us"?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2001


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