DC CHIEF - Criticizes Condit for lying

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ABC

WIRE: 08/07/2001 2:47 pm ET

Police chief says Condit should have told the truth about his relationship with Levy earlier

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) Police Chief Charles Ramsey criticized Rep. Gary Condit on Tuesday for not immediately revealing all he knew about missing federal intern Chandra Levy, saying it slowed investigators.

Ramsey also said police are no closer to solving the case.

"It would have been helpful to know what type of situation we were dealing with earlier in the case," Ramsey said during an interview with radio station WTOP in Washington. "The sooner we know crucial details, the better chance we have of solving a case, while the trail is still warm. We didn't have all of the details for several weeks."

Levy, a 24-year-old from Modesto, Calif., vanished sometime after logging off her computer on May 1. She had been an intern at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and was planning to return home to California.

Levy met Condit, her 53-year-old, married congressman, last fall and began an affair with him, family members have said. Condit confirmed the affair to investigators, but not until a third interview, according to a police source.

Police have said repeatedly that Condit is not a suspect. Ramsey said police still have no cause to upgrade the investigation to a criminal case.

"We are still not taking off the table that she could have left of her own will," Ramsey said. "People have been known to just take off from time to time. We also are not taking suicide off of the table, although we suspect if there had been a suicide we would have found the body by now."

Condit, who returned home to Ceres, Calif., while Congress is on break, has not commented publicly on his relationship with Levy. He released a statement shortly after she disappeared and called her a great person and good friend.

Ramsey was asked by a caller whether police have asked Condit to refrain from commenting publicly. He said they had not.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001


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