Chandra Levy Question

Factual Questions
1

So the rumors are flying all over the place.

Is she dead? If so, was it Condit? Suicide? Somebody else?

Is she alive? Is she in hiding? Was she kidnapped?

So my question is a very simple one.
If she is alive, and she is wathcing all this mayhem from afar, is this illegal?
Is she allowed to just drop out of sight and watch a national investigation without making a phone call or writing a letter to make it stop?

It’s not so much that I think this is the case here, as much as I am just curious if you COULD do something like this and not get in trouble.

2

My money is on the congressman’s wife as murderer.

Almost like something out of the novel “Presummed Innocent”

The husband is the most likely suspect, but what about the wife?

Why not in this day and age?

3

I believe Rep. Condit’s wife doesn’t live in Washington. She lives in California and also suffers from a chronic illness.

4

Just a guess, but I don’t see why going into hiding and remaining there, in spite of a lot of fuss, would be illegal. Ill-advised, perhaps; futile, maybe; but not against the law.

However, I suspect in this case that her failure to contact anyone, not even her parents, has the worst connotations. Not that I suspect the congressman of being more than a cad – I would say suicide is much more likely than murder.

5

I give credit to her body for doing such a great job of hiding itself.
:slight_smile:
FWIW…

I’m betting the easy money on this one.

The Congressman, in the library with the candelstick.

Lets be serious…cops aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box. Stuff like this isn’t rocket science. They just go down their checklist of situations and relationships until they find someone who fits the bill.

It looks to me like they didn’t have to go all that far.

6

This question probably belongs in IMHO because we can’t provide any REAL answers.

Is she dead? Yes. From long experience, homicide detectives know that if you find personal effects like a purse (with all identification), her car, but no body, and no ransom demand, the victim is dead in all probability.

Was it Condit? It’s doubtful hthat he personally took her life, but hard to believe he wasn’t involved in some way. Most murders are committed by someone close to the victim.

Suicide? Highly unlikely. Most suicides are committed at home, or barring that, a public park. In a highly populated area, it wouldn’t take long for a corpse to be found especially with the spate of hot weather. Most suicide victims want to be found. There aren’t any bridges in D.C. high enough for suicide, either.

Somebody else? A random attack by a stranger is far out, but not impossible. Again, most violent personal crimes are committed by someone personally known to the victim.

Is she alive? Nope.

Is she in hiding? Nope. By all accounts she had a good relationship with her parents and would have contacted them or one of her friends to let them know she was okay - as most people would.

Was she kidnapped? Considering she didn’t drive herself to the crime scene, didn’t take her purse, and no blood was found in her apartment, the logical assumption is that she was taken. That’s kidnapping by anyone’s definition.

It’s not illegal to disappear unless you’re avoiding some legal responsibility, like a court date, or attempting to defraud someone. When an adult is missing, there’s very little the police can do unless foul play is suspected. At this point, considering all the media coverage, if Chandra were alive and watching on TV, she would be guilty of hindering a police investigation and withholding evidence (i.e. herself).

7

Sure we can.
I didn’t ask what happened, I asked if it was legal to knowingly watch all the action and do nothing to stop it.

8

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Freedom *
**

Actually, you did - and the circumstances are relevant. No one in the history of law enforcement has disappeared for no reason at all. You got your answer. Simply speaking, it is not illegal to disappear. If you disappear, but know that law enforcement officials are looking for you, it is a violation of law to withhold information concerning your whereabouts. If you shirk some legal responsibility, fake a kidnapping, or know something about a suspected crime and do not report it, you are subject to civil and criminal penalties. In the extraordinarily unlikely event that Chandra is found alive and she has a great excuse for not knowing that people were actively investigating her disappearance, then she’ll be probably be left alone.

9

IANAL but,
according to my lawyer, it’s not illegal to drop out of sight.

However, it’s the “withholding evidence” when it’s obvious that police are conducting an investigation that I think would be illegal.

10

IIRC, wasn’t everything there (purse, wallet, cell phone) except her keys?
IMHO, I think someone (the killer) called her and said, “Come outside and we’ll talk”, so she grabbed her keys and left her apartment.
I think Condit was probably involved somehow. Has he ever admitted to the real nature of their realtionship, other than being “good friends”? Come on, how many 24-year-old women are “good friends” with 50-year-old men?

11

As said, she could be charged with hindering an investigation. You’d probably have to demonstrate that she was aware that the police wanted to talk to her, and knowingly refused to cooperate by not coming forward. She could say that she didn’t watch any news programs or look at a paper, and it would be hard to disprove.

I imagine if someone disappeared with the clear intent of damaging someone’s reputation by their disappearance, there might be grounds for a civil suit. If it turned out to be the case here, Condit would have to be a total idiot to pursue it, of course.

I would bet she’s dead. I did think of one unlikely scenario I haven’t heard anybody bring up yet, though. Maybe she went crying to mommy & daddy, and the royally pissed off parents cooked up the disappearance idea, so they know and are putting on an act for the police. Far too Machiavellian for real life, but it does occur to me.

12

Sorry dude…

It was actually the same story from a paranoid poster on another forum that made me ask the question.

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b3ae00d12a1.htm
I think she is dead, but I was wondering what the repercussions were if she wasn’t.

I know if the parents started this whole thing knowing where she was, then they are going to be in a heap of trouble. I didn’t know what would happen to Chandra if she had just decided to dissapear though.

13

OK, so it DID occur to someone else. Difference is, they apparently believe it. I’d give it very long odds, at the very edge of plausibility. 3 to 2 she’s dead.

14

Can someone cite me some authority that says a private citizen, without being asked, has an affirmative obligation to come forward with evidence relevant to a police investigation?

I’m a little skeptical, but, it’s certainly possible.

15

Thank you, lucwarm.

Cite please? Someone? Someone with Lexis access, maybe who can give us a criminal statute?

16

As far as we know, none of her money was withdrawn from her bank account after her disappearance, which would strongly suggest she isn’t alive. It also makes unlikely the possibility that she was kidnapped and is being held somewhere.

Rather sketchy news reports say she was distraught after the congressman essentially dumped her. The story is they had a brief fling, his ailing wife came into D.C. for a visit, he didn’t want to Newt Gingrich her, and perhaps he told the girl it was over. Perhaps she then tried to blackmail him. Perhaps Santa will fill my house with presents … who knows?

Another interesting allegation is that she did not have a plane ticket for her trip back to L.A. the next day. So, here’s a gal who wants to attend her college graduation and she’s willing to chance a flight by standby and possibly miss it? Doesn’t compute.

News reports say she was fully packed and ready to go when someone buzzed her and asked her to meet him/her downstairs.
I can understand her getting into the car of a person she knows. But someone she doesn’t? I can’t see someone sticking a gun to her ribs in a busy apartment building and forcing her inside a car–and her not shouting.

17

So I’m guessing that no one has any cites?

:slight_smile: