Hypothetical missing persons question

What would happen if, two months from now, Chandra Levy were to come out of hiding and say that she was hiding to get revenge on Gary Condit for his breaking up with her (or whatever other reason).

Putting aside the emotional wringer she would have put her family through, would there be any legal consequences to her actions?

I would assume that hiding out in a hotel somewhere is not a crime (as long as you are a fugutive from justice). But she will have caused a lot of unnecessary run around for the DC police (and maybe the FBI, if they get involved). Assuming no charges were filed against Condit, what consequences (if any) might Levy face?

(N.B. I’m not stating an opinion about the current case. I’m not expressing the opinion that she is, in fact, hiding out, or that Congressman Condit or anyone else committed any criminal wrongdoing regarding Chandra Levy’s disappearence. The question is purely hypothetical).

Zev Steinhardt

I am not a lawyer, but perhaps it would depend on who informed the police she was missing.

If she needed time by herself and told no-one she was going, then surely no crime has been committed.

However if, as per your post, she confessed that her relatives (who reported her missing) were in a conspiracy with her to waste police time searching for a missing person ** who they claimed had no reason to disappear**, then I think she would face some legal problem.