Police are reportedly close to arresting a suspect in the murder of Chandra Levy, the 24-year-old government intern whose remains were discovered in 2002 in a Washington park approximately one year after she went missing.
Police are allegedly zeroing in on a man already in the D.C. prison system for attacking two women in Rock Creek Park, the same park where Levy’s remains were found. The inmate reportedly admitted to a fellow prisoner that he killed Levy. The suspect, identified as Ingmar Guandique, was questioned by police during the Levy investigation; he admitted to seeing Levy in the park the day she disappeared, but denied having anything to do with her disappearance.
Lisa Bloom, a legal analyst for CBS News, believes that the crack in the case may come from one of two places: “One, new statements from the suspect behind bars, possibly linking him to Chandra Levy,” Bloom says, “The other would be developments in forensic science, which has grown by leaps and bounds in the last eight years. Maybe they have something new on him … something linking him to the remains of Chandra Levy. When her remains were found in Rock Creek Park, they were highly decomposed. … Nevertheless, hair, bone samples, dental records, something linking him to her remains. Otherwise, it’s hard to understand what could be new — statements perhaps made behind bars to other inmates, a jailhouse confession, something of that nature.”
One hopes that this is the break in the case that will provide some closure for Chandra’s family: “We appreciate all the hard work they did,” says Susan Levy, Chandra’s mother, “You want justice. You want the person incarcerated. It is still painful no matter what. Your child is dead and gone. But we are glad the police are doing something and making a difference.”
Arrest Near In Chandra Levy Case? [CBS News]
Police May Be Close To Arrest In Chandra Levy Case [CNN]