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Breaking News
Police Investigate Tip
Aired August 01, 2001 - 18:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Again, we're watching police respond to a tip and only a tip at this point, at Fort Lee, Virginia. That's about 120 miles south of Washington just outside of Richmond Virginia. Want to go to reporter Rucks Russell from WRIC television who is at the base now. Rucks, are you learning anything from your position there just yet?
RUCKS RUSSELL, WRIC TV: Well, Bill, we are waiting along with everyone else, waiting for investigators who are expected to arrive sometime early tomorrow morning, investigators with the FBI, the local police agencies out here, of course, and the military police and we understand that they will begin at that time to conduct a search following on this tip which was quite detailed in nature. The tip regarding missing federal intern Chandra Levy.
The latest is there are no parking lots that are now under construction as this tip had alleged, but there are a couple of parking lots that were recently completed, and one of them completed just a couple of weeks ago is situation about two miles down this road.
So perhaps that's the area where they'll targeting their search, but at this time it's all mere speculation on my part -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rucks, quickly, what happens on that base there, chiefly for the U.S. Army?
RUSSELL: This is an Army post. They conduct various exercises, out here. We're are told it's not an exceptionally large facility, but it is about 25 square miles. So it's a considerable amount of size to search.
HEMMER: Thanks for the information, Rucks Russell, WTIC, on site there in Fort Lee, Virginia. Now I want to go back to Washington, up the road now and Bob Franken who is again, working the phones -- something new, Bob? BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill. We've been emphasizing from the very beginning of reporting this that police say this is just another of the dozens of leads they got that they wanted to check out -- unsubstantiated leads that they feel was worth checking out.
We've now heard from sources connected to the Levy family, specifically sources connected to the Washington operation of the Levy family, that a lawyer in the office of attorney Billy Martin, he's the Levy family's lawyer in town, has called the Levy family in Modesto, California and Linda Zamsky, who is Chandra Levy's aunt, who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, to tell them, quote, there is nothing to this.
What the lawyer is telling them is that he's checked with law enforcement sources. The law enforcement source say this is nothing more than what we've reported, just another investigation into a lead that they do not believe, according to the lawyer, that this will result in finding Chandra Levy.
This is from two sources connected to the Condit (sic) family who say that a representative of the law office of Billy Martin has called the family in Modesto, California, Susan and Robert Levy, the parents, and the aunt, Linda Zamsky, who lives in Chesapeake City, Maryland (sic) to say that there is nothing to this.
HEMMER: Bob, clarification: nothing to this, does that mean a dead end on this tip?
FRANKEN: Well, the lawyer's impression is that the police believe that. Now of course we know the police, at least through local police officers, are going to continue this search. They emphasize, repeatedly, that they investigate virtually every lead.
It has gone on for three months since the disappearance of Chandra Levy. They've really come no closer to finding out where she is. So they check out the flimsiest of leads. This one has to do with a parking lot that is or as we just hard was under construction there.
It was a very detailed lead that was reported to the Web site, "Mytip," which is a California Web site. The police are in their normal way, checking out a lead even though they there's little chance that it is going to pan out.
HEMMER: Bob, quickly, in the 15 seconds we have left, the tip came in yesterday. There was no response until today. We are informed by Rucks Russell investigators won't be on site until tomorrow morning. Does that indicate any sense of urgency or lack of urgency, given the credibility of this tip?
FRANKEN: As a matter of fact, the D.C. police go out of their way to point that out as evidence of the fact that they don't consider this to have a heavy degree of urgency, just something that bears checking out.
HEMMER: All right, Bob. We well be in touch. Bob Franken, live in Washington.
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